Born to Kill (1947)

Director:

Robert Wise

Writers:

Eve Greene (screenplay) and
Richard Macaulay (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 May 1947 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Film-Noir | Drama

Tagline:

The coldest killer a woman ever loved.

Plot:

In Reno a man kills a girl he likes and her boyfriend out of jealousy; it may not be the first time...

Plot Keywords:

Disturbing | Taxicab | Crimes Of Passion | Foster Sister | Tense

Cast

Claire Trevor	...	Helen Trent
Lawrence Tierney	...	Sam Wild
Walter Slezak	...	Matthew Arnett
Phillip Terry	...	Fred Grover
Audrey Long	...	Georgia Staples
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Marty
Isabel Jewell	...	Laury Palmer
Esther Howard	...	Mrs. Kraft
Kathryn Card	...	Grace
Tony Barrett	...	Danny
Grandon Rhodes	...	Police Inspector Wilson
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jason Robards Sr.	...	Conductor (scenes deleted)
Stanley Stone	...	Train Conductor (scenes deleted)

Also Known As:

Deadlier Than the Male (USA) (working title)
Lady of Deceit (UK)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | USA:Approved (PCA #11703, Adult Audience)

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Quotes:

Albert Arnett: As you grow older, you'll discover that life is very much like coffee - the aroma is always better than the actuality.

Can the same man have directed THE SOUND OF MUSIC?!

A repellent film noir, and I mean that as a compliment. It's remarkable for a number of things. The fact that it was directed by Robert Wise, a man who would go on to direct bland big-budget spectaculars (he'd already butchered THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS). The fact that it is so unpleasant and misanthropic - the good characters are pallid dupes; the bad ones have a vivid animalistic sexuality that drives the film; the moral force is a blowsy ineffectual drunk; the detective, figure of law and restoration of order, is cheerfully corrupt. The violence is quite sickening, even today; the misogyny is blatant, not narrative; Lawrence Tierney's masculinity is troubling, thrilling, sexually disruptive, and unclassifiable in Hollywood's history in its unredeemed nastiness and amorality. All this, and a rare Hollywood movie to deal with class.