The Heist Film: The Killing (1956) Artwork

Special Topics in Media

Special Topics in Media Studies is a lecture-based podcast that tackles media history one artifact at a time. Each season of the series we will investigate a different mass media theme, medium, or programming genre. While our focus is educational (it is an academic podcast after all), we tailor our conversations toward a broad audience of media enthusiasts.

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The Heist Film: The Killing (1956)

December 09, 2025 • Garret Castleberry • Season 5 • Episode 3

What's old is new! Special Topics in Media breaks into the next "vault" discussion (circa fall 2021) celebrating The Heist Film. Host Garret Castleberry hoodwinks Scott McMurry into the job of a lifetime. The dialogic duo wind back the clock to dissect Stanley Kubrick's forgotten film noir masterpiece, The Killing (1956). Does The Killing demonstrate the secret to heist movie success as a specialized film genre?

Host: Garret Castleberry, Scott McMurry

Producers: Garret Castleberry, Will McMurry (Audio Engineer), Alli Garner (Cover Art), Austin Foster (Music)

Recommended readings to pair with Season 5 "The Heist Film":
Jim Leach & Jeannette Slowniowski (editors). The Best Laid Plans: Interrogating the Heist Film. Wayne State University Press, 2017.

Daryl Lee. The Heist Film: Stealing With Style. Wallflower Press, 2014.

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Garret's academic website is available at https://garretcastleberry.academia.edu/.