On this date in 1946, The Killers premiered. The American film noir stars Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner in her career booster, Edmond O'Brien, and a host of B-movie stalwarts. The opening scene is one of the most captivating in noir history. Under the footsteps of two assassins, Charles McGraw and William Conrad is Miklós Rózsa's pounding theme. The "dum-de-dum-dum" motif would soon be adapted as the Dragnet theme by Walter Schumann. Although the same notes were used, Rózsa's theme had a faster tempo with no rests.
Partly based on the 1927 short story of the same name by Ernest Hemingway, it centers on an insurance detective's investigation via flashbacks into the execution of Lancaster's character by the two aforementioned killers. In this respect, not unlike a Columbo or Monk series, the viewer sees the end at the beginning.
Note: Not many get top-billed in their screen debut, but Lancaster or his contract pulled it off.
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