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THE KILLING (1956)
Stanley Kubrick's first major film is a classic exercise in film noir, set in motion by a thieving mastermind (Sterling Hayden), a bumbling cuckold (Elisha Cook Jr.), and a racetrack heist gone awry due to the cuckold's double-crossing dame (a fiendishly fabulous Marie Windsor). It all comes together — or rather, falls apart — when Hayden's money-filled suitcase bursts open en route to the getaway jet, papering the tarmac (and shocked onlookers) with bills. The chaotic final scene, money whipping across the screen like a blizzard, exists in perfect counterpoint to the precisely planned robbery, showing that even the best-laid plans can be foiled by a ill-fated toss of the dice. —Adrienne Day
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