By the numbers, The Killing breaks down as such: two million dollars up for ill-gotten grab; seven crooks tethered by a (im)moral code more binding than the Hippocratic Creed; and 85 minutes for the unseen Fates to spin an all-bets-off design. Sterling Hayden heads the motley, fey unit as the unflappable Johnny Clay, a just-released con who promises his gal to be on the up-and-up after one last elaborate robbery at the racetrack. With its polished noir standards — a femme fatale, rat-a-tat barbs, chiaroscuro cinematography, and a know-it-all narrator — this nonlinear caper introduced the world to its photographer-cum-auteur Stanley Kubrick, who accents the wry in an exhilarating get-rich scheme gone awry.