Better than most of the low budget thrillers, this is fun because it involves a series of flashbacks which explain why a woman has been badly injured due to her connection with a corrupt district attorney. The story is pretty well put forward with a minimum of stereotyping. The woman is really a fireball, putting herself in harm's way over and over. It's odd she survived as long as she did. Most of the characters are bad guys with their own agendas. There is some double crossing and an effort to expose a frame-up. I felt the ending was pretty well done, which isn't always the case in this genre. The acting is quite good because the bad guys are presented as human beings, with human failings and emotions. Not that they aren't pretty evil and pretty cold. It's worth a look.
Add a Review
-
Hitchcoc2 November 2007
-
planktonrules18 July 2008Before you begin watching this movie, I suggest you keep your eyes peeled and ears open for the really neat piano number early in the film. Though this low-budget Noir film was made before the Rock 'n Roll era, this piano bit is a good example of "pre-Rock"--R&B that led to Rock in the 1950s. It reminded me of a number by Bee Bumble--and it really kicked.
This is one of two films included on a DVD entitled "Forgotten Noir" and also includes the movie SHADOW MAN. Both are low-budget Noir titles and I would agree that both are forgotten--films you don't usually see on TV and that "lesser" Noir films--made by smaller studios with lesser stars. In fact, with SHOOT TO KILL, there really are no stars though there are a few faces you might recognize.
The film begins with a car careening over an embankment. An escaped con as well as the District Attorney and his new wife are thrown from the car and the only survivor is the woman. When she awakes, she begins to reminisce about what led to this crazy accident.
Some time back, the lady came to work with an Assistant DA and eventually he would win the coveted DA's job. However, this young and respected attorney is actually working for the mob. Along the way, he dates his secretary and eventually marries her. Here is where a GREAT twist occurs--though I'd rather not say more about the story--it would ruin the film.
The bottom line is that this cheap film still has a good story and packs quite a punch. While not among the higher echelons of great Noir, this one should be better remembered as it's a very good film and well worth your time due to the complex story that is fraught with twists and turns. -
boblipton1 December 2019Edmund MacDonald wants to be the district attorney. It's not for love of the city or the law, but an opportunity to squeeze people for money. He sends mobster Robert Kent to prison, but Kent escapes and vanishes, and a crime wave begins. MacDonald's wife and secretary, Luana Walters gains information on what is going on. She cannot act overtly, because a wife cannot testify against her husband, but she can pass the word onto Robert Wade and let him investigate.
It's an intriguing idea for a film noir, but the script isn't up to it: it's confusingly written, with twists pulled seemingly out of nowhere to explain why someone is suddenly acting differently.
What director William Berke can do about it is to give cinematographer Benjamin Kline his head, and Kline produces a heck of a visual feast, lots of dark streets and low-lit actors that lend a beautiful gloss to the movie. It's not enough to save it. However, it makes it worth watching. -
"Shoot to Kill" is a somewhat routine but fast-paced crime story. It begins with a car chase, and then flashes back to explain who is involved and what led up to the chase.
The plot is relatively complicated and involves a crooked politician, a gangster looking for revenge, a loyal wife trying to clear her husband in any way possible, and a crusading reporter who is trying to figure out what everyone else is up to. The characters are mostly stereotypes, and most are also unsympathetic, but the emphasis is on the action. A great deal happens in just over an hour's worth of running time, and there are a couple of surprises along the way.
Though mostly a routine crime drama, "Shoot to Kill" is fast-paced enough to keep your attention, and most film-noir or crime film fans should find it a decent way to pass the time. -
This 1947 B-grade noir blasts straight out of Poverty Row, throwing everything it's got in a frantic hour of double-crossings and betrayals. One thing I love about low-budget noir is that nobody feels the obligation to create a hero: the District Attorney (Edmond MacDonald) is as crooked as a rake; his loving wife (Susan Walters) only married him to screw him over; George Mitchell (Russell Wade), a reporter for the "Tribune", is the closest we get to a hero, but he's such a smug bastard that you don't know what he's hiding. The film even features a rather lengthy and totally awesome piano solo by Gene Rodgers, because, hell, it's already got everything else you could want. There is a rather hokey stairway fight sequence that takes place in fast-forward, but otherwise I was impressed with director William Berke, and his ability to contrive an exciting film with a total budget of $3.59. 'Shoot to Kill' is a home-run for low-budget thrillers, and an entertaining way to obliterate 64 minutes of your spare time.
-
"Shoot To Kill" (aka Police Reporter) is a great example of a low budget movie that delivers terrific entertainment, intrigue and surprises by means of a story that's refreshingly different from the norm. It begins with a high speed car chase that ends when one of the cars crashes and the police, who were chasing it, discover that two of its occupants are dead and the third is badly injured. Whilst they knew that the driver was an escaped convict, the cops are shocked to discover that his passengers were the city's newly appointed District Attorney and his wife. While she's recovering in her hospital bed, Marian Langdon Dale (Luana Walters) agrees to tell her friend, newspaper reporter George "Mitch" Mitchell (Russell Wade), about the events that led up to the crash.
Marian had sought employment at the Assistant D.A.'s office after seeing Larry Dale (Edmund MacDonald) successfully prosecute gangster Dixie Logan (Robert Kent) on a murder charge that led to Logan being sentenced to 20 years in prison and had been grateful to Mitch when he had used his influence with Larry to get her appointed as his secretary. Larry, who was rumoured to have used bribed witnesses to secure Logan's conviction, was regularly visited by local crime boss Gus Miller (Nestor Paiva) who, on one occasion, recognised the Courthouse janitor as being one of Logan's gang members. After Miller had left, the janitor planted a bug in Larry's office but later, on Miller's orders, two of his men had called by the building and threw the janitor down the elevator shaft.
Larry was on good terms with all three of the crime bosses (including Miller) who were Dixie Logan's main rivals and Miller, having been concerned about how close Larry and Marian had become, urged Larry to fire her before she learned too much about their business. However, after having discovered that his office was bugged and having good reason to suspect Marian, Larry decided instead to marry her so that, as his wife, she wouldn't be able to testify against him. Marian arranged the marriage with a local judge that she knew well and afterwards told Larry that she knew how corrupt he was but would stand by him and support his campaign to be District Attorney subject to the condition that he rids the city of the three crime bosses who were responsible for a crime wave that seemed to be carrying on unchecked.
Larry had then set up the crime bosses to wipe each other out before a whole sequence of surprising developments and revelations eventually lead to Marian being able to explain fully what motivated her actions and led to her and Larry travelling in the same car as Dixie Logan.
Watching "Shoot To Kill" is an exhilarating experience because the action drives forward with tremendous purpose, the dialogue is punchy and the impressive visual compositions contribute so much to the moody atmosphere. Expectations are obviously low with movies of this calibre and the quality of the acting isn't great. What is great however, is the convoluted plot which unfolds in flashback, features numerous twists and double crosses and is far more original than most of those seen in similar crime thrillers. There's also a wonderful bonus in the form of Gene Rodgers' boogie woogie number which the pianist delivers with the same vitality and enthusiasm that's so characteristic of the rest of this surprisingly good production. -
This cheapie noir thriller about crooked district attorneys and gangster chiefs is surprisingly good, considered it was made on a zero budget with no reason to aim high. Of course, it is completely corny, but there are a lot of expressionistic camera angles, and the many dollying shots of men walking at night are surprisingly effective with a single bright spotlight on the face and everything else pitch black. As is usual with these over the top late forties cheapies, the impact depends largely upon an excessive, almost parodic, use of 'mood music'. When things begin to get dangerous, don't worry about looking for clues on the screen, as the orchestra will tell us instead. One wonders if the script actually said: 'At this point, the musical score will become hysterical, so that the audience knows someone is about to get killed.' The chief reason for watching this film is to see and hear the spectacular performance on the piano of Gene Rodgers, a black boogie player who was one of the best. It is jaw-dropping stuff. Fats Waller, eat your heart out! Rodgers plays two of his own compositions, 'Ballad of the Bayou' and 'Rajah's Blues'. His fingers move faster than the speed of light, and he isn't even looking. If only the whole thing had been Rodgers, we could have done without the film. The film's script is surprising in its ingenuity in places, and has some snappy dialogue, showing that somebody tried. The most innovative scene is where an assistant district attorney dictates a letter to his secretary. It is a passionate love letter proposing marriage, and she wonders to whom he intends to send it. He asks her if she thinks it is OK, and she says she thinks it is beautiful. Then he tells her it is for her! Great scene! If only the romance had been genuine, however, as both turn out to be crooks in their own way. This film contains serious contradictions, as it oscillates between making some characters appear sympathetic and then suddenly exposing them as baddies. The story must have started out as a tough crime thriller and then some frustrated sentimentalist wrote the script and could not help himself, he just had to have some love scenes, and the fact that the characters were all wrong for this could not and would not deter him. The producer clearly didn't notice. Well, if you like brilliant boogie, you really can't afford to miss this. And there will be people who will also enjoy the film. It is all a matter of what you expect, and if you start out expecting a corny mini-budgeted noir thriller with some unexpected good points, you will be happy.
-
Terrell-49 February 2008When the police reach the site of the car crash, a car they've been chasing through the night and exchanging gunfire with, they find Lawrence Dale, the man who will become District Attorney in the morning, his wife Marian, and the notorious gangster Dixie Logan. Dale and Logan are dead. Marian is rushed to a hospital seriously injured. What's going on?
All will become clear in 64 minutes if you watch this tidy, well-constructed, low-budget programmer from 1947. The acting isn't much and neither is the dialogue, but the story is well constructed, there are lots of intriguing flashbacks and the direction is taut, unhurried and doesn't waste a minute. For a quickie with a five-day shooting schedule, Shoot to Kill is a fine example of why some people, me included, love these Forties, bottom-of-the-bill movies.
The story is all about Lawrence Dale (Edmund MacDonald), a corrupt and ambitious assistant district attorney; Marian Langton (Luanna Walters, billed as Susan Walters), who shows up one morning looking for a job as Dale's secretary; and Mitch Mitchell (Russell Wade), a smart, crime-fighting reporter for The Evening Register. With the ailing DA about to step down, we quickly learn that his replacement, Dale, is in cahoots with some big-boy gangsters, and that the lot of them plan to run the town. But Dale makes a mistake. To put away Dixie Logan on a murder charge, a step that will enhance his reputation as a crime-fighter, Dale manufactures false evidence and bribes two witnesses. It's not long before Logan has busted out of jail with payback in mind. Then Dale starts getting romantic with his new secretary, a woman with a mind of her own. And to top it off, as Dale and his gangster partners plot murder, ace reporter Mitchell gets on their trail.
All this could be as stale as a week-old banana-nut muffin. Shoot to Kill, however, keeps things fresh by using flashbacks, even flashbacks within flashbacks, to make all the plotting and machinations intriguing. There's even a twist at the end that's not telegraphed and yet is believable.
Shoot to Kill is B-level movie-making in all its cheap glory. There's not an actor in sight who ever escaped the low-budget movie mill. Even some of their stories have a kind of B-movie quality. Russell Wade, for instance, was never much of an actor in all the movies he made, most of them in unbilled parts and then as a lead. Still, he had a friendly, likable personality. When he was 31, a year after this movie, Wade packed it in as an actor and became a highly successful real estate man in Palm Springs. Luanna Walters, on the other hand, after years of trying and not succeeding to break out of B-movie purgatory (she played the female interest in a lot of westerns), died of alcoholism when she was 51. Where's Nicole Kidman when we need her, to star in The Luanna Walters Story? Sadly, the movie, Wade and Walters have been long forgotten. -
Shoot to Kill (1947)
Weak and Confusing, Shoot to Kill Yourself
You know how you can plop in front of a t.v. and find an old movie and watch it even though you know it's bad. The mood, the clunkiness, the archetypes, the nostalgia all work on you. As long as you have nothing better to do. Say in a motel on a business trip.
That's as far as Shoot to Kill will rise. It's fun, it's dramatic, and there are crimes and suspects. It will keep you up more than put you to sleep. To a point.
So why actually rent it (or stream it free on Netflix)?
Well, there are a lot of nice night scenes, little moments where the camera looks at a door archway or the feet of some people walking, and you might be able to watch this just for that aspect. That fight scene toward the end of the movie, between the reporter (who is a better fighter than actor) and a thug (who is not bad at both), tumbles down a set of stairwas and it's very physical and amazing, actually. The requisite car chase scene(s), less so. There's lots of high contrast light and moving camera, which is pretty standard by the late 40s, but is one of the reasons to watch in the first place.
The plot, however, is so full of double crosses it's not worth the effort keeping everyone straight. That might make it a lot of fun for some people, but I was hoping for a clearer line that actually mattered when it got twisted.
William Berke, the director, has dozens of films of this caliber to his name, and he cranked them out with no budget. Shoot to Kill is entertaining, yes, and many with more consistent acting, but it clips along so that you just go with it. The woman is less a femme fatale than just a strong willed and duplicitous lead. She's made sympathetic by the end.
Maybe the small insert of real music by Gene Rodgers is enough to search for that scene (about 9:40 in), where he plays a nice stride or similar style piano, though probably not miked while filming, since the fingerwork doesn't match up. It's an odd addition that makes no real sense in the plot, but it's given billing in the opening credits, and Rodgers did some good backup work in the 1930s and 40s (including Coleman Hawkins).
The only other think I noticed of some small note (and I'm stretching to find things): among all the flashbacks (the movie is basically one big flashback, as well) is at least one case of a flashback within the flashback. Or is that three layers? Brilliance beget by necessity. -
Hey_Sweden10 February 2014"Shoot to Kill" is no unsung gem of the film noir genre that begs to be rediscovered, but it still may serve as adequate entertainment for die hard fans. It's notable for a fairly fast moving plot and plenty of twists / double crosses in the scenario devised by Edwin V. Westrate. It doesn't have big stars, but it does have actors whom you may recognize, such as lead Russell Wade ("The Body Snatcher"), and co-stars Edmund MacDonald ("Detour") and Nestor Paiva ("Tarantula"). In the director's chair is William Berke, an extremely prolific filmmaker during this era. None of the characters are particularly likable, at least to begin with, but you can still understand why they do what they do.
"Shoot to Kill" begins with a brief car chase, which results in the deaths of two people: mobster "Dixie" Logan (Robert Kent) and assistant district attorney Lawrence Dale (MacDonald). Hurt in the crash is secretary Marian Langdon (Luana Walters), who relates her story to reporter George "Mitch" Mitchell (Wade). She went to work for Dale, hoping to expose him as corrupt and obtain evidence that Logan was framed for a crime.
The acting is perfectly serviceable in this appreciably taut little movie (it only runs an hour and four minutes), with Kent a standout as the mobster, and Paiva providing a solid supporting performance as his rival Gus Miller. Walters proves to be a feisty and tough talking female lead. Wade manages to be reasonably engaging in his role.
One memorable sequence involves some fisticuffs between Wade and Kent; it actually comes off as rather comical the way that it's shot and edited. And there is some value here in the presence of pianist Gene Rodgers, who shows off his chops a little before the ten minute mark. The movie does have some good atmosphere.
Minor stuff in the end, but not bad.
Six out of 10. -
samhill521511 October 2009This has to be one of the corniest noirs to hit the screen. For the most part it was incomprehensible with the plot careening one way and then the other. The characters all spoke in a monotone advancing whatever was discernible about the plot by announcing their motives and plans. The dialog was made of one cliché after another suitably punctuated for effect such as when Walters (Luana Walters that is, here credited as Susan) announces to her husband Dixie Logan "Even if you were framed I know now that you're ROTten" (emphasis on ROT). Every character has his/her own agenda and proceeds to implement it with gusto without a care for their safety. Allegiances are formed and dissolved at lightening speed - nobody seems to be aware of the concept of loyalty. Without the score the viewer would be even more confused. At least it announced when something of interest was about to happen.
If all this makes "Shoot to Kill" seem like a turkey you wouldn't be far off the mark. It's so corny it's actually kind of funny, in a desperate sort of way. After a while you begin to wander what else they're going to throw in the mix. But it has its good points. There's a neat fistfight on a staircase, supposedly down two flights of stairs although I suspect it was filmed on the same one flight with the protagonists starting over at the top. Along with the fists so did the railings and I began to wonder whether it wouldn't collapse. On their budget they'd have to keep the footage. Punches and slaps were thrown that seemed to connect, especially the one on Walters toward the end. She disappears off camera falling down only to bounce back up unperturbed to deliver her memorable line quoted in the previous paragraph.
The real revelation is pianist Gene Rodgers who appears 9:30 into the movie. Previously unknown to me, he was magic, a god of boogie jazz. He plays two of his own compositions, "Ballad of the Bayou" and "Rajah's Blues", both unaccompanied pieces. A little research revealed that he was based in LA at the time the movie was shot and returned to NY where he lived and worked the rest of his life. He died in '87. If for no other reason see this film for Rodgers. -
JohnHowardReid1 November 2008I expected little from William Berke's 1947 Shoot To Kill. In fact, my expectations were so low, I left the DVD until late at night. I was just about to retire, but thought I'd take a quick look at the opening sequence. The movie hooked me straight away. Not only was Berke's direction way more polished than his norm, the movie was most atmospherically photographed by Benjamin Kline. Deft writing by Edwin V. Westrate also helped, and the actors were great too, especially Edmund MacDonald (who reminded me of a young Citizen Kane), heroine Luana Walters, reporter Russell Wade, gangster Robert Kent, the boogie-woogie piano player Gene Rodgers, and is-he-honest-or-is-he district attorney Charles Trowbridge (in noirish close-ups, giving the best performance of his lengthy career).
-
It's only a little over an hour in length, but you'll have to pay attention to all that's going on or you'll get lost real quickly. Utilizing a flashback within a flashback, the story turns up a number of twists that actually wind up being fairly clever given the era. Done today with a sharp script writer, this could be quite an intriguing movie. Throw in a director like Tarantino to spice up the non linear flow of the story and you've got a real keeper.
At it's center, the film focuses on rival gang leaders, with newly elected District Attorney Lawrence Dale (Edmund MacDonald) in league with bad guy Gus Miller (Nestor Paiva). His nemesis Dixie Logan (Robert Kent) breaks out of jail after having been sentenced for murder based on Dale's prosecution. What you don't see coming is the true nature of Dale's secretary Marian Langdon (Luana Walters) until well into the story, with a revelation that has you going 'Huh?' big time. That's not all, you'll have to see it, and maybe a couple of times to get the full flavor of all the double crosses involved.
"Shoot To Kill" probably isn't the best title for this story, in fact the only bullets to fly occurred in the opening scene during a high speed car chase, and a single attempt on the life of the new Mrs. Dale upon leaving a Justice Of the Peace (another curious plot twist). I found this gem as part of a four DVD/sixteen movie 'Gangsters' collection at one of the chain video stores, a huge bargain at only ten bucks. Though all but unknown, this noir thriller has enough going for it to warrant sampling others from the genre. Fans of the flashback within a flashback style would do well to check out one of Humphrey Bogart's movies from 1951 titled "The Enforcer". -
christopher-underwood5 December 2008Unremarkable but entertaining enough minor noir. Russell Wade is spirited as the newspaper man with a cause, Edmund MacDonald is the aspiring District Attorney but sales a little close to the wind and spends much time brooding in a Vincent Price sort of way. Luana Walters is the girl in the middle and halfway through the film brings everything to life with one of the very many twists. Unfortunately it has been a rather slow beginning and before the end tips back down. There is always an inherent problem with movies that are flashbacks and this one is no exception. Worth it though for Walters' performance when for a time the film revolves around her and we seem to be going places.
-
fordraff5 April 2007This film is a solid product with several strong points.
Point one: Sexy guys! Russell Wade is a real beauty. Where has he been all this time? Well, he was always playing small roles so probably went unnoticed--if I did see him at all. But here he has the lead, and I couldn't miss him. And despite being covered up by suits and ties and usually wearing a hat, he exudes sexual heat. A real hottie. This guy should have taken of his shirt, and he might have hit the big time.
Next up is Robert Kent, a former prizefighter. He's also handsome but has to be photographed a bit more carefully than Russell Wade to show his handsomeness. He conveys a sense of wiry muscularity, though he, too, is always under a suit, a tie, and a hat. Damn! Edmund MacDonald, who plays the district attorney, has a ripe, voluptuous quality to him that seems correct for this corrupt district attorney. MacDonald is like a piece of fruit a few days beyond its peak of ripeness that must be eaten now because tomorrow it will start to rot. Not as handsome as Robert Kent or Russell Wade, his presence here is interesting, nonetheless.
Point two: the photography. A great many scenes here are very beautifully photographed, especially the first shot of Russell Wade. He's backlit, shown in silhouette profile, and then strikes a cigarette to illuminate his handsome face. This is film noir photography to die for. There is a lot more of this chiaroscuro, high contrast photography to be seen here--characters throwing long shadows down dark streets at night and so on. Yummy. Of course, a lot of the darkness was necessary--as in "Detour"--to disguise the low budget of the film. There simply wasn't enough money to build extensive sets for backgrounds.
Third point: This film has an internecine plot with plenty of twists and surprises in its 63 minutes. The main body of the film is told in flashback, as any good film noir should be, and there are flashbacks within that flashback, but more than a few noirs utilize this as well.
Fourth point: Luana Walters may not be the best femme fatale in noir, but at least Walters' character, Marian Langdon, is a solid one, luring attorney Dale into a sham marriage to save her husband Dixie Logan and then turning on Dixie when she realizes he really is a cheap crook. But Marian ends up with the best of the bunch, newspaper reporter Mike (Russell Wade).
And, of course, there is a genuine 1940's background for the film--clothing, hairstyles, cars--as opposed to the manufactured look of noirs made today that have to recreate a 40s look.
This B film's plot certainly has holes in it. At one point, Marian Langdon is shot at (just as she emerges from the justice of the peace's house after being married to Lawrence Dale), but no one seems ruffled by this. Dale is more concerned that the justice of the peace not report the murder attempt to anyone. Ha! The film held my interest from beginning to end. And an extra treat is the boogie-woogie piano playing of Gene Rodgers, who wrote the two songs that he plays.
This is a real treat--especially if you like handsome guys. Who knew guys in hats and suits could be so sexy. Jeez! -
michaelRokeefe24 June 2010SHOOT TO KILL is a nice paced crime drama that has Douglas Blackley playing a known gangster Dixie Logan who is framed by District Attorney Larry Dale(Edmund MacDonald). Logan's secret wife Marian Langdon(Susan Walters)takes a job assisting Dale in order to dig up proof corruption in the office and that Logan was framed. Helping Marian is ace reporter George Mitchell(Russell Wade)and not knowing her real situation falls in love with her. The story is being told by the pretty DA's assistant from her deathbed. Photography is top shelf and story does hold some suspense. A brief highlight is piano player Gene Rodgers playing the tunes "Ballad of the Bayou" and "Rajah's Blues". Supporting players include: Charles Trowbridge, Joe Devlin, Vince Barnett and Frank O'Connor.
NOTE: Later Blackley changed his name to Robert Kent and Walters became Luana Walters. -
ksf-212 May 2020Stars Russell Wade, who was apparently a real big shot when he retired to Palm Springs. here, he's George Mitchell, star reporter for the tribune. Luana Walters is Marian, who quits her job on a whim, to work for a friend of a friend.. and the gangsters think she knows too much... I guess. they insist that she be fired immediately... because...?? not sure why. it's not like she will forget what she knows... if she knows anything. it's all confusing. The story is shaky, the acting is shaky. the sound is pretty awful, which is why it's on the free movie channel. The best part of this film is the INCREDIBLE piano playing by Gene Rodgers, about half way through. amazing stuff. and then, they find a microphone recording everything being said. Robert Kent is the mafia boss, Logan. Kent died young at 46, apparently problems brought on by alcohol. Directed by William Berke. died quite young at 54, but no web sites seem to know the cause of death. meh.... can skip this one. interesting, if only for Rodgers' music.
-
Rainey-Dawn11 May 2016This is a typical crime film noir of the 1940s time era - really run of the mill. Brings nothing new to the genre. Almost everyone is a crook in this one - except the news reporter (who knows he might be a crook too). Even the wife of the gangster/crook is a crook and her crooked husband was being frame for something he didn't do, but with all the lying and backstabbing in this film maybe he really did do it? You do have to pay attention to this film because there is a lot to it, a lot going on in just over an hour. It's very fast paced with lots of two faced double-talk, backstabbing, lying and murders.
I found it funny that the wife was happy being a crook's wife and her husband slapped her - that's when she suddenly woke up and decided to live a straight life (at least that is what we are lead to believe in the end).
I didn't like anyone in this film really - I couldn't feel sympathy with anyone. What I really wanted to do was to hand them all machine guns through the screen and let them have at it. The actors who played the characters are really flat. The story was a little bit interesting at times. At times, really good cinematography... mysterious looking.
3/10 -
kalbimassey25 May 2022On the evidence of the opening car wreck scene, the producers of this low budget, bottom of the barrel quickie ought to have been charged with 'Dinky Toy' abuse. Throw in a blurry print, addled soundtrack and some decidedly wobbly handrails and you have pretty much what you would expect from Poverty Row Lippert Productions, all overseen by director William (12 Day) Berke.
With smooth talking, but steely and determined reporter Russell Wade on the case, it's unsurprising that we are force fed a series of front page headlines: 'Janitor's Crushed Body Found at Bottom of Elevator,' 'Dixie Logan Escapes' and 'Crime Wave Sweeps City'. However, it's not all bad news, there's a tax cut to look forward to and the U. S./U. K. trade pact ought to be beneficial to both nations.
Leaving no stone unturned, Shoot to Kill hurls the kitchen sink of noir devices into the mix: chiaroscuro lighting, 'choker' close-ups, night scenes, shadowy locations and a story related in flashback. As the movie unfolds, the cheap production values and routine performances seem less important than the intricacies of the plot, with corrupt assistant D. A. (Edmund MacDonald), under scrutiny from new wife (Luana Walters), double crossing Miller and Carter, his own trigger men, (consigning them to a life running steak houses), and falling foul of formerly framed felon Dixie Logan (Robert Kent).
Despite having comparatively little going for it, like a 60's garage band, pouring every drop of its limited acne ridden talent into one great single, Shoot to Kill successfully turns what initially appears to be a sow's ear, if not into a silk purse, then at least into a decent T. K. Max handbag. -
The film opens with a high speed chase at night. the cops are chasing after someone. Shots ring out. The car the cops are chasing crashes ejecting the passengers-a notorious criminal as well as the newly elected DA and his wife. Only the wife survives. A reporter and friend of the gravely injured wife sneaks into her room in the hospital and asks her to tell him what happened, she does.
Cheaply made film noir with a cast that is mostly unfamiliar faces. Not a bad film as such, its just that the film seems to confuse motion of a twisty plot as the same thing as motion of characters you care about. I don't blame the cast for making this less than engaging, I blame the writer who is constantly changing who the principle characters are as a way of keeping you interested. Is anyone good or bad? Its not really clear until the final fade out. Only the dueling mob bosses seem to be constant, the result is that they play more as cartons rather than real people. As I said its not bad, its just that you end up watching it to see how the twists go rather than because you're engaged with the characters. You probably could spend your time better elsewhere. -
Delrvich27 July 2020Sure, its a bit confusing with a lot of shady characters but not much different than today's twist ending(s). The only problem I had understanding was their tearing up evidence at the end. Couldn't tell if it was for a good or bad reason. So many switching sides, it was difficult to tell and the movie ended.
-
This low-budget thriller about the wife of a crooked Assistant District Attorney and a reporter who sets out to expose him has some effective moments and several good performances, notably by veteran character actor Charles Trowbridge as the DA and the usually bland Edmund MacDonald as the ADA. Russell Wade, as the reporter, doesn't comer off too badly--usually he's even blander than MacDonald--and Luana Walters turns in a serviceable job as the DA's wife, but it's really Trowgbridge's and MacDonald's show, and they they do well with it. Prolific "B" director William Berke keeps things moving swiftly, and despite some weak supporting performances and a few large-ish plot holes, overall this is a very entertaining little"B".
-
richardchatten6 June 2021A slick, cynical crime quickie told mostly in flashback, with the usual newspaperman hero after the big scoop with the help of a tough, ballsy heroine given to observations like "you're as crooked as a mountain road, but you're the best prosecutor around".
It starts with a car crash and packs plenty of violent death, dollies, whip pans and hoods lurking in the shadows into barely a hour; the pace kept hectic with visible undercranking during the fight scenes. -
Aficionados of film noir find very few movies in the cycle without some interest -- even the poverty-row programmers that come in just under or over an hour tend to have something to sustain interest. Shoot To Kill, alas, is not among them. Though the script contains some twists, the director handles the narrative structure so clumsily that they come not as surprises but as irritations. And the totally unknown cast (and crew) goes through their paces without a spark of originality or inspiration. It's hard to leave a movie without a positive note to be sounded, but Shoot To Kill serves as a reminder of just how depressing bottom-of-the-barrel filmmaking in the postwar years could be.
-
alfiefamily19 November 2008It's a fact that over fifty percent of the films made prior to 1950 will never again be seen due to the deterioration of the film's negative, from nitrates or fire. God, how I wish "Shoot to Kill" was one of those films.
I'm not going to go into what this movie was about, because with all of the flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks, you're going to grow tired of watching it, like I did, and not care.
The acting is horrendous. Through the whole picture whenever Edmund MacDonald appeared, all I could think of was, "Murder! Murder at Midnight!"(fans of Abbott and Costello will know what I mean). It's sad to think that he was better in "Who Done It" than he was in this thing.
Russell Wade showed his usual range of dull to bland. The highlight was when he was in the nightclub with Luana Walters, and the angle of the shot had a table light covering the bottom part of his face.
Avoid at all cost.
2 out of 10