Born to Kill (1947)

Lawrence Tierney stars in a sumptuous melodrama directed by Robert Wise

Like many other reviewers, I got to know this man's man, tough-as-nails character who was a star of B productions and Film Noirs for a little while during the 40s thanks to Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs. Now, having watched two of Lawrence Tierney's most significant outputs side by side, his breakthrough role in Dillinger (1945) and this sumptuous yet gritty melodrama nicely executed by Robert Wise, I can get an idea of how good he was... at being bad. The actor's bad-boyishness was simple and even wooden, altogether an incorrect and imposing gesture of virility basics. His limitations, both human and professional, were what Born to Kill exactly needed.

Not nearly as cheap-looking as Dillinger, directed by Tierney's regular Max Nosseck, this RKO production was an early showcase of Wise's potential as a director, far prior to his most famous and widely awarded musicals. It exhibits a lighting and art direction work that appropriately set the mood, and a satisfactory way of unfolding the psychological drives up to a point. There is some annoying stuff, for instance that of Elisha Cook playing a character poorly written for the standards of this fairly intelligent pulp entertainment; however, Wise more than makes up for it with his handling of the other actors (Claire Trevor foremost) and his luscious black and white visuals.