The Killers Double Feature (Criterion Collection) (Blu-ray)

Ernest Hemingway's simple but gripping short tale ''The Killers'' is a model of economical storytelling. Two directors adapted it into unforgettably virile features: Robert Siodmak (Criss Cross), in a 1946 film that helped define the noir style and launch the acting careers of Burt Lancaster (Sweet Smell of Success) and Ava Gardner (On the Beach); and Don Siegel (Dirty Harry), in a brutal 1964 version, starring Lee Marvin (Point Blank), Angie Dickinson (Rio Bravo), and John Cassavetes (Rosemary's Baby), that was intended for television but deemed too violent for home audiences and released theatrically instead. The first is poetic and shadowy, the second direct and harsh as daylight, but both get at the heart of Hemingway's existential classic.

Starring: Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner, Angie Dickinson, John Cassavetes, Edmond O'Brien, Albert Dekker, Ronald Reagan, Sam Levene, Clu Gulager, Claude Akins, Vince Barnett, Norman Fell, Virginia Christine, Jack Lambert, Don Haggerty, Charles D. Brown, Donald McBride, Robert Phillips, Kathleen O'Malley, Charles McGraw, William Conrad, Ted Jacques, Irvin Mosley, John Miljan, Jimmy Joyce, Phil Brown, Queenie Smith, Davis Roberts, Garry Owen, Hal Brock, Burt Mustin, Harry Hayden, Bill Walker, Peter Hobbs, Jeff Corey, John Copage, Wally Scott, Tyler McVey, Seymour Cassel, Gabrielle Windsor, Scott Hale, Harry Brown, Beatrice Roberts, Howard Freeman, John Berkes, John Sheehan, George Anderson, Charles Middleton, Al Hill, Noel Cravat, Rev. Neal Dodd, Vera Lewis, Howard Nogley, Perc Launders, Geoffrey Ingham, Milton Wallace, Nolan Leary, John Trebach, Ann Staunton, William Ruhl, Therese Lyon, Ernie Adams, Jack Cheatham, Ethan Laidlaw, Michael Hale, Wally Rose, Audley Anderson, Mike Donovan, Rex Dale