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Born to Kill
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780780650657
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD-Video, Subtitled, NTSC
ISBN: 0780650654
Item Dimensions: 25
Label: Turner Home Ent
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 MonoEnglish (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
MPN: DT7246D
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Turner Home Ent
Region Code: 1
Release Date: July 05, 2005
Running Time: 83 minutes
Studio: Turner Home Ent
Theatrical Release Date: May 03, 1947
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Editorial Review:
"Born to Kill" now on DVD was a classic and some say achetypal Film Noir movie Directed by Robert Wise who would go on to direct several other movies in the Film Noir genre. The notable cast included Claire Trevor who did so many Film Noir features that she became known as the "Queen of Film Noir" and the controversial Lawrence Tierny whose extensive film career included "Reservoir Dogs". "Born to Kill" DVD Plotline: Helen Brent (played by Claire Trevor) knows Sam Wild (Lawrence Tierny) 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. But the "Born to Kill" DVD now and complete your Film Noir DVD collection!Running Time: 92 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 053939724622
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
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Stupid Movie
This is one of the worst "Film Noir Movies" ever made.
The storyline is flat and predictable and Lawrence Tierney cannot act
at all, unless you call standing there and looking mean and angry is acting.
A waste of money and time !
Give me John Payne or Dana Andrew anytime !
Rating: - Not a noir
While I have no particular disagreement with others' reviews of the movie's plot and entertainment value I would not classify it as a film noir. It has none of the photographic values associated with film noirs. It is too well lit and lacks the dark creepy cinematography associated with film noir.
Rating: - "Born to Kill (1947) ... Robert Wise ... RKO Radio Pictures Film Noir"
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 ... Read More
Rating:  - More corn than candy
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 ... Read More
Rating:  - Clash of the Wicked.
"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 ... Read More
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