Born to Kill

As the saying goes - "They sure don't make 'em like this one anymore."

And, when it comes to that old, familiar saying - It couldn't possibly be any more true than it does when discussing 1947's "Born To Kill".

This vintage Hollywood crime-drama is an absolute hoot of pure old-school soap opera where the implausible situations and the unintentionally laughable dialog is so off-the-wall at times that it couldn't be anything but a riot to watch.

So - If you're in the mood to completely suspend disbelief, then, you are certain to get a kick of pure pleasure out of watching "Born To Kill".

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.

.... and there's a very good reason. He was a one-trick actor, a limited guy who could only look stern or cruel. I can't remember him ever showing any heart or any desirable quality in any of his pictures. And yet you can't take your eyes off him when he's on screen, hoping for a flash of human feeling, which never comes.

Fortunately, in this picture he is surrounded by good actors giving great performances, and they pick up the slack for him. Claire Trevor carries the load here as a woman attracted to evil personified, in Tierney. Audrey Long, Walter Slezak and Elisha Cook,Jr. all shine in support.

Starting a new paragraph for Esther Howard whom I can't recall seeing before but who gives a soulful, heartbreaking performance as a drunken landlady, a performance which should have gotten at least an Oscar nomination. She wasn't just good - she was perfect.

"Born To Kill" is one of the best of the Film Noir genre and is shamefully neglected in noir seminars and festivals. I would put it right behind "Out Of The Past", which is at the top of my list.

In Reno, the cold-hearted Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) has just divorced from her husband and returns to the boarding house owned by Mrs. Kraft (Esther Howard) to pay her expenses and say goodbye to her and to Mrs. Kraft neighbor and best friend Laury Palmer (Isabel Jewell) since she intends to return to San Francisco early in the morning. Helen goes to a casino to celebrate her divorce and glances at the gambler Sam Wild (Lawrence Tierney) and Laury also goes to the casino with her boyfriend Danny Jaden (Tony Barrett). When Laury sees Sam, she sneaks with Danny since she had dated the gambler. Late night, Danny and Laury go to her house and Sam is waiting for them and kills the couple in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Helen sees Laury's dog on the street and brings it to the house. When she sees the bodies in the kitchen, she does not report to the police and heads to the train station, where she meets Sam. They travel together and Sam lodges in the Terrace Hotel. When Sam visits Helen, he leans that she lives in the mansion of her foster sister, the millionaire Georgia Staples (Audrey Long) and is the fiancée of the wealthy Fred Grover (Phillip Terry). The gold-digger Sam seduces Georgia and sooner they get married, but the calculating Helen feels horny for Sam. Meanwhile Mrs. Kraft hires the smart and sleazy private eyes Matthew Albert Arnett (Walter Slezak) to investigate the murder of her friend Laury.

"Born to Kill" is a film-noir that tells the story of a cold, greedy and calculating woman that feels desire for a ruthless killer. Claire Trevor performs an ambitious woman that is an iceberg and plans to marry for money with a good man that controls her bad instincts and sees her world collapsing when she meets the amoral killer Sam Wild. Marty 'Mart' Waterman (Elisha Cook Jr.) has a strange friendship with Sam and the fact that they share a double bad in the low-budget hotel may give a hint that they have a homosexual relationship. Walter Slezak has also a great performance in the role of a sleazy character. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Nascido para Matar" ("Born to Kill")

Superior film noir classic directed by the late Robert Wise about Claire Trevor and her love for a killer, Lawrence Tierney. A couple is murdered by Tierney in Reno because he was jealous and easily angered to the point of violence. Trevor finds the bodies but leaves after finalizing her divorce. While on the train, she meets up with Tierney and has instant chemistry with him. Only trouble is that she has a fiancée with a lot of money and Tierney is broke. Well, just like with any film noir, it gets more complicated with Tierney marrying Trevor's foster sister(a wealthy woman in her own right) and being tailed by sleazy, literate detective Walter Slezak. Wise does a more than adequate job creating tension and suspense in this film and leaving no character's sense of good in tact. All of the characters it seems are of dubious natures with Esther Howard's roly-poly drunk with a heart of gold coming out as the most ethical! The acting by the leads and the supporting cast are first-rate. I am so surprised that Tierney, a man I immediately remembered from a Seinfeld episode and from Reservoir Dogs, was so good so long ago. He seemed to have dropped out of the public eye for so long, but his acting definitely shows great potential. I believe I read that alcoholism was behind this. At any rate, Tierney is very good, Trevor plays one of the coldest performances on screen(her lines to Howard were absolutely chilling), Slezak is vintage Slezak - an oily, good-humoured man looking out for himself, Elisha Cook Jr. gives another good turn as Tierney's buddy, and Howards excels as the drunken woman. The scenes with her and Cook were well-paced and effectively frightening. Born to Kill is nothing great in terms of plot or story - we have seen much of the same before - but under the adroit eyes of Wise and aided by big performances by talented actors and actresses - it rises above the mundane to be a vintage film noir classic. Tieney and Trevor really personified cold wickedness as well as anyone I have seen on screen.