The Killers (1946 film)

"This isn't a two-for-a-nickel shooting. Two professional killers show up in a small town and put the blast on a filling station attendant. A nobody. There was no attempted robbery. They were out for only one thing. To kill him. Why?"

"[to Dum Dum] You don't know what the Swede did with the money or you wouldn't be here tearing his room to pieces. But maybe you do know things that put together with the things I know will tell me where the money is."

"[to Dum Dum, about Kitty] I think she knows where the money is...The Swede and some girl checked into an Atlantic City hotel the night of the holdup. Two days later, the girl took a powder. I've got an idea the dough went with her."

"It was Kitty Collins and not the Swede that reaped the golden harvest...When the gang met to divvy up after the robbery, the Swede pulled a fast one and walked off with the whole take...That same night, he and Kitty were together in Atlantic City. She walked out on him a couple of days later. The money disappeared when she did."

"[to Kitty] As soon as you could break away, you left him flat. I'd like to have known the old Kitty Collins. You were in the clear because no one knew you'd been with the Swede. You had nothing to fear from anyone. Too bad it had to catch up with you now."

"[to Colfax] He (Dum Dum) said Kitty brought him word at midnight about the changed meeting place. The half-way house didn't burn down 'till nearly three in the morning. That meant Kitty had a partner. And who could it be but you."

"You're through...That hand will never be good again - not for fighting...It's a lucky thing. You aren't punchy yet. Now suppose it was your brains were scrambled instead of your hand."

"She was always in love with him...and I was always in love with her. It worked out fine for me, anyway."

"For nearly two years, we weren't never more than eight and a half feet apart. That's how big the cell was."

"You see that bright star in the center...brightest star in all the heavens. Only it's so far away, it don't seem like it."

"A girl don't write. That don't mean she's sick like you might think. Not necessarily."

"If it's as big as you claim, it's not gonna be any easy pickings. Nothin' that big ever is."

"Stop listening to those golden harps, Swede. They can land you into a lot of trouble."

"If that guy don't call by 10:30, we better get started anyway. Yeah, each one steal his own heap [car]...I never was in a hat factory before... Gimme two cards. I'll take three. If this rain keeps us, they'll be mud up to the axles on them hick roads. How many miles of dirt road is it to the half-way house? I don't like anything about capers in the rain. Rain always gives me the creeps. I hate rain."

"Step on it, can't you get any more out of it than this? Looks like a good clean getaway. That's too bad you had to shoot that guy at the gate...Did it look like 200 G's to you? Most money I ever saw at once. Wonder if the others are plannin' the same luck we are. They should be - they got away before we did. I guess the Swede made it all right. I seen him running for his heap and nobody was between him and it. Sure, he got away. Keep your eyes peeled for Polk Road. It's a left turn there, yeah. A left on Polk Road. We oughta be there in another five minutes. Hello, farmer."

"The job comes first. But afterwards, we'll have business together."

"If there's one thing I hate, it's a double-crossing dame...the Swede never had a chance, did he? Any one of the gang that ran onto him would have been sure to knock him off. You might say Kitty Collins signed his death warrant."

"If you do run onto her, let me know, will ya? After you're through with her, I'd like to have a word or two with Kitty myself. We got some unfinished business."

"I hadn't seen him for a long time, but the minute I laid eyes on him, I knew. He was always looking at me. And it doesn't sound like very much, but he always carried a handkerchief I'd given him...I hated my life, only I wasn't strong enough to get away from it. All I could do was dream of some big payoff that would let me quit the whole racket. The Swede was my chance to make my dream come true. If I could only be alone with him for a few hours. But Colfax was always there. I thought it was hopeless. Then suddenly, my chance came."

"Colfax sent me to tell the others what had happened and that they would meet at the farmer's instead. I went to Blinky Franklin first, and then to Dum Dum. I saved the Swede 'till last. It was nearly two in the morning when I got there."

"Swede Andersen: Nobody can cheat me and get away with it."

"Nick Adams: He wasn't a bad sort of fella...easy enough to get along with."

"Lilly: Right then, I knew the boat had sailed and poor Ole had fallen in love with dynamite."

"Every kiss carved his name on another bullet."

"TENSE! TAUT! TERRFIFIC! told the untamed Hemingway way!"

"Burt Lancaster - 'Swede' Andersen"

"Ava Gardner - Kitty Collins"

"Edmond O'Brien - Jim Reardon"

"Albert Dekker - Big Jim Colfax"

"Sam Levene - Lt. Sam Lubinsky"

"Vince Barnett - Charleston"

"Virginia Christine - Lilly Harmon Lubinsky"

"Jack Lambert - 'Dum Dum' Clarke"

"Donald MacBride - R.S. Kenyon"

"Charles McGraw - Al"

"William Conrad - Max"

"Phil Brown - Nick Adams"

"Jeff Corey - 'Blinky' Franklin"