Shoot to Kill

1947 "A Newspaperman... A Grafting Politician... And A Beautiful Girl... In A Story Of Underworld Revenge!"
5.5| 1h4m| NR| en
Details

A gritty crime story involving a newspaper man and crooked politicians.

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Reviews

SunnyHello Nice effects though.
Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant
Dorathen Better Late Then Never
CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Spikeopath Shoot to Kill (AKA: Police Reporter) is directed by William Berke and written by Edwin V. Westrate. It stars Robert Kent (AKA: Douglas Blackley), Luana Walters (AKA: Susan Walters), Edmund MacDonald and Russell Wade. Music is by Darell Calker and Gene Rodgers and cinematography by Benjamin H. Kline.When gangster Dixie Logan (Kent) is framed by crooked Assistant District Attorney Lawrence Dale (MacDonald), his wife Marian (Walters) and a reporter, George Mitchell (Wade), set about proving how corrupt Dale is.You see the phrase poverty row B noir mixed with statements like double crosses and disloyalties, and it pricks up the ears of the film noir fan. Unfortunately Shoot to Kill has gained a small cult fan base without any surface justification. The film quite simply is a mess, oh the twists and flashback structure look impressive in the page, but the construction by the director is awful, with cast performances to match as well! This is amateur film making 101 and we even get a Keystone Cops like fist fight...It opens with a promising car chase and crash, but that is a false dawn, from there it's a collage of weak characterisations as the director throws it all together and hopes it works. The best things in the film are an extended piano playing sequence by Gene Rodgers, some of the blaring newspaper headlines that raise a smile and the odd bit of noirish shadow play. While mercifully it only runs at just over an hour. Don't be fooled, this is no hidden treasure for the noir head to seek out, it really doesn't know what to do with the plot machinations. 3/10
Paularoc The number of positive reviews of this movie – and its lead actors – caught me by surprise. I found the plot overly complex and the characters not especially engaging. Told mostly in flashback (and flashback within flashback), the story revolves around a (possibly) corrupt District Attorney, a couple of gangsters, a woman who marries the DA but kinda flirts with a reporter who is always hanging around and a (possibly) corrupt Assistant DA. Too many illogical twists in this movie for my taste. The actors were adequate and the production values were pretty good - however, the plot line and script were inadequate. I really didn't care enough to try and keep all the twists and turns straight. I did notice that a number of reviewers have mentioned the Gene Rodgers' music in the film. Alas, I have never heard of him but am now intrigued enough to go back and listen more carefully to his music. My understanding is that it's early in the film, thank goodness.
wes-connors We open the film with a high-speed chase. Police are after a car containing attractive brunette Luana "Susan" Walters (as Marian Langdon), district attorney husband Edmond MacDonald (as Lawrence "Larry" Dale), and convicted gangster Douglas Blackley aka Robert Kent (as "Dixie" Logan aka Judge Joel Conroy). The car crashes, with only Ms. Walters surviving. In a hospital bed flashback, she tells her story to reporter Russell Wade (as George "Mitch" Mitchell), who is prone to his own flashbacks...From once scene to the next, the four principle performers do not always demonstrate a clear understanding of where they're going. However, with all the cross and double crossing going on, focused characterization makes "Shoot to Kill" a task. In hindsight, the story doesn't add up too well. Otherwise, it's sometimes stylishly directed and photographed by William Berke and Benjamin Kline. Darrell Calker, with Gene Rodgers contributing some fine on-screen piano work, nicely makes the music score.***** Shoot to Kill (3/15/47) William Berke ~ Luana Walters, Russell Wade, Edmund MacDonald, Robert Kent
secondtake Shoot to Kill (1947)Weak and Confusing, Shoot to Kill YourselfYou 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.