bkoganbing
This noir film directed by Robert Wise is bereft of characters you can sympathize with save for Audrey Long and Phillip Terry. It does however rivet your attention to the leads of Lawrence Tierney and Claire Trevor, a pair of amorals if I ever saw one.Back in Reno where Trevor was getting shed of a husband she happens to discover the murders of Isabelle Jewell and Tony Barrett done by a very jealous man played by Lawrence Tierney whom she meets on the train to San Francisco. They like each other, but he focuses on Audrey Long, Trevor's half sister who was lucky enough to have a father worth a fortune.But Tierney's past is ever so slowly creeping up on him. And Trevor while now engaged to Terry, still she can't resist Tierney. Pity these two just didn't hitch, they truly deserve each other and not the people they were going with.What I love about Born To Kill is the great care that Robert Wise took in both assembling his supporting cast and fleshing them out. Rarely do you see that in a B film. Those already mentioned plus Elisha Cook, Jr. as Tierney's luckless pal, Walter Slezak as a private detective open to a little blackmail, and Esther Howard as the landlady in Reno who hires Slezak to investigate the murder of her friend Jewell.Born To Kill will keep you glued to the television or the big screen as it did in 1946 I'm sure. A truly fascinating bunch.
AaronCapenBanner
Robert Wise directed this film noir that stars Lawrence Tierney as Sam Wild, a cold and ruthless killer who meets up with equally ruthless Helen Brent(played by Claire Trevor) on a train leaving San Francisco. They fall in love, but decide to marry other people in an effort to social climb and get rich, which includes Sam marrying Helen's wealthy foster sister! Helen doesn't know at first that Sam murdered a woman that she had known, but never told the police about because she didn't want to get involved, and that will come back to haunt her as suspicions and jealousies spiral out-of-control... Well-acted and directed thriller overcomes its contrived story by being quite interesting.
Roger Burke
There are few actors who are prepared to take on the role of evil again and again. Tough guy Lawrence Tierney was one such actor, appearing in The Ghost Ship (1943), Dillinger (1945), The Devil Thumbs A Ride (1947) and The Hoodlum (1951) plus a few outings in westerns playing outlaw, and Jesse James twice, even.The storyline on the main page gives you enough to know about the plot at the outset; so, I won't repeat much here. Instead, I concentrate of the characters and the revealing implications contained in the whole story.In this story, Tierney is true to form: arrogant, petulant, egocentric, coldly homicidal, and psychologically insecure. In today's parlance, he'd probably be classed as clinical sociopath. Assisting him (as Sam Wild – what a deliciously appropriate name!), we see Claire Trevor as Helen Brent, a quick-witted gold digger with the morals of a corrupt cop or politician, who is, respectively, attracted to and repulsed by Sam Wild's forceful persona and his ruthless, take-no-prisoners modus operandi.Sam's the dominant partner in crime; Helen's along for the exciting ride, or so she says. Together, they make a formidable pair in crime. Accompanying Sam, we see Elisha Cook Jnr as the affably degenerate Marty Waterman who, as the plot develops, is revealed as not just a verbal punching bag for Sam, but also an alter ego who can get things done – including functioning as an effete gunsel for Sam, in more ways than one. The two men have been together for five years or more, obviously sleeping on the same double bed in their rented room – an aspect that certainly points to more than just a business partner relationship, given the character of both.And, given the year of production of this movie and the power of the Hays Code at that time, I wonder how much was left on the cutting-room floor to satisfy its demands prior to distribution.On the sidelines, and as a growing presence, we see Walter Slezak as Arnett, a sleazy, greasy, all-too-easily corrupted PI who is always on the make and on the take – from whom ever he can. He'd been hired by Mrs Kraft (Ester Howard) to track down Sam Wild who'd murdered two people in Reno and was now in San Francisco. So there, while digging up the dirt on Sam, Arnett discovers he can maybe get a bigger payoff by twisting Helen's arm, so to speak, for a bigger cash prize than the fee he's currently getting from Kraft. Unfortunately for Arnett, he gets what he deserves, instead.And throughout all of these insidious shenanigans, the "nice" people of San Francisco – Phillip Terry as Fred, and Audrey Long as Georgina – struggle to make sense of Helen and Sam. Fred and Georgina represent the epitome of what The American Dream is supposed to be; instead, we see them enmeshed in the American Nightmare that has invaded their oh-so-idealistic, consumer-driven lives. It's a powerful message that suffuses the story from the very first, and which gradually builds on each and every dirty trick and deed perpetrated by the Unholy Three of Sam, Helen and Marty. As film noir, it's an excellent example with an inexorable build-up of suspense and dread. Lawrence Tierney is simply made for the role of sociopath, and Claire Trevor, as femme fatale, responds in a similar fashion. Sure, it's melodrama; that, however, makes the implicit indictment of The American Dream all the more effective, and ironic, as the dark side of business in America is stripped bare. Elisha Cook Jnr, as always, plays his supporting role to the limit; and Walter Slezak never fails to entertain.Add in the professionalism of Robert Wise's direction and you can be assured of an entertaining and thought-provoking 92 minutes.The production is in black and white, of course; and overall, it's up to the mark to qualify as an excellent B-movie. Recommended for all Tierney fans and lovers of film noir.Give this 8 out of 10.January 18, 2013.
Patryk Czekaj
Born to Kill is one film noir that surely deserves its title. Lawrence Tierney plays a ruthless, psychopathic character named Sam Wild. That he was 'born' to kill is confirmed in the first few moments of the picture, when the man kills an innocent couple out of sheer jealousy and sudden outburst of aggression.The only person to see the bodies lying lifelessly on the floor is a beautiful woman Helen Trent (Claire Trevor), whose divorce has just come through, but she really doesn't want to get involved in the whole murderous affair and decides not to tell anybody about what she saw. The whole narrative changes abruptly, as the two characters meet on-board of a train bound for San Francisco, and instantly fall in love. Realizing that Helen is already married to another man, Sam decides to fall for her wealthy, tender and enthusiastic half-sister Georgia (Audrey Long), just to make Helen jealous and unhappy. Even though they're both in relationships, their whopping yet disastrous love flourishes. Unfortunately, the detectives starts snooping around in order to find the double murderer. Enter Marty (Elisha Cook Jr.), Sam's old pal, who arrives in San Francisco and brings the cops along with him. In a sudden and unexpected turn of events, Marty is found dead and the two doomed lovers continue their illicit love affair. Even when Helen is sure that Sam is the true killer, she doesn't stop loving him. In the intense finale Sam is finally caught and faces arrest, but he decides that he won't back down now and commits the one last crime...Born to Kill is a rather uneven, yet distressingly macabre melodrama with a nifty storyline and a typically-noirish mix of failed romance and cold-blooded murder. Though it's hardly original in its themes, it still entangles the audiences with its tense, moody atmosphere and Lawrence Tierney's most sinister role ever.
