Ernest Hemingway’s short story “The Killers” is about as compact as a story can be — in print, it runs to all of 11 pages. And yet it’s been the basis for no less than five film adaptations, including two Hollywood features, a 1959 TV special, and a short film by Andrei Tarkovsky. The first, released in 1946, starring a very young Burt Lancaster (in his film debut) and Ava Gardner, long has been considered a noir classic. The story itself only has enough juice to fuel the first act, but the film brilliantly continues the arc. As Nick Adams frets in the diner about what will happen to The Swede, a washed-up boxer just sitting in his room as the killers seek him out, we are privy to the terrible outcome and the reasons behind it. Hemingway, not typically a fan of movies based on his work, called this one “… the only good picture ever made from a story of mine.” — Craig Holden
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