This gem captures the dark side of the 1940s, with shoulder pads on its stars, male and female, a sociopathic hunk of a leading man--and people who cross his path dropping like flies. It has the awesome Laurence Tierney throwing women around, Claire Trevor going toe-to-toe with him, and the most delightful character actors of the day getting their two cents in to this most implausible tale, making us beg for more. The screen lights up when we meet Esther Howard, a blowzy old dame sharing a beer or two or six with her neighbor played by Isabel Jewell, who does a perfect turn as a party girl with a little dog. Howard never disappoints as the story unfolds, keeping her freewheeling, openhearted character totally in focus and stealing scene after scene. Elisha Cook Jr. is better here than I have ever seen him, and Walter Slezak too is at his best as the sleazy private eye. One of the best of its kind, BORN TO KILL certainly achieves an "A" for the whole "B" movie genre.

This movie was pretty violent for coming out during the Hays Code. I guess they let some things slide because it was released by RKO. In particular, the first murder scene is very violent, and realistic, for a 1947 film. The movie is very cold-hearted. Sam (Lawrence Tierney) is essentially a male version of a femme fatale. He is greedy and without a conscious. Murder doesn't bother him, and he plays with women's emotions to get what he wants. He is also child-like in that he lets his emotions (angry, violent, and self-centered) control him. The only person who can influence him is Marty, a "friend" from prison who also happens to share a room and a bed with Sam. Although it's possible that there was no implied gay relationship between them, it was the 40s and filmmakers had to be subtle. The reason I think this interpretation is valid is because Marty is the only who can calm Sam down, and in addition to their living situation, seems too important to ignore. The women are cold-hearted too, but not as evil as Sam.Overall, the movie is a very enjoyable noir, and it deserves to be more widely known. I for one think it is better than the Big Sleep. The ending was perhaps a bit too neat, but it worked nonetheless.8/10

Lawrence Tierney, who co-stars in this slice of cinema noir, had one problem. He couldn't act. To call his performances wooden is an insult to timber. So here are Claire Trevor as a desperate divorcée, Walter Slezak as a greedy gumshoe, Elisha Cook, Jr. as the sort of homicidal pal every murderer needs and wonderful Esther Howard as a besotted old lush, acting up a storm -- and Tierney offering up one of the two or three expressions of which he was capable. Under Robert Wise's direction, there are some grittily colorful sequences -- like an attempted slaying atop a sand dune. Imagine Bogart or Mitchum as the psycho -- and this would have been an intriguing thriller. As it is, it's barely passable.

Having just obtained a divorce in Reno, Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) accidentally catches the eye of a homicidal maniac named "Sam Wild" (Lawrence Tierney) at one of the gaming tables. Not long afterward he kills two of Helen's acquaintances and decides to get on the same train that Helen is taking back to San Francisco. They strike up a conversation and Helen becomes intrigued with him even though she is currently engaged to another man named "Fred Grover" (Phillip Terry). This causes a serious emotional conflict within her because even though Fred offers peace and safety for her, Sam excites her. Even more troublesome is the fact that Sam decides to marry her sister, "Georgia Staples" (Audrey Long) for her money. Now rather than reveal the entire plot, I will just say that this film revolves sharply around Helen's dual nature and Claire Trevor plays it very nicely. On the other hand, I thought Lawrence Tierney's performance was somewhat flat and mechanical. Even so, this was an interesting movie which I think fans of film noir will probably enjoy.