{"id":11549,"date":"2010-07-06T14:13:17","date_gmt":"2010-07-06T21:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=11549"},"modified":"2021-01-27T13:53:40","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T20:53:40","slug":"born-to-kill-1947","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=11549","title":{"rendered":"Born to Kill (1947)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;You&#8217;re strength&#8230; excitement&#8230; and depravity.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Born-to-Kill-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Born-to-Kill-Poster-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-66399\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Born-to-Kill-Poster-201x300.jpg 201w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Born-to-Kill-Poster-86x128.jpg 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Born-to-Kill-Poster-181x270.jpg 181w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Born-to-Kill-Poster.jpg 505w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA recent divorcee (Claire Trevor) falls for a hunky psychopath (Lawrence Tierney), and finds herself covering up for his murderous tendencies.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Claire Trevor Films<\/li>\n<li>Detectives and Privates Eyes<\/li>\n<li>Elisha Cook Jr. Films<\/li>\n<li>Lawrence Tierney Films<\/li>\n<li>Psychopaths<\/li>\n<li>Robert Wise Films<\/li>\n<li>Social Climbers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nDubbed by New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1947\/05\/01\/archives\/the-screen.html\">&#8220;not only morally disgusting but &#8230; an offense to a normal intellect&#8221;<\/a>, and labeled by DVD Savant <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1658kill.html\">&#8220;one of the nastier <em>films noir<\/em> [sic],&#8221;<\/a> this lurid flick by director Robert Wise tells the tale of an irredeemably psychopathic killer (Tierney as &#8220;Sam Wild&#8221;) who finds his would-be soul-mate in Claire Trevor&#8217;s cool and calculating neo-socialite, Helen Brant. As in the best <em>noir<\/em>, these two characters are utterly deserving of each other, but find themselves foiled (inevitably) by their own ambitions. In a unique twist, however, Tierney is the <em>homme fatale <\/em>in the equation &#8212; the irresistible <em>male<\/em> who causes havoc on the otherwise ordered lives of those around him. <\/p>\n<p>While in some ways gruff-guy Tierney (best known for playing the title role in 1945&#8217;s <em>Dillinger<\/em>) is perfectly cast, he&#8217;s ultimately not a nuanced enough actor to bring Wild&#8217;s inner life to the surface; we never get a sense of him as anything other than a menacing hulk &#8212; and, given his lack of charisma, it&#8217;s difficult to see why so many women would fall head over heels for him. (He&#8217;s handsome and strong &#8212; definitely &#8220;not a turnip&#8221;, as one character puts it &#8212; but not THAT handsome!) <\/p>\n<p>Trevor, however, does wonders with her challenging role, managing to make Helen sympathetic even as she stupidly gives up a life of luxury and contentment (with dull but moneyed Phillip Terry) for the questionable [sexual] thrills afforded her by Tierney. While there&#8217;s much critical discussion of Trevor&#8217;s dramatic eyebrow-raising throughout the film, I find her performance refreshingly sincere. The cast of supporting performers are mostly fine as well, with reliable B-actor Elisha Cook, Jr. playing nicely against type (sort of) as <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Of_mice_and_men\">a care-taking &#8220;George&#8221; to Tierney&#8217;s &#8220;Lennie&#8221;<\/a> (he has a bit more spunk here than in his usual roles), and the inimitable Esther Howard &#8212; whose grotesquely fascinating face is as creaky and crooked as a jalopy &#8212; equally effective as the catalyst who brings Walter Slezak&#8217;s <em>sleazy<\/em> PI to San Francisco. <\/p>\n<p>Less impressive is Audrey Long as Trevor&#8217;s conveniently naive and gold-hearted foster sister, who is simply too beautiful to be credible as a wealthy heiress so easily won over by an uncultured lout like Tierney. Other elements of the plot strain credulity as well, simply through lack of sufficient explanation &#8212; i.e., what is Tierney&#8217;s relationship, past and present, with Cook, Jr.? How did Trevor get to be Long&#8217;s &#8220;foster sister&#8221;, and why is Long so loyal to her? Ultimately, however, one watches a picture like this simply to see how the corrupt protagonists will meet their ends &#8212; and the ride until then (implausibilities aside) is mostly satisfying, thanks to Trevor&#8217;s memorable performance, some crackling dialogue, and Robert De Grasse&#8217;s <em>noir<\/em>-ish cinematography. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Claire Trevor as Helen Brent<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/born-to-kill-trevor2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/born-to-kill-trevor2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11557\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine supporting performances by Elisha Cook, Jr., Esther Holland, and others<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/born-to-kill-cookjr.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/born-to-kill-cookjr.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11558\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/born-to-kill-howard.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/born-to-kill-howard.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11559\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Robert De Grasse&#8217;s cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/born-to-kill-cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/born-to-kill-cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11560\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Some zingy dialogue:<br \/>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;He&#8217;s the quiet sort, but you get the feeling that if you got out of line, he&#8217;d kick your teeth down your throat.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, simply for Trevor&#8217;s performance. Listed as a Sleeper in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0039211\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1947\/05\/01\/archives\/the-screen.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.noiroftheweek.com\/2006\/05\/born-to-kill-1947.html\">Noir of the Week Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tcm.com\/tcmdb\/title\/2646\/born-to-kill\/#articles-reviews?articleId=33912\">TCM Article<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.combustiblecelluloid.com\/classic\/borntokill.shtml\">Combustible Celluloid Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nickschager.com\/nsfp\/2006\/05\/born_to_kill_19.html\">Nick Schager&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dvdtalk.com\/dvdsavant\/s1658kill.html\">DVD Savant Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/film\/reviews\/68292\/born_to_kill.html\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;You&#8217;re strength&#8230; excitement&#8230; and depravity.&#8221; Synopsis: A recent divorcee (Claire Trevor) falls for a hunky psychopath (Lawrence Tierney), and finds herself covering up for his murderous tendencies. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Claire Trevor Films Detectives and Privates Eyes Elisha Cook Jr. Films Lawrence Tierney Films Psychopaths Robert Wise Films Social Climbers Review: Dubbed by New York Times reviewer Bosley Crowther as &#8220;not only morally disgusting but &#8230; an offense to a normal intellect&#8221;, and labeled by DVD Savant &#8220;one&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=11549\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11549"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11549\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66401,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11549\/revisions\/66401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}