La Amenaza Implacable

"Intent to Kill" is a really good suspense film which was made in Canada and has a very international cast. It is set at a hospital and a South American president (Herbert Lom) is scheduled to have some delicate brain surgery. However, somebody wants him dead and they've recruited a group of gangsters to make sure he doesn't leave the hospital alive. They make one attempt...and end up killing the wrong patient! But they are a very persistent and bloodthirsty lot and they won't stop until he's dead or they're all dead instead.

The film works well because the writing was excellent and the director did a nice job of keeping the tension mounting. The ending, in particular, was very exciting and well worth the wait.

Famous cinematographer Jack Cardiff directed this somewhat offbeat crime thriller and his visual flair is evident. Many shots are more than interesting, and the city of Montreal is used to advantage, filmed in what looks like the dead of winter. There's a feeling of urban bleakness, not unlike many Film Noirs shot in US or UK cities. This could qualify as a minor late-period Noir, with a plot revolving around a band of murderous types who intend to assassinate a South American president, in need of a brain operation, for political reasons. Concerned with safety, the man was moved to a Montreal hospital, but the thugs have followed him there, "intent" on carrying out their mission. The other side of the plot concerns the doctor who treats the South American, and his marital strife. That subplot works fine, thanks to the casting of Richard Todd, Betsy Drake, and a very good list of actors: Alexander Knox, Herbert Lom, Warren Stevens. The latter is particularly intimidating as boss of the murderous gang. The very slightly complicated plot involves some unexpected turns. It's all well directed by Cardiff, with a great climax. Unfortunately, this film is not easy to find in a decent print. It was shot in CinemaScope, but copies all seem to be pan & scan. Let's hope some day it will be restored.

Richard Todd plays a surgeon called on to operate on President Lom whilst trying to keep a grip on his domestic affairs.His wife being played by Euro vision hostess Katie Boyle who shows why she retired from acting.The writers making it more exciting by avoiding the obvious so that Lom is only guarded by one detective,giving open season for the assassins.

A south american president arrives in Canada for brain surgery, but murderers plot the perfect crime. First movie directed by the great director of photography Jack Cardiff ("Under Capricorn", "Black Narcissus", "Pandora and the Flying Dutchman", "The Barefoot Contessa", "The Vikings", ...), "Intent to Kill" is competently directed with good casting but with nothing exceptional except the ending which is an explosive editing must see. The photography is rather realistic with full light (except in few scenes), far from Cardiff's masterpieces as a cinematographer.

The parallels with the MGM film Crisis that starred Cary Grant and Jose Ferrer about a South American dictator having an operation are too obvious to ignore in reviewing Intent To Kill.

The big difference is that while Jose Ferrer had the operation done by a visiting Dr. Cary Grant in Intent To Kill, Herbert Lom comes up from South America and checks into a Montreal hospital to have the operation done by Dr. Richard Todd.

Unfortunately following him are a party of assassins led by American hit man Warren Stevens. They make a couple of tries at Lom.

Unlike Crisis where we go into the type of regime that Ferrer leads and Ferrer is one very thinly disguised portrait of Juan Peron, we never get into why Lom is disliked enough to have assassins trailing him. And for Stevens it's just another contract.

The climax is a real thriller with Todd and nurse Betsy Drake battling the killers. Jack Cardiff made his directorial debut here. We mostly associate Cardiff with bigger budget items and technicolor. But he handled this black and white noir film well indeed.

It would be good to see Intent To Kill and Crisi run back to back.