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Born to Kill

Play trailer Poster for Born to Kill Released Apr 30, 1947 1h 32m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 6 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Drifter Sam Wilde (Lawrence Tierney) murders a Reno, Nev., boardinghouse owner and her boyfriend in a fit of jealousy. Tenant Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) discovers the bodies, but instead of reporting the crime, she leaves for San Francisco as planned to return to her wealthy fiancé. On the same train, Sam flirts with Helen, then tracks her to her half-sister's house, where he continues to pursue her. Although Helen suspects Sam is a murderer, she inexplicably protects him from an investigator.
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Born to Kill

Critics Reviews

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Nick Schager Lessons of Darkness Competent if slightly too tame for a supposedly sleazy story. Rated: B May 16, 2006 Full Review Fernando F. Croce Slant Magazine The usually meek Robert Wise trades his chameleonic tastefulness for full-on, jazzy misanthropy in this nasty melodrama. May 1, 2006 Full Review Mike Massie Gone With The Twins One of the most acerbic of all films noir, boasting essentially no redeemable characters (or a wealth of deliciously evil villains) while also being utterly enthralling. Rated: 10/10 Aug 5, 2020 Full Review David Nusair Reel Film Reviews ...a fairly typical film-noir premise that's employed to watchable yet entirely unmemorable effect by Robert Wise... Rated: 3/4 Jul 15, 2016 Full Review Jeffrey M. Anderson Combustible Celluloid Hard to watch, but effective and alluring nonetheless. Rated: 3/4 Sep 9, 2005 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews A revolting B film noir... Rated: C Apr 2, 2003 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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David K I'm a sucker for Claire Trevor and do love the work of Elijah Wood. This film works for me. It takes back to a time when the actual violence so decried upon its release is always off camera. That can still be a brutal thing but points out the degree to which things have changed. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 06/19/25 Full Review acsdoug D It's a decent noir. I liked the fact few of the characters are clearcut good or bad. The moral gray area makes the film more interesting. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/29/25 Full Review Steve D Trevor knocks this out of the park but everything else is also good Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/24 Full Review Kurt F One of my favorite Film Noirs. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/18/24 Full Review Audience Member This is about as dark a 1940s film noir as you'll find. It's plot suggests that all people have a sinister side. Robert Wise is the perfect director to explore this theme. And, If you know anything about the real life of the film's lead actor, Lawrence Tierney, you'll know that he's pretty much type-cast as the cocksure, criminal who casts a spell over the women he targets. Claire Trevor, known as the Queen of Noirs, is spellbinding herself. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review deke p Saw the entire movie finally on the Movie Channel on broadcast antenna tv, Jan 2020. Interesting. Lawrence tierney starred. wow. What a handsome leading man, way back then, but in real life an incorrigible drunk and badass. And in his seventies a bald fathead. Anyway, in the movie he was a real bad guy, a natural born killer. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Born to Kill

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Cast & Crew

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Robert Wise

Director

Lawrence Tierney

Sam Wild

Claire Trevor

Helen Brent

Walter Slezak

Matthew Albert Arnett

Phillip Terry

Fred Grover

Audrey Long

Georgia Staples

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Born to Kill

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Movie Info

Synopsis Drifter Sam Wilde (Lawrence Tierney) murders a Reno, Nev., boardinghouse owner and her boyfriend in a fit of jealousy. Tenant Helen Brent (Claire Trevor) discovers the bodies, but instead of reporting the crime, she leaves for San Francisco as planned to return to her wealthy fiancé. On the same train, Sam flirts with Helen, then tracks her to her half-sister's house, where he continues to pursue her. Although Helen suspects Sam is a murderer, she inexplicably protects him from an investigator.
Director
Robert Wise
Producer
Herman Schlom
Screenwriter
Eve Greene, Richard Macaulay
Production Co
RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 30, 1947, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
May 23, 2016
Runtime
1h 32m
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