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Born to Kill (1947 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Born to Kill' (released in the U.K. as 'Lady of Deceit' and in Australia as 'Deadlier Than the Male') is a 1947 American film noir co-starring Lawrence Tierney, Claire Trevor and Walter Slezak, with Esther Howard, Elisha Cook Jr., and Audrey Long in supporting roles. Directed by Robert Wise for RKO Pictures, the feature was the first film noir production by Wise, whose later films in the genre include 'The Set-Up' (1949) and 'The Captive City' (1952).
Plot
San Francisco socialite Helen Brent has established residence in Reno, Nevada in order to get a divorce decree and is lodging in a boarding house, owned by the feisty Mrs. Kraft. Helen meets Laury Palmer, a fellow boarder and Mrs. Kraft's best friend, who confides that she is going on a date with Danny, to incite jealousy in her new beau, Sam Waters.
Sam sees them together that evening. Later, he enters Mrs. Kraft's house, and confronts Danny. Sam bludgeons him to death, and then kills Laury, because she was a witness.
Helen discovers the bodies and flees to San Francisco, but does not contact the police. Sam also leaves for San Francisco that night; they meet each other at the train station and begin to travel together. Helen is attracted to his self-assurance. Back in Reno, Mrs. Kraft hires a private detective, Albert Arnett, to find Laury's killer.
Several days later, Sam arrives unexpectedly at the mansion where Helen is living. It is owned by Georgia Staples, Helen's wealthy foster sister and the heir to her father's newspaper. Georgia finds Sam attractive. Sam tells Marty Waterman, his long-time roommate and enabler, that he is going to marry Georgia for her newspaper money and the opportunity for higher social standing. Helen is distraught at their wedding.
Sam and Helen spar. Helen contradicts herself, telling Sam she loves her sister but she hates her for her money, then Sam kisses her. Martin has traveled to San Francisco for the wedding, and detective Arnett has tailed him there. After he interrogates the staff, Helen artfully reveals information about Sam's activities.
Georgia and Sam fight over Sam's demand to run the newspaper. He wants to run the paper so he can "be on top," so that he can make and break people. He says Helen understands this because "your roots are down here were mine are," and that they are soulmates.
Regarding Georgia, Sam says she means no more to him than Fred Grover (her wealthy fianc) does to her. Helen replies that without Fred, she is afraid of what she might become. Fred represents good and safety, while Sam represents strength and excitement and depravity. She is not alienated by these characteristics, in fact she becomes excited upon recalling the gruesome death scene back in Reno, and they passionately kiss.
Sam overhears a call to Helen from Reno, which leads him to believe she is against him. Helen meets with Arnett, and she bribes him to ignore Sam's role in the Reno murders. Her motives are confused: she willfully provided information about Sam to Arnett, but now she wants to protect him.
Mrs. Kraft travels to San Francisco to meet with Arnett, so Martin meets with her also. Martin leads her to the dunes on the outskirts of town, and while Martin prepares to stab her, Sam shows up and kills him out of jealousy (he had seen Martin coming out of Helen's room).
The police interrogate the household about Martin's murder, and Helen reluctantly provides an alibi for Sam. Helen meets with Mrs. Kraft, who now knows that Sam killed Laury, and threatens her with a slow and painful death if she goes to the police.
Fred breaks up with Helen, and she panics. He feels that she doesn't have a heart anymore. She admits she's partially an "iceberg of a woman" and rotten as described, but that Fred can help her, that without him she "doesn't stand a chance."
When Helen declines to pay Arnett, he points out that the police will soon arrive for Sam, but she says it can't be too soon to get him out of the house. Helen reveals Sam's murders to Georgia, but she can't believe it. She realizes Helen didn't turn Sam in until she had lost Fred's money. Georgia cuts off Helen permanently.
To demonstrate that Sam doesn't really love Georgia, Helen embraces Sam, so Georgia throws them both out. Helen points out to Sam that Georgia must be eliminated for them to be happy. The police arrive, and Georgia reveals that it was Helen who called them, so Sam shoots Helen, then the police kill Sam. Helen ultimately dies.
Cast
* Claire Trevor as Helen Brent
* Lawrence Tierney as Sam Wilde
* Walter Slezak as Albert Arnett
* Phillip Terry as Fred Grover
* Audrey Long as Georgia Staples
* Elisha Cook Jr. as Marty Waterman
* Isabel Jewell as Laury Palmer
* Esther Howard as Mrs. Kraft
* Tony Barrett as Danny
Production
Pre-production on the film began in early February 1945, more than two years before its release. Thalia Bell of 'Motion Picture Daily' and Irving Spear for 'Boxoffice' reported then that RKO had hired author Steve Fisher to begin writing the screenplay for James Gunn's 1943 novel 'Deadlier Than the Male'.Bell, Thalia. [https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai57unse#page/n275/mode/2up"Hollywood"], 'Motion Picture Daily', February 6, 1945, p. 9. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 17, 2020.Spear, Irving. News item under [https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai57unse#page/n275/mode/2up "Clarence Brown Set to Produce 'Guardian Angel' for Metro"], 'Boxoffice' (Kansas City, Missouri), February 10, 1945, p. 36. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 17, 2020. By April, however, the studio had replaced Fisher and enlisted freelance screenwriter Eve Greene and later Richard Macaulay to compose the script as a team and to manage its editing through production.[https://archive.org/stream/showmenstraderev42lewi#page/n211/mode/2up/search/Eve+Green "26 Writers at RKO Busy on Scripts of 20 Productions"], 'The Showmen's Trade Review', April 28, 1945, p. 68. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 17, 1945.[https://archive.org/stream/boxofficebaromet00boxo_3#page/n203/mode/2up "Deadlier Than the Male"], 'Boxoffice Barometer' (a supplement published by 'Boxoffice'), November 1946, p. 196. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
Cast selections began in August 1945 with Lawrence Tierney being RKO's first choice due to his rising popularity after his powerful performance in Monogram Pictures' 'Dillinger', which had been released four months earlier."Riding Herd on the Studio News Range", 'The Film Daily', August 29, 1945, p. 8. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 17, 2020. After announcing the casting of Tierney in August, film-industry publications in September and October reported that Tallulah Bankhead was RKO's top pick for the role of Helen Brent, but the actress was unavailable. According to the 'Film Bulletin' the "timing was bad for Miss Bankhead" to join the project, so the part went to Claire Trevor, whose work the previous year in RKO's 'Murder, My Sweet' had impressed studio executives."RKO-RADIO", 'The Film Bulletin', October 15, 1945, p. 26. I.A. Retrieved September 17, 2020. Trevor in January 1946 signed the contract to co-star in the "psychological mystery" 'Deadlier Than the Male', which continued to be the working title for the production, as well as the title used later in the year in a series of official release charts.[https://archive.org/stream/variety161-1946-01#page/n491/mode/2up "RKO Inks Claire Trevor"], 'Variety' (New York, N.Y.), January 30, 1946, p. 8; [https://archive.org/stream/showmenstraderev4344lewi#page/n380/mode/2up "Production Notes From The Studios"], 'Showmen's Trade Review', February 2, 1946, p. 29. Retrieved September 20, 2020. RKO would not officially change the title to 'Born to Kill' for domestic release until December 1946.
Regular news notices document that filming of the production began on May 6, 1946, with exterior scenes being shot first on location at El Segundo Beach, situated about 25 miles southwest of Hollywood.[https://archive.org/stream/showmenstraderev44lewi#page/n303/mode/2up "RKO Sets Two Films"], 'Showmen's Trade Review', May 4, 1946, p. 42; [https://archive.org/stream/showmenstraderev44lewi#page/n461/mode/2up "RKO Busiest Lot in Town"], 'Showmen's Trade Review', May 25, 1946, p. 38. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 18, 2020. Additional location work was done in San Francisco as filming continued into the latter half of June. As early as July, it was reported that the film was ready to be scheduled for release.[https://archive.org/details/filmdaily90wids/page/n49/mode/2up "Ready for Release Dates"], 'The Film Daily', July 3, 1946, p. 8. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 17, 2020. Those notices proved to be premature, for problems evidently arose generating a satisfactory final cut of the film. These persisted into October 1946, when RKO announced that scheduled November 7 previews of "Deadlier Than the Male" at a national trade show and at exchange centers were being postponed.[https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai60unse_0#page/n202/mode/2up "RKO Tradeshow Off"], 'Motion Picture Daily', October 28, 1946, p. 3. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 16, 2030. In updating the status of the film, the Hollywood news journal 'Box Office Digest' revealed that the picture was still being edited in October and was on a list of productions identified to be on RKO's "Back Log In Cutting Room".[https://archive.org/stream/boxofficedigest100nati_3#page/n249/mode/2up "RKO Pictures / Back Log In Cutting Room"], 'Box Office Digest' (Hollywood, California), October 19, 1946, p. 18. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 17, 2020. A general release date of November 10, 1946 published earlier for the film was postponed as well.[https://archive.org/details/motionpictureher1641unse/page/3266/mode/2up "THE RELEASE CHART / Deadlier Than the Male..."], "Product Digest Section" of 'Motion Picture Herald', October 19, 1946, p. 3266. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
Post-production problems persisted right up to the final weeks prior to the film's distribution to theaters.[https://archive.org/stream/independ15film#page/n85/mode/2up "RKO-RADIO Release Chart / Born to Kill..."], 'Film Bulletin', February 17, 1947, p. 31. Retrieved September 17, 2020.
Complicated femme fatale
The picture is a rare film noir in that it is shown through a woman's eyes. This female subjectivity enables a more nuanced view of the femme fatale, a central motif in film noir, rather than what is usually shown. For example, the archetypical femme fatale's sexuality is merely a tool used to manipulate men for material gain. But in this film, Helen is a more complicated figure. She is drawn to Sam's brutality, although she is also interested in Fred's money. Instead of leading the male protagonist into darkness and ruin, it is she who is compromised by Sam. Moreover, her transgressions are a cause of anxiety for her. Her atypical concern over her dark turn results in contradictory behavior, like turning Sam, her lover, over to the police.
Reception in 1947
) attacking Marty (Elisha Cook, Jr.) in a jealous rage
At the time of its release in 1947, RKO's production was panned by Bosley Crowther, film critic for 'The New York Times', who called it "a smeary tabloid fable" and "an hour and a half of ostentatious vice." His review concluded: "Surely, discriminating people are not likely to be attracted to this film. But it is precisely because it is designed to pander to the lower levels of taste that it is reprehensible." Cecelia Ager of 'PM', another New York newspaper, was equally blunt in expressing her utter contempt. Portions of her assessment are quoted in the May 26, 1947 issue of the 'Independent Exhibitors Bulletin':
Irving Kaplan, the reviewer for the trade journal 'Motion Picture Daily', found "weaknesses in several departments" of "the heavy-handed melodrama", although his appraisal of the film was far less severe.Kaplan, Irving. [https://archive.org/details/motionpicturedai61unse_0/page/n129/mode/2up "Reviews: 'Born to Kill'"], 'Motion Picture Daily' (New York, N.Y.), April 21, 1947, p. 7. Internet Archive, San Francisco, California. Retrieved September 12, 2020. Kaplan focused his attention on the performances of the "tough and ruthless" Tierney and the "captivating and calculating" Trevor:
After previewing the picture two weeks prior to its release, the trade paper 'The Film Daily' cautioned theater owners about the "homicidal drama", describing it as "a sexy, suggestive yarn of crime with punishment, strictly for the adult trade."[https://archive.org/details/filmdail91wids/page/n119/mode/2up "Reviews: 'Born to Kill'"], 'The Film Daily' (New York, N.Y.), April 17, 1947, p. 7. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 12, 2020. Other reviewers in 1947 also recognized the "yarn" as adult fare, but some still commended various elements of the film. William R. Weaver, the critic for the 'Motion Picture Herald', watched a final cut of 'Born to Kill' in mid-April at RKO and rated it "Good".Weaver, William R. [https://archive.org/stream/motionpictureher1661unse#page/n679/mode/2up "Born to Kill: RKO RadioMurder Melodrama"], 'Motion Picture Herald' (New York City), April 19, 1947, p. 3585. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 14, 2020. He found the film's overall look "painstaking and polished" and Robert Wise's direction successful in maintaining "a steady pace". Weaver did, though, find fault with what he viewed as a distinct imbalance between the motives and actions portrayed in the story. "Produced for melodrama fans," he noted, "[the film] contains enough killing for anybody, but furnishes less than adequate reasons for it."
Adverse publicity and efforts to ban the film
In the weeks before and after the film's release, RKO faced two significant public-relations problems in promoting and distributing 'Born to Kill': widespread news coverage of the ongoing turmoil in Lawrence Tierney's personal life and actions by some state and local authorities to ban the film's presentation within their jurisdictions.On May 2, 1947the day before the film's official releasenewspapers across the country were reporting yet another arrest of Tierney for his involvement in a "drunken brawl" and for violating probation on an earlier conviction for public drunkenness."Tierney Fights Brother; Gets 90 Days In Jail", 'Los Angeles Times', May 2, 1947, p. 2. ProQuest Historical Newspapers, Ann Arbor, Michigan; subscription access through the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Library."'Dillinger' Tierney In Trouble Again", 'The Atlanta Constitution', May 2, 1947, p. 1. ProQuest. Other newspapers as far from Hollywood as Baltimore, Hartford, Atlanta, and Austin picked up the story, one adding that the actor had already been spending his weekends in a Los Angeles jail as punishment for three earlier convictions for public intoxication."Actor Jailed After Fight", 'The Austin Statesman' (Austin, Texas), May 2, 1947, p. 24. ProQuest.
"Tierney Fights Brother; Gets 90 Days In Jail", 'Los Angeles Times', May 2, 1947, p. 2; "Actor Tierney Must Sleep on Jail Floor", 'Los Angeles Times', May 3, 1947, p. 3; "Lawrence Tierney Fined $25 For Intoxication", 'The Sun' (Baltimore, Maryland), May 10, 1947, p. 11; "Tierney Draws New $25 Fine", 'Los Angeles Times', May 10, 1947, p. A3; "Board Grants Parole To Film Actor Tierney", 'The Hartford Courant' (Hartford, Connecticut), June 18, 1947, p. 2; "Bad Man Tierney Granted Freedom", 'The Atlanta Constitution', June 19, 1947, p. 4. ProQuest.
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Tierney's frequent off-screen troubles with law enforcement also attracted greater scrutiny of his screen projects by state film-review boards and local censors, who began advocating banning 'Born to Kill' in their communities.
Among other publications, 'The Film Daily' in its April 8 issue reports that Ohio's board of censors had rejected the film and banned it from state theaters.[https://archive.org/details/filmdail91wids/page/n61/mode/2up?q=Ohios+Censors "Ohio's Censors Reject RKO's 'Born to Kill'"], 'The Film Daily' (New York, N.Y.), April 19, 1947, p. 4. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 14, 2020.[https://archive.org/stream/showmenstraderev46lewi#page/n81/mode/2up "'Born to Kill' Barred From Ohio by Censors"], 'Showmen's Trade Review', April 12, 1947, p. 8. The same news item added that Chicago's police censor board had "declined to pass" the motion picture. The trade paper then reported in subsequent issues that censors in Tennessee had "cracked down" on films they deemed unacceptable and had also banned all presentations of 'Born to Kill' in theaters in Memphis or anywhere else in Shelby County.[https://archive.org/stream/filmdail91wids#page/n176/mode/2up "'Born to Kill' Joins Memphis Banned Pix"], 'The Film Daily', April 25, 1947, pp. 1, 3. Internet Archive; "Memphis Bans Another Film", 'The New York Times', April 25, 1947, p. 29. ProQuest. Then, in mid-May, 'The Motion Picture Herald' disclosed that the National Legion of Decency had not condemned the film outright for its depictions of violence, although the Catholic organization had rated it "Class-B" or "objectionable in part, because it 'reflects the acceptability of divorce.'"[https://archive.org/details/motionpictureher167unse/page/n277/mode/2up "Legion of Decency Reviews Five New Productions"], 'The Motion Picture Herald', May 17, 1947, p. 44. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
Box office and the film's effect on future RKO productions
In the weeks leading up to the film's release, some industry publications predicted that the crime drama would be "a strong draw at the box-office".Jewell, Richard B. (2016) 'Slow Fade to Black: The Decline of RKO Radio Pictures', Berkeley, California: University of California Press. The controversies surrounding 'Born to Kill', however, forced Dore Schary, RKO's executive vice-president in charge of production, to distance the company publicly from the film just days after its release. Schary in assorted interviews with reporters in early May insisted, "As a result of unfavorable reaction to 'Born to Kill', RKO will cut down on the arbitrary use of violence in its films."[https://archive.org/stream/motionpictureher167unse#page/n178/mode/2up "Good Story Material Scarce"], 'Motion Picture Herald', May 10, 1947, p. 19. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 13, 2020. The Hollywood executive at a motion-picture conference in New York City on May 5 was even more emphatic in his statements about production changes, vowing that "gangster pictures" such as "'Born to Kill' will no longer be produced by RKO Radio".[https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai61unse_0#page/n226/mode/2up "Films of Violence Abandoned: Schary"], 'Motion Picture Daily' (New York, N.Y.), May 6, 1947, pp. 1, 6. Internet Archive. Retrieved September 13, 2020.[https://archive.org/stream/showmenstraderev46lewi#page/n332/mode/2up "Reaction to 'Born to Kill' Will Affect New RKO ProductSchary"], 'Showmen's Trade Review', May 10, 1947. pp. 5, 18. RKO ended up reporting a net loss of $243,000 on the production after the film's run.Barred from re-release by MPAA
Negative reviews and unfavorable public reactions to 'Born to Kill' and to another 1947 release, 'Shoot to Kill', prompted the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) before the end of the year to revise its Production Code to strengthen restrictions relating to the content of crime-related films."MPA Strengthens Code on Titles And Crime Films", 'Motion Picture Herald', December 6, 1947, p. 20. Additions were also made to the Code's guidelines under Section XI for judging and rejecting unacceptable titles given to studio productions.[https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturedai62unse_0#page/n301/mode/2up "Code Changes Hit Reissue of 14 Films"], 'The Motion Picture Daily', December 5, 1947, pp. 1, 4. Retrieved September 27, 2020. Following a meeting of its board of directors in New York City on December 3, 1947, the MPA announced to the press that its members had voted unanimously to bar 14 "'objectionable and unsuitable'" films released between 1928 and 1947 from ever being reissued to theaters, including 'Born to Kill'."Movie Makers Bar Glorifying Crime", 'The New York Times', December 4, 1947, p. 64. The association also approved the immediate deletion from its official title registry more than two dozen films with names deemed "salacious or indecent". The day after the New York meeting, the 'Los Angeles Times' summarized the board's decisions in a front-page story headlined "Film Heads Vote Ban On Gangster Pictures" and reported that the American film industry was ceasing the "distribution of new and old pictures glorifying gangster names or criminal practices"."Film Heads Vote Ban On Gangster Pictures", 'Los Angeles Times', December 4, 1947, p. 1.Film showcased in murder trial, 1948
Although 'Born to Kill' faced multiple problems in 1947 with regard to its reception and distribution, RKO's production had to cope with even worse publicity in 1948, most notably with news coverage of the film's alleged connections to a homicide in Illinois. The case involved 12-year-old Howard Lang, who was charged with using a switchblade and a heavy "chunk of concrete" to kill a seven-year-old boy in Thatcher Woods outside Chicago in October 1947.Murder Trial Begins For Chicago Boy Of 12", 'Los Angeles Times', February 17, 1948, p. 2. ProQuest. At the time, Lang was the youngest person ever to be arrested and formally tried for murder in that city.Cohn, Victor. "Howard Lang Trial Like a 'Bad Dream'", 'The Minneapolis Morning Tribune', February 20, 1948, p. 11. ProQuest. The boy's initial trial, which drew widespread media attention, occurred in February 1948. Lang was convicted of the crime, and on April 20 he was sentenced to 22 years in the state penitentiary."Lang Weeps Over 22 Year Term", 'Chicago Daily Tribune', April 21, 1948, p. 1. ProQuest.
As part of Lang's overall defense and during the successful appeal of his conviction, his lawyers informed the court that their client had seen 'Born to Kill' less than three weeks prior to the homicide.[https://archive.org/stream/boxofficeaprjun15253unse#page/64/mode/2up "Bans Film From Court"], 'Boxoffice', April 6, 1948, p. 64. Retrieved September 29, 2020. The attorneys insisted that the violent, morally destructive aspects of the film "had affected the boy because of his emotional instability", impairing his judgement and fostering in him a form of temporary insanity."'Born to Kill' Movie Cited In Mitigation For Boy Slayer Lang", 'Chicago Daily Tribune', March 20, 1948, p. 3. ProQuest. They petitioned the presiding judge to view the film himself so he could appreciate the substance of their allegation that the "gangster" film was a contributing factor in the crime. In the media's ongoing updates on the murder case, newspapers reported that allegation in articles with titles such as "Movie Blamed", "'Born to Kill' Movie Cited In Mitigation For Boy Slayer Lang", and "Court Refuses Plea of Lang Attorney To View 'Killer' Movie"."Movie Blamed", 'The Minneapolis Morning Tribune' (Minnesota), March 20, 1948, p. 10; "'Born to Kill' Movie Cited In Mitigation For Boy Slayer Lang", 'Chicago Daily Tribune', March 20, 1948, p. 3; "Court Refuses Plea of Lang Attorney To View 'Killer' Movie", 'Chicago Daily Tribune', March 26, 1947, p. 17. ProQuest.
Less than a year after Lang's initial sentencing, the Illinois Supreme Court overturned his conviction on the grounds that the boy was too young to understand his actions."Illinois Supreme Court", news item, 'The St. Petersburg Times' (Florida), January 20, 1949, p. 1. Lang was then acquitted of the murder in a second trial held in Chicago. The end of the case, however, did not erase the additional negative attention that the trial had focused on 'Born to Kill' and on RKO Pictures itself. In acquitting Lang in April 1949, Judge John A. Sbarbaro recommended the enactment of several new laws to help prevent such ghastly crimes by children, two of those recommendations being to restrict the content of comic books and "to censor movies to the extent of holding theater managers liable for exhibiting 'harmful pictures'"."LANG ACQUITTED BY JUDGE IN 2D MURDER TRIAL: State Plans New Move to Confine Him", 'Chicago Daily Tribune', April 27, 1949. p. 7.
More recent assessments of the film
Some film critics have come to find 'Born to Kill' something of a harmless guilty pleasure. In his 2003 reference work 'Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959', Michael Keaney describes 'Born to Kill' as compelling despite its "hard-to-swallow plot".Kearney, Michael. 'Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959'. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., 2003, pp. 63-64. "This one is all Tierney", Keaney states. "He's outstanding as one of the most violently disturbed psychos in all of film noir, giving even Robert Ryan in 'Crossfire' a run for his money."
Reviewing the film in 2006 for 'Slant Magazine', critic Fernando F. Croce focuses on the production's director rather than on Tierney:
In 2009, writing for 'Film Monthly', Robert Weston also focused his attention on Wise's directorial work:
Director Guillermo del Toro has credited 'Born to Kill' as a primary influence on his 2021 film 'Nightmare Alley', noting that, "a couple of the murders in the movie are shocking, even in 2022."
References
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