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Born to Kill (1947)

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19 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Everything you want a Film Noir to be, 8 December 2004

Author: mackjay from Boston

"Born To Kill" is some kind of minor phenomenon. It is hard to believe it was even made or released in 1947. This picture is so hard-boiled, so unrelentingly downbeat that audiences must have been shocked or frightened by it.

There are so many elements that make this film memorable: the perfect casting of Lawrence Tierney as Sam, the amoral killer is one of the few truly scary villains of the 1940s. Claire Trevor, a gifted, subtle performer, is also perfect as Helen, a woman trapped between wanting what she can never really have and a self-destructive desire for the ruthless criminal Sam. Elisha Cook, Jr is superb as always, playing a strangely solicitous companion to Sam: we never know where his devotion is coming from. And then there is Esther Howard, giving a highly original performance as an aging woman who wades in too deep, trying to avenge her friend's murder. There is a striking scene between Howard and Claire Trevor, in which the latter attempts to frighten the older woman into giving up her mission. Perhaps best of all is the ending, eminently fitting, yet totally atypical for the era.

The film is shot in the familiar style of the period we now label "Noir", but this time the look is matched by the content. There is something grim, yet compulsively watchable about "Born To Kill". It would not be an overstatement to call it a study in corruption. Helen is drawn to Sam because her own life is so unexciting, but she oversteps her mark and enters a world of pure, cold evil.

It is indeed surprising to realize that this dark, brooding minor masterpiece was directed by Robert Wise, better known for "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music". But Wise, in his early career, had worked with Val Lewton on "The Body Snatchers" and, two years after the film under discussion, would direct "The Set-Up", another Noir sleeper.

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19 out of 23 people found the following comment useful :-
Original, Bizarre Noirish Masterpiece, 6 March 2005

Author: Hal-900 from WA, USA

I often wonder why director Robert Wise doesn't get the respect he richly deserves. If one looks at Wise's filmography, one immediately notices how he traveled from genre to genre with amazing fluidity. Unlike most directors, Wise succeeded in almost every imaginable film genre. "Born to Kill" is definitively a great example of Wise's incredible versatility. It is a bizarre, creepy, nasty murder-mystery, light years away from Wise's sunny "The Sound of Music"; it is just mind-boggling to find out that the same person directed both films. One simply cannot fully understand what Wise is doing here, but then, that turns out to be part of the fun. At certain moments, I didn't know if I should have laughed, cried or screamed. What is most interesting about the film is how patient Wise is in building up the film's twists and turns. You think you know where the story is heading to but you really don't. I don't want to spoil any surprises, so I'm just going to say that if you are a fan of noir, this is mandatory viewing. The acting is sensational. Lawrence Tierney is great as a handsome sociopath. Claire Trevor's complex characterization proves that she could be as effective as Barbara Stanwyck and/or Bette Davis in this sort of role. Walter Slezak is a sleazy detective, and the great Elisha Cook Jr. does one of his memorable turns. They are all superb. Wise infuses the film with an air of depravity that is fascinating to watch but hard to absorb. A real gem and one of the most interesting films of its kind.

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12 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
Born To Watch This More Than Once, 17 December 2005

Author: ccthemovieman-1 from Lockport, NY, United States

Here is another one of those films I didn't particularly care for the first time around, but gave it a second chance some years later and was rewarded. Now I love the film and am a Lawrence Tierney fan.

Tierney's intense character, his hot temper and insane paranoid jealousy are, well, fun to watch once you get to like this actor and his tough-guy roles. Tierney, in this film, would kill over the slightest thing that would suggest to him that he might be getting double crossed. Talk about a guy with mental problems!

Trevor was effective as the immoral woman who cared for money first, and everything else a distant second. As good as she and Tierney play off each other, for me, the most entertaining parts of the film were watching three of the supporting characters, played by Elisha Cook Jr., Walter Slezak and Esther Howard.

Cook played his normal film noir jittery-worried gangster accomplice and victim. He made a living playing these type of roles. Slezak was the Shakespeare/ Bible--quoting detective and Howard was a real hoot as an old lady trying to track down the killer of her young friend.

This is film noir in all its moodiness and hard attitude. If you find it a bit slow, please give it a second chance. These characters grow on you!

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11 out of 12 people found the following comment useful :-
If there's hard-core noir, this is it!, 21 June 2000

Author: bmacv from Western New York

Robert Wise does not come to mind as a master director of film noir, but he came through with flying colors (all black) in this gem, starting out in Reno, Nevada, and ending up in San Francisco. Claire Trevor, the dark spider of so much noir, outdoes herself in cold malevolence here (she should have copped the Oscar for this film, not Key Largo). Her evenly matched partner is the frightening Lawrence Tierney (who last showed up as Elaine Benes' author dad on Seinfeld, not to mention in Prizzi's Honor and Reservoir Dogs). The supporting cast, for once, earns its keep (though Walter Slezak, as a corrupt detective, is oddly irrelevant to the story). If you're a fan of these dark post-war films, Born to Kill is central to the canon.

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12 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Well done but unpleasant, 18 January 2005

Author: Michael Morrison (morrisonhimself@consultant.com) from Arizona

"Born To Kill" is a very unpleasant film.

Its premise is unpleasant, its narrative is unpleasant, its denouement is unpleasant.

Unfortunately it is very well done.

The cast was great, with superlative performances from actors who mostly didn't become household names.

Claire Trevor, who did, was outstanding, looking her best, giving one of her best portrayals.

Elisha Cook, Jr., gives an excellent performance, perhaps the best chance he ever had in movies to shine, to portray a sympathetic character.

Too often he was just someone slimy, unlikable. If his character got bumped off, mostly it was good riddance.

In "Born To Kill" he showed he should have been given more respect in Hollywood, given more and better roles. Elisha Cook's performance is enough reason to watch.

Esther Howard, who made scores of movies, steals nearly every scene she is in. That her character gets so many chances to do so is a tribute to the writers and producers who didn't shortchange the script or its audiences.

Kathryn Card, who later played the mother of Lucy Ricardo on "I Love Lucy," is a maid in "Born To Kill," yet she is such a dominant personality she stands out.

Again it is a tribute to the writers and producers that the character is allowed to do so, to speak lines, to be a visible part of the story.

Other "minor" characters are played by names, Ellen Corby, for instance, often uncredited except here at IMDb, who went on to some fame and fortune, and they got a chance, with this script and under the direction of Robert Wise (surely proved a genius over the years), to be more than atmosphere or background.

"Born To Kill" is not fun, but it is something film historians will want to see.

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11 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
Leads shine along highway to hell in film noir gem, 29 April 2000

Author: Kambei_Shimada from Dublin, Ireland

I was delighted when I saw that Quentin Tarantino had given a starring role in his debut film, Reservoir Dogs, to Lawrence Tierney. I had read somewhere a year or two prior to its release that he had been finding it hard to get roles; that invariably he was involved in barroom brawls and , well, that he was difficult. Of course, the role didn't require any great acting ability and it couldn't be said that the big lug had grown old gracefully, but I got the impression that it was in recognition of his services to cult filmdom that he was being rewarded by the new kid on the block.

I first saw Born To Kill in the late 80's on one of those TV channels dedicated to old black and white movies and I was immediately wowed. It was my first sight of Lawrence Tierney and both in his presence and the enthusiasm he brought to his role he certainly made a huge impression. You could never accuse him of being a great actor but he had the perfect bad guy presence: he had the physique and tough look about him that neither Bogart nor the diminutive Raft could touch and, while his features were certainly handsome enough for Hollywood, his smile was too disarming to make him a romantic lead (it reminded me nothing so much as a shark at feeding time). And this role was perfect for him: ruthless, amoral, his character, Sam Wild, was like a steamroller who mowed down anybody, girlfriends, men friends, wives, that stood in his way or upset him. It may well have been the closest to the big leagues that he got and, for me, its the best thing he's ever done (and, under Wise's economic direction, the film could certainly compare favourably with Reservoir Dogs).

The film sits well with all those minor noir classics the late 40's and early 50's with apparent ease: Wise's own The Set-Up; Anthony Mann's Raw Deal and the T-Men, Kiss Of Death, and Ray's masterly debut, They Live By Night.

It's not specified just who the title refers to but it could apply equally and aptly to both Tierney's and his peerless co-star's Claire Trevor (for me the Queen of the noir femme fatales)characters.(In the UK it is titled Lady OF Deceit but in my opinion it does Tierney a disservice by apparently ignoring his contribution to the mayhem).

The story is basically a simple one: Tierney is an ex-boxer who is prone to violent fits of jealousy which erupts with fatal consequences when he spots a girl friend out with another man. Claire Trevor's character discovers the bodies but finds herself attracted to the excitement and danger which she sees Tierney providing for her while recognising his flaws.

He uses Trevor to marry into family money while at the same time needing the thrill of an adulterous affair with her. Of course, that could never work!.

Perversely, I found myself cheering for Tierney and Trevor and hoping that they would find true love (maybe it's because the other loves are such drips), but that could never be in noir. In addition to the stars, it boasts wonderful performances by notorious scene-stealers, Elisha Cook Jr., and Walter Slezak, while Esther Howard is a delight as a boarding house owner who realises that a beach is not always the safest place at night.

Although Robert Wise acquitted himself well in his later big budget films, its in films such as this, the aforementioned Set-Up, and his Val Lewton horror classics that he showed himself to be an economic, effective and underrated director. Not in the Howard Hawks league for versatlity,for sure, but he always told a good story well which more highly-touted directors often found beyond them. While not quite major league noir, its one I turn to regularly and it never disappoints

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12 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Lawrence Tierney was EVIL in this FILM !, 29 September 2003

Author: whpratt1 from United States

First viewed this film in 1947, and Lawrence Tierney (Sam Wilde) "Dillinger" '45, terrified me with his evil eyes and hateful expressions, Sam Wilde truly portrayed a man without a soul and created before your very eyes a cold blooded killer who stopped at nothing. Walter Slezak (Albert Arnett) followed him around and quoted from the Bible and at the same time, was a crook himself. Walter Slezak was an unappreciated great actor who gave a great performance in "Wonderful Life" '64 and unfortunately took his own life. Claire Trevor (Helen Brent) "Key Largo" '48 could not make up her mind between lovers, but deep down loved and identified with Sam Wilde. Elisha Cook Jr., (Marty Waterman) "I Wake Up Screaming" '41, was Sam Wilde's henchman, who did all of his dirty work and had a great deal of trouble on the sand dunes with an old lady. In 1967, I ran into Lawrence Tierney in a bar on Broadway, NYC and bought him a beer, he was a construction worker at the time with a hard hat, and was a great down to earth guy, however, you had to weigh your words with him. Lawrence Tierney performed the best Dillinger film that ever came out of Hollywood, this film is a great classic which will be seen for many generations to view and enjoy!

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11 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
Feasible, 23 January 2005

Author: David (Handlinghandel) from NY, NY

The character of that great actor Elisha Cook, Jr., uses this word over and he over. Not too bright, he seems to be trying to better himself through ten-dollar words. His choice in friends, though -- the Laurence Tierney character, specifically -- leaves a lot to be desired.

Cook's character is quite well drawn. Tierney's is sketchy. The marriage of an heiress to him is not believable, really: She's not so plain that she'd jump at the first man to court her.

Tierney was in some good noirs but he sure was a wooden actor.

The two casting coups here were Walter Slezak as the intellectual but down-and-out detective. His wry sense of humor is entirely plausible under these circumstances and more pungent than a more stereotypical wisecracker would have been.

Katherine Howard gives a performance that is also somewhat comic, though it's very poignant. Her boozy crusader for the facts is fascinating -- thought her agreeing to meet an obviously shady character like Cook in a deserted area of an unfamiliar city seems pretty implausible.

To me, the script is a little rough on the Claire Trevor character. Trevor is superb, truly superb. And the character indeed is greedy and manipulative. But we lovers of noir have seen worse: the Audrey Totter character in "Tension," for example, who has no redeeming value whatever. Trevor is a troubled woman here and, though she may have been born to assist killers, the other characters and the plot seem to gang up on her a bit too much toward the end.

The director, Robert Wise, has always been a mystery to me. He made so many fine movies in the 1940s and early fifties. And though I still dream of an uncut "Magnificent Ambersons," it doesn't look as if we'll ever get one. Cutting out the last reels was not his idea and he did mold it into what even though butchered is one of the greatest of all American movies.

Yet in the 1960s particularly, he turned to such bloated, commercial junk -- the absolute antithesis of cynical movies like this or "The Set-Up." Of course there was more money in them, but there seems no discernible connection between the director of his noirs and that of his musicals and abominations like "Two for the Seesaw" in terms of style.

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7 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
The femme fatal meets her match., 23 July 2005

Author: Ham_and_Egger from Indianapolis, Indiana

Truly one of the most sinister of RKO's hardcore noirs, Born to Kill is as close to real nihilism as a Hollywood studio picture was likely to come. The only remotely sympathetic characters are a pair of dupes and an old drunk, everyone who's got anything on the ball is corrupt and ruthless.

Sam Wilde (Lawrence Tierney) is a homme fatal, as attractive yet deadly to women as any of a dozen femmes fatal in other films are to men. Unable to resist his glowering masculine wiles is Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) who is nearly as black-hearted as he is. All the other characters circle around them like moths around a flame. As is to be expected money, murder, and lust all have their parts to play.

To be honest Lawrence Tierney's performance is fairly one dimensional, but it is a hell of a dimension. He menaces, scowls, and swaggers through the picture, always ready to attack, like an alley cat that's found it's way inside. His character's bluntness is played for maximum effect, wisely since Tierney is no Bogart. He does manage some good, direct, lines, in response to Trevor's, "Oh, I wouldn't say that...," he tightens his lips and spits out, "No. You wouldn't say it, but that's how it is." With Tierney turning up the heat, it's up to Claire Trevor to sweat. She rides the moral see-saw much like Fred MacMurray reacting to Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity. Even without the benefit of a voice-over she pulls it off quite well, convincingly playing a woman caught between her safe, malleable (and rich) fiancée and the exciting but untamed Wilde.

There are three strong supporting performances. Elisha Cook, Jr. is Marty Waterman, Sam's "friend" who does his best to keep the lid on the pot (and to deliver most of the lines in their shared scenes). Esther Howard is Mrs. Kraft, a boardinghouse owner who is important to the plot. Especially good is Walter Slezak as the genteel detective Arnett.

Born to Kill does have a few flaws, the pacing is somewhat questionable and several of the important characters are either missing or blindingly stupid throughout most of the picture. But on the whole Tierney, Trevor, and the others deliver and there's enough tension to keep things interesting. The film is based on a novel 'Deadlier Than the Male' but given Tierney's looks and personality that title doesn't truly seem to fit the movie, it's a rare case of the man luring the woman to her doom.

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5 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Can the same man have directed THE SOUND OF MUSIC?!, 6 December 1999

Author: Darragh O' Donoghue (hitch1899_@hotmail.com) from Dublin, Ireland

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.

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