You’re the coldest iceberg of a woman I ever saw, and the rottenest inside.
Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on Born to Kill (1947).
While not required, nothing makes a good Film Noir like a really vicious Femme Fatale. Well, this film not only had a great Femme Fatale, but it also had a Homme Fatale. The combination and interplay of these two stinkers really keep you on the edge of your seat when watching Born to Kill (1947).
On iMDB.com, this film has a relatively low 7.2 rating[1]. On rottentomatoes.com it comes in near the same with an 80 percent on the Tomatometer and 75 percent audience approval[2].
In a May 1, 1947, review, New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther fairly hated the film saying:
“A clear illustration of why the movies are sometimes held in low esteem by people who are thoughtful of their influence is the Palace’s “Born to Kill,” an apt demonstration of why critics sometimes go mad. For this crime-flaunting melodrama from the left hand of RKO is not only morally disgusting but is an offense to a normal intellect—and we say this with no more piety or conceit than is average, we feel sure.
In the first place, the story is malignant, being a cheap and unsavory tale of a hard-hearted murderer’s fascination for a self-seeking divorcee. And, although such a smeary tabloid fable is not entirely unfamiliar on the screen, in this particular instance it is of noticeably negative worth. But, more than that, the whole atmosphere and detail of corruption is so indulgently displayed that it looks as though the aim of the producers was to include as much as possible, within the limits of the Production Code.
Lawrence Tierney, as the bold, bad killer whose ambition is to ‘fix it so I spit in anyone’s eye,’ is given outrageous license to demonstrate the histrionics of nastiness. And Claire Trevor as the lustful lady is permitted to conduct herself, especially in some scenes with Mr. Tierney, with surprising indecorum and lack of taste. Nothing is proved by their behavior beyond the easy (and excusing) moral that crime does not pay. In the meantime, the audience has been treated to an hour and a half of ostentatious vice. 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[3].”
Well, I know I’m not the only one that liked it. Karen at noiroftheweek.com shows this when she begins her review with:
“Born to Kill is one of those noirs that I keep in my pocket like the last peppermint. Sometimes I forget about it, but I’m so pleased when I run across it, because it’s just so good.”[4]
Actors – Born to Kill (1947)
Returning
This cast had quite a few Film Noir favorites, including Claire Trevor, who played the role of a bitter, impoverished socialite and Femme Fatale Helen Brent. We first talked about Trevor when she killed it in role Gaye Dawn, the has-been singer that liked to drink a little too much in Key Largo (1948).
Elisha Cook Jr. played henchman and killer Marty Waterman. Cook was first covered as a pint-sized gunman in The Maltese Falcon (1941).
Martha Hyer was uncredited as one of the maids. Hyer was first covered in First Men in the Moon (1964).
New
Lawrence Tierney played Sam Wilde, killer and Homme Fatale. Tierney was born in 1919 in New York City. Tierney’s father was a cop. Tierney was a star athlete at the Boys’ High School. He attended Manhattan College on an athletic scholarship but left after two years.
He kicked around the country working odd jobs until it was suggested that he try the stage. First, he joined the Black Friars theater group and then moved to the American-Irish Theatre. In 1943, he was noticed by an RKO talent scout and signed a contract.[5]
Tierney started taking uncredited roles. His first significant role was as the title character in Dillinger (1945). He was tall and good looking and could play a tough guy, so he got a lot of Film Noir and military roles.
Film high lights include prison film San Quentin (1946), Film Noirs The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947), Born to Kill (1947), Kill or Be Killed (1950), Shakedown (1950), and The Hoodlum (1951). He was with the circus in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). His next Film Noir was Female Jungle (1955). He liked to drink a bit and was comparatively mean. Around 1959, he started doing more television. He would pick up an occasional film role. He stayed in Hollywood and continued to work until 2000.
Tierney played gangster Cyrus Redblock to Captain Picard’s detective character Dixon Hill in the holodeck on “Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Big Goodbye” 1988. He saw an immense spike in popularity after appearing as Joe Cabot in Quentin Tarantino Neo-Noir Reservoir Dogs (1992) and a bit part in Armageddon (1998). Tierney died in 2002.
Walter Slezak played unscrupulous detective Albert Arnett. Slezak was born in 1902 in Vienna, Austro-Hungarian empire. His father was an opera star. The good-looking young man was noticed in a Biergarten in Hungry by Michael Curtiz when he was still being called Mihaly Kertesz. He got a role in Sodom und Gomorrah (1922). He became a bankable leading man as he continued to make movies. During the next decade, he gained so much weight that he could no longer fill the leading man roles. That shit happens!
Slezak moved to the USA in 1930. He began working on Broadway and became a major stage star. This Tony Award-winning actor made his first US movie in 1942. In this film, Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942), Slezak played a Nazi. In 1944, he was pretty amazing playing a Nazi again in Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat (1944).
He wisely stepped away from Nazi roles and began to show his comedic as well as dramatic acting skills. He appeared in The Princess and the Pirate (1944), Salome, Where She Danced (1945), The Spanish Main (1945), Film Noir Cornered (1945), Sinbad, the Sailor (1947), Film Noir Born to Kill (1947), Riffraf (1947), The Pirate (1948), the hilarious Danny Kaye film The Inspector General (1949), Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion (1950), and one of my favorites People Will Talk (1951) where he plays Prof. Barker, ‘a man who by nature interrupts.’
The 1950s found Slezak working more on television with occasional movie roles. He was in a hilarious movie with Rock Hudson, Come September (1961), and played a bookseller in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962). He was the Clock King on “Batman” if you are into those characters. Slezak retired from acting in 1980. As a result of problematic medical issues, he took his own life in 1983.
Esther Howard had a small but essential role as Reno rooming house owner and good time drinker, Mrs. Kraft. Howard was born in 1892 in Montana. Howard started working on stage in New York in 1917. In 1931, she moved to Hollywood and began appearing in films.
Howard had 115 film and television credits. She was in a wide range of roles but specialized as a frumpy old lady. Her best roles include Sullivan’s Travels (1941), comedy The Palm Beach Story (1942), Murder, My Sweet (1944) where Howard played a more savvy and drunker version of the character that she played in today’s film, Laurel and Hardy’s The Big Noise (1944), The Great Flamarion (1945), and Born to Kill (1947). She died in 1965.
Story – Born to Kill (1947)
In Reno Nevada, Helen Trent (Claire Trevor) and her attorney leave the courthouse. Helen has just received her divorce. She returns to the boarding house where she is staying. Mrs. Kraft (Esther Howard) and Laury Palmer (Isabel Jewell) are drinking and laughing it up. Laury has her dog with her. Helen is friendly but aloof as she pays her finally bill. Laury says she has a new boyfriend but is going out with another guy to make him jealous. Laury and Mrs. Kraft think it is a good idea that a man like she has will kick your teeth out if you get out of line. All three ladies agree most men are just turnips.
That night at the Northern Club, Helen is losing at roulette. She goes to the craps table, and the shooter is Sam Wilde (Lawrence Tierney). Helen really likes what she sees. He likes her looks too as she bets against him on the Don’t Pass line. Laury comes by with her date Danny (Tony Barrett). Sam gives them the stink eye.
Laury and Danny go back to her place, which is located next to the boarding house. Danny goes to make drinks, and Sam is waiting in the kitchen, smoking, and drinking. He tells Danny to get out. Sam says he won’t be cut out. Danny pulls a switchblade. Sam disarms him, hits him a few times, and knocks him to the ground. Danny comes up with a large knife sharpener. Sam beats him and takes the sharpener. Sam clubs Danny in the head, killing him. Laury comes in and sees the dead body. Sam kills her, too, as the small dog barks. Sam cuts out the back with Danny’s body lying close to the door. The dog runs outside.
Helen comes home to the boarding house and finds the dog outside. When she puts the dog inside, she sees the two dead bodies. Helen leaves the dog and goes back to the boarding house. She starts to call the police but stops. Instead, she calls and makes her train reservations.
Sam goes back to his apartment, where he lives with Marty Waterman (Elisha Cook, Jr.). Sam tells Marty that Laury is dead. Marty knows right away that Sam is the killer. Sam has had mental problems since the last summer. Sam says he takes whatever he wants, and no one can stop him. Marty goes into damage control and tells Sam to take a train to San Francisco. He also warns him to stay away from dames.
Helen is going to be on the same train and runs into Sam outside. They get on the train together. Sam tells the Pullman Porter that they are going to the club car even though it is not open. They talk in the club car and Helen thinks he is not a turnip. Helen mentions Laury, and Sam gets tense. It is not clear how close the pair becomes.
In the morning, they ride the ferry. Helen tells Sam to go to the Terrace Hotel so she will be able to contact him later. He is confident to the point of creepiness.
In a small diner in Reno, private detective Albert Arnett (Walter Slezak) is reading a paper. He doesn’t have an office and uses the diner’s phone for work. Arnett goes to meet his new client, Mrs. Kraft. She wants to find the person that killed Laury. Arnett takes the case on a 500 dollar retainer. Arnett knows that Laury’s house was left to Mrs. Kraft.
At a swanky mansion in San Francisco, Helen, her fiancé Fred Grover (Phillip Terry), and her half-sister Georgia Staples (Audrey Long) are preparing to go out. Sam shows up out of the blue and intrudes into the party. Helen introduces the gang, including her fiancé. Georgia, being friendly, invites Sam along. Georgia reads about the Reno murder, and Helen asks if they know who did it. Helen says she doesn’t know about the killings but slips and says two people were killed. Georgia calls her out, and Helen admits discovering the bodies but leaving without reporting them. Helen says she doesn’t want to get involved.
The four people go to a restaurant with a sky view. When Helen and Sam are alone, Sam starts giving her the business about having a fiancé. Sam says he can change her mind about getting married. She tells him she only wants him for a side lover.
Georgia finds Helen’s ring and asks when she didn’t throw it over a fence or down a drain. Helen says she may need the money, but Georgia replies that she will never need to worry about money. Helen explains that they are half-sisters (she says, foster sisters). When Georgia’s father died, he left her a successful newspaper and lots of money. Helen has nothing but has always shared everything with Georgia.
Sam asks Georgia to dance. Sam verifies that Fred is loaded. He gets right into asking rich Georgia why she is not already married. Georgia is taken by Sam’s forward attitude.
That night Georgia goes to see Helen. Georgia is struck by Sam. Helen fails to warn Georgia away from Sam.
Later that night, Marty calls Sam and lets Sam know that the investigation is winding down. Sam says he is marrying Georgia. Marty is heading down to San Francisco.
Marty arrives in San Francisco and is being trailed by Arnett. Arnett goes to the mansion and finds out from the drivers that Georgia is getting married. He goes to the back door and pretends to be a hobo looking for a meal in exchange for work. One of the ladies lets him in. The uncredited maids are played by Martha Hyer and Ellen Corby.
The wedding is taking place in the mansion. After the ceremony, Helen rushes away to drink. Fred finds her and is worried about her. He knows she is against the wedding. Fred says she could have stopped the marriage. She turns it back on him. When Fred leaves, Sam comes in. Helen and Sam spat back and forth like cats in an alley. She also asks about Marty. Then Helen breaks down and asks why he has stayed away from her. Helen lets out that she hates Georgia for her money. But she loves her and will be his enemy if he hurts Georgia. He kisses her and leaves.
A maid comes in and tells Helen that the man in the kitchen is asking a lot of questions about Sam. Helen forces Arnett to identify himself. She wants to know why he is asking questions about Sam. Using the form of a question, Helen tells about Marty coming to visit Sam. Georgia and Sam get ready to leave. Helen kisses him this time.
Helen takes Marty to the Top of the Mark for a drink. She quizzes him up about Sam. Fred is at the mansion when Helen gets back. She has invited Marty to move in with them. He wants her to withdraw the invitation. Georgia and Sam show back up a week early from their honeymoon. They are fighting because Sam wants to run the newspaper. He rages on Fred when he comments on him being the head of the paper, when Helen agrees, Sam storms out.
Later, Sam knocks on Helen’s door. He finds her in the kitchen. Helen says she was against Sam because Fred was. Sam only wants to be able to make or break people. Finally, they kiss. Sam says Fred and Georgia mean nothing to them. She wants to marry Fred for security, and it will keep her from becoming a desperately evil person. Sam says that Georgia told about Helen finding the bodies. Then he lets out some details about the crime scene. Before she can react, Marty arrives to move in.
When she is alone, Helen begins to freak out. She calls Arnett in Reno. Sam and Marty are drinking downstairs, and Marty urges caution with Helen. The operator rings back, and Sam listens in on the other receiver. He tells Marty that Helen called someone in Reno. Sam doesn’t know if Helen is for or against him. Marty tries to keep him calm.
Helen meets Arnett one night at a park overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge. Arnett says he is almost done investigating Sam. Arnett says Sam is the chief proponent of the murder. Helen offers $5,000. Arnett counters with $15,000. She says $7,000, and he replies $15,000. Arnett asks about her motives and her change of opinion about Sam.
Helen goes down, and Sam calls her out. She says she was seeing Arnett and was trying to protect Sam. Sam doesn’t believe her, and she storms away. Marty asks for the detective’s name.
Arnett goes to visit Mrs. Kraft, who is staying in a hotel in San Francisco. Marty tails him. Mrs. Kraft is drinking beer and playing cards with a bellboy. Arnett comes in, and she sends out the bell boy. Arnett says he has seen Marty at Laury’s funeral and outside her house, and he has given him a lead. He gives her a bill for his incidentals.
After Arnett leaves, Marty comes up the stairs. He tells Mrs. Kraft he wants to talk to her about Laury. He asks that $100 be given to him that night after he shows her the information. Marty gives her a map with a location. She is supposed to come in a cab, by herself, at 11 pm.
Marty goes back to the mansion and warns Helen about the danger of her affair with Sam. She’s not taking the warning, but Sam sees him come out of Helen’s room. He verifies with Sam that he should go forward with killing Mrs. Kraft and maybe Arnett as well.
At 11 pm, Mrs. Kraft takes a taxi to a remote beach location. I wouldn’t have gotten out there. Marty comes up behind her and tells her they have to walk up onto the dunes. Mrs. Kraft has some 10-inch hat pins in her hair. Marty opens a switchblade to kill her, but she head butts him and tries to run. Marty trips her, and she stabs him in the leg with a hatpin.
Suddenly, Sam comes over the hill and grabs Marty. He forces him to the ground while Mrs. Kraft gets away. Sam accuses Marty of fooling around with Helen. He then stabs him.
In the morning, Helen is wakened when the maid tells her that Marty has been murdered. The police take the maid, Georgia, Sam, and Helen downstairs for interrogation. Sam says he was playing cards with Helen during the murder, and she supports his alibi. Later, Helen chews out Sam. He then accuses her of having an affair with Marty. Under questions, Sam tells about the attempted murder of Mrs. Kraft.
Helen goes to Mrs. Kraft’s room. She is broken by the previous night’s experience. She has no joy anymore. Mrs. Kraft identified Sam from a picture in the paper. Helen terrorizes Mrs. Kraft with the thought of being murdered. Mrs. Kraft throws some good insults on Helen. Mrs. Kraft breaks down, and Helen leaves her with the threat of death. Mrs. Kraft spits on her at the door.
That night Sam heads out, and Helen follows him to the car. She says she has taken care of Mrs. Kraft and will borrow the money from Fred to payoff Arnett. Helen admits doing all of this for her and Sam. When she invites Sam back, he knows she is rotten, and he loves it. When they kiss, she notes that he is carrying a gun.
Arnett calls, and Helen has the maid tell him to call back later. Fred is there and she butters him up. Fred wants to break off the engagement. He says Helen doesn’t love him and has no heart. He tells her to change before it is too late. She throws the attack onto him. Fred leaves as Helen begs him to stay. He tells her it is because of Sam before he goes. Arnett calls back and tells Helen that Mrs. Kraft has withdrawn her request. She tells Arnett that she won’t pay. He says he will bring the police if not paid. She says he is armed totally betraying Sam.
Helen goes to see Georgia and Helen tells her that Fred is gone for good. Helen tells Georgia that Sam is going to be arrested for killing Marty and the two people in Reno. Georgia can’t believe it, and she only wants to help Sam. Helen tries to control Georgia, and lets’ slip that her money has protected her, and she has never had to deal with jolts as Helen has. Finally, Georgia realizes that Helen has known about the murders for some time and has only just now decided to have Sam arrested. Georgia says that Helen tried to get Georgia’s money back after she lost Fred and his money.
Sam comes in, and Helen has Georgia hide in a chair. Helen brings him inside, kisses him, and he agrees to go away with her. Georgia stands up and tells them to get out. Helen tells Sam to kill Georgia. He pulls his gun, but the police arrive at the door before he can kill Georgia. Sam realizes that Helen called the cops, and he begins shooting at her. She runs to the bedroom and locks the door. That should work!
Sam breaks into the room and shoots her through the locked bathroom door. The police arrive and gun down Sam. Sam is dead by Helen might survive. She says she didn’t land on her feet.
The next day Arnett picks up a paper saying that Helen is being questioned about motives. Arnett quotes the Bible and throws the paper away. Litterbug.
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – Born to Kill (1947)
They just expected us to know. Near the beginning of The Misfits (1961), Marilyn Monroe, who following her divorce in Reno, considers throwing her ring off a bridge into a small creek. In today’s movie, Helen is staying in a boarding house in Reno as well, until her divorce is final.
What’s this all about? A 2002 New York Times article states Reno became the land of divorces in 1931 when they changed the residence requirement to only six weeks. Newspaperman Walter Winchell called it “Reno-vation” and the city was known as “the divorce capital of the world”…[6]. I prefer taking the term the Reno cure[7] mocking, taking the alcohol cure, or detox.
In a 2015 newspaper article by Scott Sonner, it says the bridge over the Truckee River was built in the 1920s and is only a block from the Washoe County courthouse. The bridge has two other names, the “Wedding Ring Bridge,” and the “Bridge of Sighs.”[8][9]
In the Misfits (1961), Thelma Ritter, as Isabelle Steers tells Marilyn Monroe as Roslyn Taber, that if she throws her ring in the river, she will never get divorced again. Sadly, the bridge has now been torn down. By the 1970s, other states had relaxed their rules, and it was no longer necessary to travel to Reno to get a quick divorce.
World-Famous Short Summary – With friends like these, who needs enemies
Beware the moors
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039211/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1035316_born_to_kill
[3] https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1947/05/01/87745979.html?pageNumber=33
[4] http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2006/05/born-to-kill-1947.html Broken 2023
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_Tierney
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/22/us/some-in-reno-say-do-not-put-asunder-artifacts-of-divorce.html
[7] https://www.rgj.com/story/life/2017/09/18/rise-and-fall-renos-quickie-divorce-industry/677065001/
[8] https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2015/jun/07/reno-says-goodbye-to-wedding-ring-bridge/
[9] https://www.rgj.com/story/life/2017/09/18/rise-and-fall-renos-quickie-divorce-industry/677065001/
