Tueurs à gages

This was legendary British cinematographer Cardiff's official directorial debut after his involvement in Errol Flynn's aborted pet project, THE STORY OF WILLIAM TELL in 1953. Although I have had to make do with a barely serviceable copy culled from a VHS-sourced transmission off of US TV channel "American Movie Classics", this is quite a good thriller that deserves rediscovery.

While the plot is hardly original – being a rehash of STATE SECRET and CRISIS (both 1950) – the good cast and suspenseful narrative twists (courtesy of late screenwriter Jimmy Sangster) make for an enjoyably engrossing 90 minutes. Despite being a British production, it is mostly set in a Canadian hospital, where various attempts are made on the life of South American leader Herbert Lom (who had also appeared in the afore-mentioned STATE SECRET!) who has been admitted there, supposedly incognito, to undergo brain surgery. Among the surgeons operating on him are Richard Todd, Betsy Drake (then Mrs. Cary Grant, who was the star of CRISIS!) and Alexander Knox; on the other side of the spectrum are a hired trio of assassins: Warren Stevens, John Crawford (later the brutish gangster on the run in Hammer's HELL IS A CITY {1960}) and Peter Arne (who would himself graduate to playing notable villains).

Thankfully, the tense interaction between the incompatible band of villains make up for the double helping of soap opera elements to be found in Todd's wife getting hysterically threatening after discovering his unspoken feelings for Drake and, consequently, his unwillingness to leave Canada for a better-paying job in London as a doctor to elite society; similarly, Lom's much-younger wife (Lisa Gastoni, here in her international phase prior to the actress' "Euro-Cult" heyday) is being pursued by Carlo Justini, a former beau and Lom's own two-faced (in more ways than one) lieutenant. Actually, Justini is the middleman between the hired killers and their employers but their plans go repeatedly awry because Stevens has to contend with boorish Crawford's penchant for partying and disgraced medico Arne's bundle of nerves and the palpable enmity between these two!

The exciting climax sees Todd (ostensibly acting as lookout but actually romancing Drake) taking on the gun-toting Crawford in the hospital back-stairs and the convalescing and depressed (over his wife's suspected infidelity) Lom facing-off personally with Stevens – who had previously only acted as telephone diversion to Lom's attending nurse – in his room (via a gun ingeniously-hidden within the unlikeliest and most innocuous-looking of personal belongings on his bed-side table!); in the ensuing commotion, both Todd and a Canadian Mountie guarding the reception area are wounded.

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.

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.

"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.

Jack Cardiff does a good job in his directorial debut, 1958's Intent to Kill, starring Richard Todd, Herbert Lom, Betsy Drake, Warren Stevens, and Lisa Gastoni. Lom plays a South American leader who has entered a Canadian hospital under the name of Martin; however, that doesn't stop a group of assassins, headed by Warren Stevens, from getting the details of his stay and trying to assassinate him. The goal is to have the doctor in their gang inject him with an air bubble. It doesn't quite work out as they hoped.

Richard Todd plays his doctor, Dr. McLaurin, an unhappily married man who is in love (platonically for the moment) with a nurse, Nancy Ferguson (Betsy Drake).

Though this is a British film, it's set in a hospital in Canada, and is reminiscent of the film Crisis, which starred Cary Grant. The acting is good, particularly from Lom, and the camera work, no surprise, is interesting.

The best scenes in this film, in my opinion, occur at the end, when there is a confrontation on a staircase, an intense and exciting scene, very well done.

Entertaining with some nice twists and good elements.