All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Odd things are happening in this picture, and at the Hays Office obviously all were sound asleep: A stinking rich Miss Supersweet is marrying a brick-faced lowlife hunk who preferably shares his bed with an old buddy from jail, while the millionaire girl's foster sister gets soaking wet when it comes to gory murder. Here, in 1947, RKO finally delves headlong into the abyss of Krafft-Ebings Psychopathia sexualis, and though the fatal-attraction plot may not be entirely plausible, Robert Wise's direction is taut and trim, the timing pure excellence, while angel-faced and downright ravishing Claire Trevor – marvelously dressed in one stunning ensemble after another by costume designer Edward Stevenson (Out of the Past) – gives the probably best performance of her career opposed to Lawrence Tierney, the Most Vicious Mutha ever to roam Hollywood Boulevard. Despite its icy brutality a melodrama at heart, Born to Kill moves along the slickest ground amour fou terrain has to offer, chock-full of malevolence, aggression, sexual deviance and a stranglehold feel of utter depravity. The NYT called Wise's first noir "not only morally disgusting, but an offense to a normal intellect" back then. So much about the high art of pushing the envelope.

This movie was pretty violent for coming out during the Hays Code. I guess they let some things slide because it was released by RKO. In particular, the first murder scene is very violent, and realistic, for a 1947 film. The movie is very cold-hearted. Sam (Lawrence Tierney) is essentially a male version of a femme fatale. He is greedy and without a conscious. Murder doesn't bother him, and he plays with women's emotions to get what he wants. He is also child-like in that he lets his emotions (angry, violent, and self-centered) control him. The only person who can influence him is Marty, a "friend" from prison who also happens to share a room and a bed with Sam. Although it's possible that there was no implied gay relationship between them, it was the 40s and filmmakers had to be subtle. The reason I think this interpretation is valid is because Marty is the only who can calm Sam down, and in addition to their living situation, seems too important to ignore. The women are cold-hearted too, but not as evil as Sam.Overall, the movie is a very enjoyable noir, and it deserves to be more widely known. I for one think it is better than the Big Sleep. The ending was perhaps a bit too neat, but it worked nonetheless.8/10

I'm amazed this movie is so popular at IMDb. Although it did play in my home town back in 1947 under the title "Deadlier Than the Male", I'd never even heard of it until I purchased the DVD when I noticed it was directed by Robert Wise. And a very noirish movie it is too, with great performances all around, especially from Claire Trevor (as the deadlier), Lawrence Tierney (as the deadly), Walter Slezak (as the Clayton's detective) and Audrey Long (as the lovely heroine), and not to forget the amazingly tough Isabel Jewel and super-sweaty Elisha Cook, Jr. Yes, these are exactly the sort of characters noir is made of! Martha Hyer and Ellen Corby play maids, but I didn't spot them. I missed Tommy Noonan's bell boy too! The stylish but not particularly noirish photography was the work of Robert de Grasse. Although IMDb gives the running time as 92 minutes, the DVD runs only 83 minutes. And the assistant director, Robert Weiss, is a bit of a mystery too. This is his only credit!

There are few actors who are prepared to take on the role of evil again and again. Tough guy Lawrence Tierney was one such actor, appearing in The Ghost Ship (1943), Dillinger (1945), The Devil Thumbs A Ride (1947) and The Hoodlum (1951) plus a few outings in westerns playing outlaw, and Jesse James twice, even.The storyline on the main page gives you enough to know about the plot at the outset; so, I won't repeat much here. Instead, I concentrate of the characters and the revealing implications contained in the whole story.In this story, Tierney is true to form: arrogant, petulant, egocentric, coldly homicidal, and psychologically insecure. In today's parlance, he'd probably be classed as clinical sociopath. Assisting him (as Sam Wild – what a deliciously appropriate name!), we see Claire Trevor as Helen Brent, a quick-witted gold digger with the morals of a corrupt cop or politician, who is, respectively, attracted to and repulsed by Sam Wild's forceful persona and his ruthless, take-no-prisoners modus operandi.Sam's the dominant partner in crime; Helen's along for the exciting ride, or so she says. Together, they make a formidable pair in crime. Accompanying Sam, we see Elisha Cook Jnr as the affably degenerate Marty Waterman who, as the plot develops, is revealed as not just a verbal punching bag for Sam, but also an alter ego who can get things done – including functioning as an effete gunsel for Sam, in more ways than one. The two men have been together for five years or more, obviously sleeping on the same double bed in their rented room – an aspect that certainly points to more than just a business partner relationship, given the character of both.And, given the year of production of this movie and the power of the Hays Code at that time, I wonder how much was left on the cutting-room floor to satisfy its demands prior to distribution.On the sidelines, and as a growing presence, we see Walter Slezak as Arnett, a sleazy, greasy, all-too-easily corrupted PI who is always on the make and on the take – from whom ever he can. He'd been hired by Mrs Kraft (Ester Howard) to track down Sam Wild who'd murdered two people in Reno and was now in San Francisco. So there, while digging up the dirt on Sam, Arnett discovers he can maybe get a bigger payoff by twisting Helen's arm, so to speak, for a bigger cash prize than the fee he's currently getting from Kraft. Unfortunately for Arnett, he gets what he deserves, instead.And throughout all of these insidious shenanigans, the "nice" people of San Francisco – Phillip Terry as Fred, and Audrey Long as Georgina – struggle to make sense of Helen and Sam. Fred and Georgina represent the epitome of what The American Dream is supposed to be; instead, we see them enmeshed in the American Nightmare that has invaded their oh-so-idealistic, consumer-driven lives. It's a powerful message that suffuses the story from the very first, and which gradually builds on each and every dirty trick and deed perpetrated by the Unholy Three of Sam, Helen and Marty. As film noir, it's an excellent example with an inexorable build-up of suspense and dread. Lawrence Tierney is simply made for the role of sociopath, and Claire Trevor, as femme fatale, responds in a similar fashion. Sure, it's melodrama; that, however, makes the implicit indictment of The American Dream all the more effective, and ironic, as the dark side of business in America is stripped bare. Elisha Cook Jnr, as always, plays his supporting role to the limit; and Walter Slezak never fails to entertain.Add in the professionalism of Robert Wise's direction and you can be assured of an entertaining and thought-provoking 92 minutes.The production is in black and white, of course; and overall, it's up to the mark to qualify as an excellent B-movie. Recommended for all Tierney fans and lovers of film noir.Give this 8 out of 10.January 18, 2013.