Born to Kill

Starring:Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, Walter Slezak, Phillip Terry, Audrey Long, Elisha Cook Jr., Isabel Jewell, Esther Howard, Kathryn Card, Tony Barrett, Grandon Rhodes, Jason Robards Sr., Demetrius Alexis, Napoleon Whiting, Sayre Dearing, Ben Frommer, Jean Fenwick, Sam Lufkin, Lee Frederick, Joe Dixon
Director: Robert Wise
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Film noir is such a rich cinematic zone that second-tier specimens compel nearly as much fascination as the classics. At a glance, Volume 2 of Warner Bros.' (ever-expanding, we hope) Film Noir Collection is a distinct step down from Volume 1--inevitable when you've launched your series with five landmark titles, including three outright noir masterpieces (The Asphalt Jungle, Gun Crazy, Out of the Past). But linger beyond that first glance, because the second set is a flavorful mix of sleazoid iconography (two vehicles for B-movie bad boy Lawrence Tierney), an offbeat outing for a major director (Fritz Lang in his Howard Hughes RKO period), Poverty Row production circumstances that encourage aggressively peculiar, verging-on-radical filmmaking (the strange mélange that is Monogram's Dillinger), and two pressure-cooker suspense pictures that are landmark films in their own right (Crossfire and The Narrow Margin).

Jean-Luc Godard dedicated Breathless to Monogram Pictures, and Dillinger (1945) was probably the main reason why. With an Oscar-nominated script credited to Philip Yordan (abetted by his friend William Castle, director of Monogram's excellent When Strangers Marry), Max Nosseck's 60some-minute account of the Depression-era outlaw's brashly improvisatory career is a hypnotic mix of bargain-basement filmmaking (lotsa stock footage and minimalist sets), astute ripoff (the rain-and-gas-bomb robbery sequence from Lang's You Only Live Once), and Brechtian bravura. The major Hollywood studios had taken a vow of chastity when it came to glorifying gangsterism; Monogram ignored the embargo and barreled ahead to unaccustomed popular and critical success. The storyline actually scants the ultraviolence (no Bohemia Lodge shootout) and all-star supporting cast (no Pretty Boy Floyd, no Baby Face Nelson) of Dillinger's real life--likely a matter of cost-cutting rather than abstemiousness. Newcomer Lawrence Tierney nails the guy's coldblooded freakiness and animal magnetism, and the supporting cast includes such éminences noirs as Marc Lawrence, Eduardo Ciannelli, and Elisha Cook Jr. Producers Maurice and Frank King would make Gun Crazy four years later.

Born to Kill (1947) is the second helping of Tierney, playing a psychotic drifter who's irresistible to women ("His eyes run up and down ya like a searchlight!" breathes housemaid Ellen Colby, just about the only female he doesn't bother targeting). A number of people end up dead by his hand, but the kicker is that he crosses paths with a woman--socialite-divorcee Claire Trevor--just as heartless as he, and even more treacherous. The script makes less sense with each passing reel, but there are ripe character turns by Walter Slezak, as a philosophical private eye who operates out of a diner; Elisha Cook Jr., as Tierney's more level-headed partner; and Esther Howard, as a hard-bitten old bat who flirts with Cook in a nightmarish nocturnal wasteland outside San Francisco.

Three Roberts--Young, Mitchum, and Ryan--costar in Crossfire (1947), one of only a handful of noirs to be sanctified with Academy Award nominations: best picture, director Edward Dmytryk, screenwriter John Paxton, and supporting players Ryan and Gloria Grahame. The film unreels during a single sweaty, post-WWII night when one among a squad of GIs on leave in Washington, D.C., murders a nice Jewish man (Sam Levene) because he doesn't like "his kind." The audience knows who's guilty before the cops do, and Ryan's portrayal of the bigot will make the hair on your neck rise. Police detective Robert Young plays with his pipe too much and makes one speech too many, but the atmosphere is memorably taut and surreal.

Robert Ryan may be even scarier in Fritz Lang's Clash by Night (1952), a rare noir without any criminal aspect: all its bitterness and savagery is emotional, psychological, and--preeminently--sexual. Barbara Stanwyck, slightly past her stellar peak but in her prime as an actress, plays a married woman in a New England fishing town who knows what a bad idea it is but falls anyway for a vicious, misogynistic movie projectionist. Sample Clifford Odets dialogue, Stanwyck to Ryan: "What do you want to do to me? Put your teeth in me? Hurt me?" Clinching ensues. (All this and Marilyn Monroe, too.)

We've saved the best for last. Narrow Margin (1952) is the kind of trim, beautifully paced movie people have in mind when asking, "Why don't they make 'em like that anymore?" Two cops have to guard a gangster's widow against assassination as she rides the Golden West Limited sleeper train from Chicago to give evidence in L.A. Soon there's only one cop (gravel-voiced Charles McGraw, usually a villain), and he's finding the sharp-tongued widow (Marie Windsor) as obnoxious as she is endangered. Nothing goes quite as you'd expect in this exemplary train thriller, which rattles and rocks toward its destination without a music track or a wasted moment. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Hollywood's legendary tough guys and femme fatales collide again in The Film Noir Classic Collection Volume Two. The Collection includes five smoldering classics, all new to DVD and all digitally remastered: Born to Kill, Clash By Night, Crossfire, Dillinger and The Narrow Margin. The movies star film noir icons Robert Mitchum, Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan, Lawrence Tierney and Claire Trevor, among others, and feature commentaries from film historians and directors including Robert Wise on Born To Kill Peter Bogdanovich, with archival contributions from Fritz Lang, on Clash By Night; John Milius on Dillinger and William Friedkin and Richard Fleischer on The Narrow Margin.

Customer Reviews:

Not the ultimate but still good.......2006-08-28

Compared to the outstanding Volume 1 in the collection, Volume 2 is not as exciting. However, it's still worth having.

Each movie in this box set has something unusual to contribute, so even though some of the titles aren't textbook noir, they have enough noir elements to give them a toehold on the genre. I hope future volumes (I have #3 already) will include more intriguing titles. My preference would be for Angelface, Desperate, Conflict, Dead Reckoning, and The Big Heat. That said, I don't regret adding Volume 2 to my collection.

Born To Kill has all the classic elements an admirer of the genre craves and more. From the title one thinks the story will chronicle the destruction (and inevitable self-destruction) wrought by Laurence Tierney's one-track, menacing psychopath, and it does. But the original working title, Deadlier Than the Male, reveals the real story: Claire Trevor's composed detachment and icy self-possession as she takes over Tierney and assumes control of their situation. She manipulates people and events as though conducting moves in a game. She is utterly amoral, unlike Tierney's maniac who is organically bad; she has a choice whether to be bad or not, and simply doesn't care. The nice twist here is that in the toughguy chauvinism of noir, the woman proves more cunning and dangerous than any man.

Clash By Night has the telltale moodiness and self-destruction of noir, but without the moral ambiguity and lawless element. There is plenty of violence but not in the physical sense. Here it mainly takes place in the emotional upheaval of the characters, thus setting apart this title in a niche of its own.

Crossfire is an important piece for its groundbreaking treatment of bigotry, specifically anti-Semitism. Released slightly sooner than Gentleman's Agreement, an argument can be made that this movie paved the way for the social commentary that would mark much of postwar cinema.

Dillinger is a great example of how skimpy budgets helped create the look of what would come to be known as film noir. Not a lot of pennies went into this one, but neither was a single penny misspent. Every scene is spare and tight and the entire story moves along with the singlemindedness of a getaway car.

The Narrow Margin is all sharp angles and sharp dialogue, and even has a sharp detective in a tight spot. All in all, a sharp little movie, but what really sets it apart is the complete lack of a music score. The director replaces strings and brass with locomotives to punctuate what might otherwise be a typical suspense-on-a-train yarn. The rushing rhythm of the tracks enhances the rapid pace of the story and unrelenting pursuit of the antagonists, while whistles and screeches mirror the shrill unpleasantness of a reluctant witness escorted by an even more reluctant protector. Claustrophobes beware--the train interiors give this one a real sense of restriction and entrapment.

There are not a lot of extra features in this set but each title does include a commentary track. I especially liked the ones on Born To Kill and Crossfire.

Disappointing follow up to vol. 1.......2006-06-30

I had high hopes for this set after being quite impressed with vol. 1. All the movies were top notch & they all looked excellent (probably restored). Then came the Gangsters box set, which, while not all 5 star movies, made up for that fact by also including introductory news reels, cartoons & featurettes for each film. After watching all of these films, I must say it seems like WB has rushed this one onto the market. No extras like the Gangsters box set and the prints used for this set weren't restored. "Crossfire" in particular looks really bad, with all kinds of spots & cuts. The movies were also a mixed bag. Despite its title, "Dillinger" was particularly dull, a rather formulaic bank robbery movie. "Crossfire" had potential, but it's social commentary becomes a little preachy in the end, though it may be of interest to film historians. "Clash By night" was the biggest surprise in its dark view of married life. Hopefully WB will put at least a little bit more effort into vol. 3.

An Interesting Mix.......2006-03-31

This set illustrates the diversity of Noir films. Crossfire and Narrow Margin develop plot complexities handled in very dynamic ways that propel the film. Born To Kill, Dillinger, and Clash center on strong but flawed personalities and the viewer watches them self destruct over the course of the film. The filming of Clash strongly suggests the stage play from which it came. Individual performances are fascinating. Barbara Stanwyck in Clash is delightfully hard edged and cynical. Marie Windsor in Margin is gorgeous and a very good actress. Robert Young in Crossfire is unexpectedly forceful. Robert Ryan is always threatening and relentless. Robert Mitchum plays the somewhat weary, seen it all before character of many of his early films. Lawrence Tierney is perhaps the stiffist actor to ever be filemd. Two of his films is one too many.

A Worthy Sequel..........2005-11-05

Beautiful, just beautiful! I was floored by WB's 1st "classic noir" boxed set, and this one is just as good.
The films are not as well known, and may not be in the same tier as the ones in the first set (how can you top "Out of the Past"?.. okay, you CAN'T), but they are all truly great noir flicks, with absolutely stellar digital transfer. The commentary is also just so cool on these films. Did you like the 1st set? Do you like noir? Do you simply like a great, entertaining movie? If the answer is 'yes' to any of these questions, then by all means buy this (priced right) set immediately, and buy the "Volume 1 set". Watch and enjoy, and wait, with baited breath, for when WB releases the next volume of this series. Incredible set, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

Almost as good as Volume 1.......2005-09-21

The first set of the Film Noir Classic Collection was chock full of great movies, so I was naturally looking forward to the second set. Volume 2, happily, is also a good collection, not quite at the par of the first set but still with five decent-to-great movies. And if they play a little faster and looser with the definition of film noir in this set, that doesn't deprive the collection of its value.

First viewed (I tried watching them in chronological order) is Dillinger, a fictional biography of the real-life criminal John Dillinger. This movie stars Lawrence Tierney as the title character, a generally cold-hearted killer who is a cunning bank robber. For those most familiar with Tierney from his role as a crime boss in Reservoir Dogs, this is a showcase for the actor in his prime. The movie itself is more of an old-fashioned gangster movie (similar to the ones in the Warner Gangster Collection) than a true noir movie, but it is nonetheless good, though too much the B movie to be great.

Second is Crossfire, a more true noir film dealing with anti-Semitism. Starring three Roberts - Ryan, Young and Mitchum - it gets somewhat preachy towards the end which makes it merely good instead of great. Although the focus of the story shifts from character to character, the true star is Ryan as a hateful psychopath. Mitchum is good but underutilized and Young is competent but relatively boring.

The gem of the collection is Born to Kill, with Lawrence Tierney and Claire Trevor in a tale of classic film noir complete with femme fatales, murder and plenty of shady characters. Tierney plays a man on the lam after killing his girlfriend and her date (an ill-conceived attempt to get Tierney jealous). Soon he meets Trevor, but finding her engaged, woos and marries her wealthy step-sister. That doesn't stop Trevor and Tierney from their own star-crossed romance and soon enough there is more death. Directed by Robert Wise (also responsible for The Set-Up, and in other genres, The Day the Earth Stood Still, West Side Story and Sound of Music), this is one of the classics of the noir genre.

Almost as good is Narrow Margin, the one movie with lesser stars such as Charles McGraw and Marie Windsor. The story is about a cop escorting a reluctant witness on a train ride from Chicago to Los Angeles; also aboard the train are killers who don't know what the witness looks like, but are certain that McGraw is protecting her. This leads to mix-ups and plot twists that are ironic but rarely comic. This is one of the great "train thrillers," a neat sub-genre that includes such classics as The Lady Vanishes and North by Northwest.

Finally, there is Clash by Night. Although the use of lighting and dialogue is noirish, this movie is not film noir but rather a soap opera with a romantic triangle of Barbara Stanwyck as the woman with the past, Paul Douglas as her benevolent but rather simple husband and Robert Ryan as the callous friend who insinuates himself into her life. Marilyn Monroe has a small role but as always, steals her scenes. Playing her boyfriend is Keith Andes, a guy who was supposed to be the next big thing but never made it.

All the discs come with commentaries that are often illuminating. Born to Kill and Narrow Margin are five-star flicks; the others are four stars. That averages to 4.4, but I will round up because of the extras. Even if these are not all truly film noir, this is a great collection and well-worth the viewing if you enjoy classic movies.

Average customer rating:

"Born to Kill (1947) ... Robert Wise ... RKO Radio Pictures Film Noir"
Clash of the Wicked.
More corn than candy
One of the best Noir
Darker and more perverse than you can possibly imagine!

Born to Kill
Starring: Claire Trevor , Lawrence Tierney , Walter Slezak , Phillip Terry , and Audrey Long
Director: Robert Wise
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00097DXY4
Release Date: 2005-07-05

Amazon.com

The seamiest entry in the mostly decorous filmography of director Robert Wise showcases B-movie bad boy Lawrence Tierney as a psychotic drifter who's irresistible to women ("His eyes run up and down ya like a searchlight!" breathes housemaid Ellen Colby, just about the only female he doesn't bother targeting). A number of people end up dead by his hand, but the kicker is that he crosses paths with a woman--socialite-divorcee Claire Trevor--just as heartless as he, and even more treacherous. The script makes less sense with each passing reel, but there are ripe character turns by Walter Slezak, as a philosophical private eye who operates out of a diner; Elisha Cook Jr., as Tierney's more level-headed partner (in what other company would Elisha Cook be playing the more level-headed lowlife?); and Esther Howard, as a hard-bitten old bat who keeps an ill-advised rendezvous in the most nightmarish nocturnal wasteland San Francisco had to offer. --Richard T. Jameson

Description

Helen Brent knows Sam Wild is more than a social climber who married her wealthy foster sister. He's a remorseless killer. And yet she finds his brash confidence, square-shouldered good looks and constant aura of menace completely irresistible. Versatile director Robert Wise (The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Sound of Music, West Side Story) shows his film-noir chops with this dark gem whose mix of heiress sisters, stone-hearted men, needy hangers-on and inexplicable but inevitable love plays like a soap opera that refuses to wash itself clean. Walter Slezak portrays the verse-quoting shamus. And Claire Trevor and Lawrence Tierney portray the illicit lovers who play with fire?and burn their names forever into film-noir lore.

Customer Reviews:

"Born to Kill (1947) ... Robert Wise ... RKO Radio Pictures Film Noir".......2007-03-18

RKO Radio Pictures present "BORN TO KILL" (1947) (92 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Claire Trevor, Lawrence Tierney, Walter Slezak, Audrey Long & Phillip Terry --- Directed by Robert Wise and released in May 3, 1947, our story line and film, Uncompromising film noir which sees psychopath Tierney marry wealthy girl Long, only to feel more in common with the black sheep of the family, his wife's sister (Trevor). Deliciously dark and directed with enthusiasm by Wise before he'd made it big, Born to Kill is a genuine oddity which explores the dark side of sexuality without moralizing, with the bonus of a cracking murder plot to add some spice. Tierney pitches his performance just right ... The film sits well with all those minor noir classics the late 40's and early 50's with apparent ease: Wise's own "The Set-Up"; Anthony Mann's "Raw Deal" and the "T-Men", "Kiss Of Death", and Ray's masterly debut, "They Live By Night".

Under Robert Wise (Director), Herman Schlom (Producer), Eve Greene (Screenwriter), James Gunn (Book Author), Richard Macaulay (Screenwriter), Robert de Grasse (Cinematographer), Constantin Bakaleinikoff (Musical Direction/Supervision), Paul Sawtell (Composer (Music Score), Les Millbrook (Editor), Albert S. D'Agostino (Art Director), Walter E. Keller (Art Director), Sid Rogell (Executive Producer), Darrell Silvera (Set Designer), John Sturtevant (Set Designer), Edward Stevenson (Costume Designer), Russell A. Cully (Special Effects) - - - - the cast includes Lawrence Tierney (Sam Wild), Claire Trevor (Helen Trent), Walter Slezak (Arnold Amett), Phillip Terry (Fred Grover), Audrey Long (Georgia Staples), Elisha Cook, Jr. (Marty Waterman), Isabel Jewell (Laury Palmer), Esther Howard (Mrs. Kraft), Kathryn Card (Grace), Tony Barrett (Danny), Grandon Rhodes (Inspector Wilson), Jason Robards, Sr. (Conductor), Netta Packer (Mrs Perth), Sammy Shack (Crap Dealer), Philip Warren (Chauffeur), Tommy Noonan (Bellboy), Napoleon Whiting (Porter), Ruth Brennan (Sally), Sayre Dearing (Crap Dealer), Jean Fenwick (Margaret Macy), Lee Frederick (Desk Clerk), Ellen Corby (2nd Maid), Demetrius Alexis (Maitre d'Hotel), Al Murphy (Cab Driver), Sam Lufkin (Crap Dealer), Beatrice Maude (Cook), Ben Frommer (Delivery Boy), Perc Launders (Detective Bryson), Martha Hyer (Maid) - - - - - Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe Hollywood crime dramas that set their protagonists in a world perceived as inherently corrupt and unsympathetic...Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hard-boiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression...the term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most of the American filmmakers and actors while they were creating the classic film noirs..the canon of film noir was defined in retrospect by film historians and critics; many of those involved in the making of film noir later professed to be unaware at the time of having created a distinctive type of film ... featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of almost forgotten film noir gems

SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. Lawrence Tierney
Date of Birth: 15 March 1919 - Brooklyn, New York
Date of Death: 26 February 2002 - Los Angeles, California

2. Claire Trevor (aka: Claire Wemlinger)
Date of Birth: 8 March 1910 - New York, New York
Date of Death: 8 April 2000 - Newport Beach, California

3. Robert Wise (Director)
Date of Birth: 10 September 1914 - Winchester, Indiana
Date of Death: 14 September 2005 - Los Angeles, California

Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!

Total Time: 92 min on DVD ~ Turner Home Video ~ (7/05/2005)

Clash of the Wicked........2006-12-04

"Born to Kill" is probably the second-greatest film noir on the "amour fou" motif, next to 1949's "Gun Crazy". Two lovers' irrational infatuation lead them to depravity, madness, and eventual self-destruction. "Born to Kill" is not as persistent in its sexualization of violence as "Gun Crazy", but it's there. Based on the novel "Deadlier than the Male" by James Gunn, this is outwardly a twisted melodrama. Robert Wise directed the film with his characteristic decorum, which disappointed some European critics who would have preferred a more explicit exploration of the film's psychological and sexual aberration. The production code would not have allowed that, but I still find "Born to Kill" one of the darkest and most satisfying film noirs.

In Reno to get a quickie divorce, Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) stumbles upon 2 bodies in the kitchen of her boarding house. Instead of calling the police, she decides to return to San Francisco immediately to avoid publicity. On the train, Helen keeps the company of Sam Wild (Lawrence Tierney), a tough drifter to whom she finds herself attracted. Helen knows that Sam was the beau of the murdered woman in the kitchen, but she is unaware that Sam was her murderer. Sam is leaving town on the advice of his friend Mart (Elisha Cook, Jr.), who stays behind to keep abreast of the murder investigation. In San Francisco, Sam discovers that Helen is engaged to be married, so he sets his sights on Helen's rich foster sister Georgia (Audrey Long). But Helen and Sam's mutual infatuation, his compulsive violence, and a dogged private detective (Walter Slezak) threaten their plans.

"Born to Kill" was a big-budget noir with high-power stars and box office success in 1947. The sparks that fly between Sam and Helen were more than worth the price of admission. These two people are compelled by a perverse and inexplicable infatuation to destroy the security, the money, the freedom that they want so desperately. Helen and Sam may hate as much as desire one another, but they are two of a kind: deliberate, ruthless, ambitious, and somehow innately corrupt. Watching them dance around one another and go at each other is at once incomprehensible and completely fascinating. Sam is a rare "homme fatal" in classic film noir, suitably embodied by bad boy Lawrence Tierney. Claire Trevor looks stylish in her most complex noir role. "Born to Kill" is a real treat for film noir fans.

The DVD (Turner Home Enter. 2005): There is a good audio commentary by film noir historian Eddie Muller, with some archival commentary by director Robert Wise that is barely audible. Wise talks about his experiences at RKO and with this film. Muller provides information on the actors, analysis of characters, scene-by-scene analysis of staging, tone, themes, and takes us through the stages of "amour fou" noir. Muller has interviewed both Claire Trevor and Lawrence Tierney, so he gives us the benefit of their recollections as well. Muller's story about "babysitting" Tierney at a screening of "Born to Kill" in 1999 is priceless. Subtitles are available for the film in English, French, and Spanish.

More corn than candy.......2006-12-04

While it's a blast watching the deliciously unstable Lawrence Tierney brood his way into Claire Trevor's icy heart, Born to Kill is ultimately more domestic melodrama than film noir (strict-constructionist subscribers to the genre will not be swayed by Mr. Muller's compelling argument to the contrary). Robert Wise-- a fine director in a fine early effort-- does his usual workmanlike job, but when all is said and done, there's no denying that it is just that. One major flaw: the tragic underutilization of Walter Slezak's morally fluid private dick. To fans of golden-age-era Hollywood B-picture pulp, BTK will probably merit a 4-star rating. (In other words, if you've welcomed Sudden Fear and Gun Crazy into your collection, you've struck gold here.) To noirites, though, it's more like a 2 1/2. Fun company, but not a long-stay guest.

One of the best Noir.......2006-11-08

I've seen this twice and amongst noir films, it really stands out as one of the best. It contains a wonderful performance by Claire Trevor who portrays a complex and conflicted woman. She is really the centerpiece of this film, carrying its emotional weight from scene to scene. Lawrence Tierney is also great as the bad boy women can't resist--who expresses his underlying insecurity with violence. The film includes a great supporting cast. Especially noteworthy is the performance of Esther Howard. As a heavy-drinking middle-aged woman, who's lost a young friend to violence, she seeks some sort of resolution to her friend's death.

Darker and more perverse than you can possibly imagine!.......2006-10-30

The oft-wasted (in both senses of the word) Lawrence Tierney is seen to much better effect than usual in Born to Kill, truly one of the most perverse noir romances of all time. The two leads aren't ill-starred lovers or victims of fate, they're born bad and they know it - indeed, nothing gets them hotter than talking about dead bodies. There is a rather worrying subtext that this is down to their lower-class birth, but you get the impression even if they had been born in high society that these two would have shown up the Borgias for the amateurs they were. At times it's hard to tell who is the more ruthless, Tierney's calculating but none-too-bright bull-headed murderous thug or Claire Trevor's magpie in the nest, who may not actually kill but probably does far worse - as Esther Howard says, she carries her own curse inside of her. There's great support from Elisha Cook ("I'm a baaad boy!") and, especially, Walter Slezak, superb as the wistfully philosophical private detective on their trail, open to the best offer going from either side but still not the stereotyped corrupt P.I. you expect from the genre, and refreshingly he isn't given the fate you expect either thanks to a constantly unexpected script by Eve Greene and Richard Macaulay. The tarnished, slightly grubby conscience of a film noir like no other, he's the closest thing Robert Wise's superb movie has to a hero.

Warners DVD boasts a fine transfer and an excellent audio commentary by Eddie Muller that includes some outrageous Tierney stories for good measure. Highly recommended, and how!

The Swiss Conspiracy / Death Falls / a Mission to Kill / Born to Win / Against All Hope / the Swap / Fatal Assassin / the Inside Man [8 DVD Pack]

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The Swiss Conspiracy / Death Falls / a Mission to Kill / Born to Win / Against All Hope / the Swap / Fatal Assassin / the Inside Man [8 DVD Pack]

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Born to Kill 2
Starring: Born to Kill 2
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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