Surprised that their contract victim didn't try to run away from them, two professional hit men try to find out who hired them and why.
A remake of The Killers (1946) which itself was inspired by the Ernest Hemingway short story. Told instead from the hitmen's point of view, the killers decide to find out why their latest victim (a race car driver) "just stood there and took it" when they came to shoot him. They also figure on collecting more money. Ronald Reagan plays a rich, double-crossing financier. Lovely Angie Dickinson plays the femme fatale.—Mark Logan <[email protected]>
Two professional killers fulfill a contract hit on an auto mechanics teacher in a school for the blind but are surprised that he does not try to flee and appears to welcome his fate. Charlie Strom, the older of the two hit-men, wonders why they have been overpaid for the assignment, and when he finds out that the victim, Johnny North, a former Formula One race car driver, had been involved in a million dollar robbery, they decide to pursue the matter. They become convinced that discovering the identity of the man who hired them is the key to finding the stolen money as they search out North's past with brutal efficiency.—G. Taverney ([email protected])
When the target has been located after successfully hiding out for four years by the unknown person hiring them, hitmen Charlie and his partner Lee are paid approximately three times the going rate in a contract to eliminate a once somewhat famous race car driver, Johnny North. Beyond the unknown identity of whoever hired them, Charlie is struck by the fact that Johnny seemed to know they were coming for him and yet did not run but willingly took the bullet instead. Examining the facts, Charlie believes the hit had something to do with the rumor that Johnny was involved in a $1 million heist and that whoever hired them was willing to pay as much as he/she did because he/she is in possession of that $1 million, with a trivial few thousand for the contract being pocket change. As such, Charlie, with Lee by his side, is after whoever hired them for whatever is left of the $1 million. In following the story of Johnny leading up to whatever the nature of that heist, Charlie and Lee discover that the story always comes back to a proverbial "dame" that entered his life shortly before his last legitimate race, someone by the name of Sheila Farr who may be the one holding the cash or may be just caught innocently in the cross-hairs of what went on with Johnny.—Huggo
Two professional hit men, the middle-aged Charlie (Lee Marvin) and the younger Lee (Clu Gulager), enter a school for the blind and terrorize the principal until she reveals the whereabouts of a teacher, 'Jerry Nichols' (John Cassavetes). As the hit men walk toward an upstairs classroom, the teacher receives a phone call from the blind principal's aide, warning him of their arrival. However, a saddened Mr. Nichols responds, "It's okay. I know them." He calmly waits at his desk as Charlie and Lee enter the classroom and shoot him to death in a fusillade of bullets.
As they depart town by train, Charlie admits that he is bothered that their target refused to flee, aware that he was warned prior to their arrival. Lee notes that he recognized their target and that his name was actually Johnny North, a former race car driver. Lee also notes that from the look on Johnny's face when they entered the classroom is that he wanted them to kill him. It is revealed here that both Charlie and Lee were anonymously sub-contracted and paid $25,000 a piece by an unseen party to kill Johnny North. It is apparent that the hit men's business is not to make any direct contact with their paying clients, or know their names, just the name of their hit. Charlie and Lee run through a file they were given of what they knew about the man they have just killed. Johnny was once a champion race car driver whose career ended in a violent crash. A few years before his death, he was suspected by the police to be involved in a one million dollar mail truck robbery, but there was little to no evidence for a criminal indictment. Tempted by the thought of a $1 million payday, Charlie and Lee travel to Miami in order to interview Johnny's former mechanic, Earl Sylvester (Claude Atkins).
Earl, who considers himself Johnny's only friend, is devastated to learn of his death. In between sobs and gulps of whiskey, he tells the story to Charlie and Lee as he remembers it:
Four years earlier in California, Johnny North was at the top of his profession when he met the beautiful Sheila Farr (Angie Dickinson) who asked him out to dinner. Despite Earl's suspicions, Johnny fell deeply in love and planned to propose marriage after winning his next big race. However, Johnny's late night days with Sheila had left him disoriented from lack of sleep. As a result, his racing career ended with a fiery crash.
At the hospital, Earl told Johnny the truth about Sheila, who was in reality the mistress of mob boss Jack Browning (Ronald Reagan). Known for her extravagant taste for "adrenellen junkies", Sheila had already cheated on Browning with several other sports figures, a bullfighter in Mexico and a boxer in New York City..... all of whom met bad ends (usually violent deaths or "accidents"). Enraged and heartbroken, Johnny rebuffed Sheila's attempts to explain and he cut his ties to her.
Flashing forward back to the present, the intrigued Charlie and Lee travel to New Orleans and approach a former member of Browning's crew, named Mickey (Norman Fell), at a health spa whom they restrain in a steam machine and under the threat of violence, Mickey also reveals his memories:
One year after the crash, Sheila found Johnny working as a pit mechanic during another race. Although Johnny bitterly attempted to drive her away for ruining his life, Sheila insisted on telling him that a much better job might soon be his for the taking.
Meanwhile, Browning was in the process of planning the robbery of a U.S. postal truck. On Sheila's recommendation, he agreed to take Johnny on as his getaway driver.
After Johnny refused to return her phone calls, Sheila called up in person at his dilapidated apartment. Although Johnny still felt used and betrayed, Sheila said that she had always regretted losing him and could not live without him. Deeply moved, Johnny agreed to forgive her. He also helped Browning by souping up the getaway car.
However, Browning was deeply enraged when he learned that Sheila had returned to Johnny in which his goons forced Johnny to come to his office. In a deliberate provocation, Browning brutally slapped Sheila in front of Johnny. Enraged, Johnny instantly punched Browning in the face and threatened to kill him if he ever hurt Sheila again. However, they both agreed to "settle this," after the job, and went back to planning the robbery.
Ultimately, the mail truck was forced onto an isolated mountain road by a detour sign planted by Browning and Johnny. When the truck later stopped at an apparent accident, Browning, Johnny, Mickey and the other conspirators robbed the truck at gunpoint, stole more than $1 million, and loaded it into the getaway car. However, Johnny punched Browning, threw him out of the moving car, and drove off with the money for himself.
Flashing back to the present, after listening to this story, Charlie and Lee decide to pay a visit to Jack Browning, who is now a real estate developer in Los Angeles. After arriving in L.A., Charlie and Lee pay a visit to Browning at his office who denies knowing who they are, as well as when they ask about the mail truck robbery or if he knew Johnny North. Browning, however, insists that he is now an honest businessman and has no idea what happened to the money. He does, however, reveal that Sheila is staying at a downtown hotel and agrees to arrange a meeting with her.
Determined not to give Browning time to plan an ambush, Charlie and Lee arrive at Sheila's hotel room several hours earlier than agreed. At first Sheila denies knowing Johnny or anything about the money. However, Charlie and Lee brutally beat her and dangle her by the ankles out of her seventh story window. Terrified, she agrees to tell them the truth:
Flashing back to the night before the robbery, Sheila entered Johnny's room and told him that his life was in danger. Browning, she said, was planning to kill him and pocket his share of the robbery. Enraged, Johnny wanted to leave and kill Browning on the spot. Sheila, however, insisted that she had a much better idea. On her advice, Johnny threw Browning out of the car and drove off with the money. Later that night, he met with Sheila.
As the two lovers departed with the money to a nearby hotel room, they were confronted by Browning. Sheila ordered Browning to, "do it quickly," and the gangster shot Johnny in the stomach. Although severely wounded, Johnny fled into the night with Browning and Sheila in hot pursuit. Unable to find him, Sheila expressed fear that Johnny would cause as much trouble as his predecessors whom she duped into helping them with their plans. Therefore, it was indeed Browning who anonymously hired Charlie and Lee to murder Johnny.
As Sheila comes to the end of her story, Charlie realizes at last why Johnny refused to flee when they went to kill him. The only man who refuses to run is a man who considers himself to be already dead. Sheila's betrayal had already emotionally killed Johnny long before the bullets ever touched him. Johnny wanted to die (though it is unclear if he knew that Browning was behind the hit). Deciding that Browning deserves to be punished, Charlie and Lee decide to hold Sheila, his wife, for ransom.
However, as the three depart the hotel, Browning opens fire on them with a sniper rifle. Lee is killed instantly, while a wounded Charlie flees back into the hotel.
Meanwhile, at their suburban mansion, Browning and Sheila frantically prepare to escape with the money which they have hidden in their safe. Then, a dying Charlie storms through their front door.
At last revealing her sociopath nature, Sheila frantically denies any role in Johnny's death, insisting that her husband alone was responsible. Browning maintains that it was not him who hired Charlie and Lee to kill Johnny, but it was Sheila. Charlie calmly shoots Browning dead and turns his revolver toward Sheila. When she again pleads for her life, Charlie snarls, "Lady, I don't have the time!" He kills Sheila with a single bullet and hobbles out the door. He falls dead on the lawn while still gripping the money.
