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.

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.

Catch this one, if you can. The acting is not that good; but, there is some comic relief in the way th would-be assassins blunder everything! Also, Warren Stevens is a Great, great actor--and, I know he did a huge amount of work in TV, but what an underestimated actor!

It is an American production, and they employed a lot of Local Canadian extras---Poor idea--Canadians probably "can" act; but not in this one.

Keep an eye on Herbert Lom--Awesome! Carlo Giustini is a handsome Italian actor--but, again, not a very good actor, either.

It is a little dramatic with the "wife" routine--sort of a la soap opera--but, If you find see this movie--I know you will love it.

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.

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.