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That's the warning received by corrupt District Attorney Lawrence Dale (Edmund MacDonald). He has bitten off more than he can chew with various dubious underworld characters and now they're all out to get him some way. Out to help him in some way are his secretary-turned-wife Marian Langdon (Susan Walters) and investigative reporter George Mitchell (Russell Wade) who issues the above warning.
Shoot to Kill was pretty much a surprise watch. I wanted to close #Noirvember with a breezy film noir, so I browsed some Letterboxd list and sorted it by length. At barely over an hour, this sounded like just the thing, and in a way, it was. The runtime itself works to its advantage since it doesn't really give us a lot of time to breathe between all the twists and turns, and whether they make sense or not.
Like many film noir, the story begins at the end, as everything is retold via flashback. Its mostly set at night, making great use of lights and shadows, its gritty in plot and looks, has some witty dialogue, and one great femme fatale. The gist of the story, which I'm still trying to figure out, follows the reporter investigating how his D.A. friend ended up involved with crime boss Dixie Logan (Douglas Blackley).
But again, it doesn't matter since it's all a setting to watch our heroes facing thugs, thugs shooting others, and cars chasing bad guys. So in that respect, it is fairly simple despite its apparent complexity. I don't think it would crack any lists for me, but it made for a fun watch and a more than appropriate closing to the month of noir.
Grade:
SHOOT TO KILL
(1947, Berke)
(1947, Berke)
"The orders out on you are 'shoot to kill'."
That's the warning received by corrupt District Attorney Lawrence Dale (Edmund MacDonald). He has bitten off more than he can chew with various dubious underworld characters and now they're all out to get him some way. Out to help him in some way are his secretary-turned-wife Marian Langdon (Susan Walters) and investigative reporter George Mitchell (Russell Wade) who issues the above warning.
Shoot to Kill was pretty much a surprise watch. I wanted to close #Noirvember with a breezy film noir, so I browsed some Letterboxd list and sorted it by length. At barely over an hour, this sounded like just the thing, and in a way, it was. The runtime itself works to its advantage since it doesn't really give us a lot of time to breathe between all the twists and turns, and whether they make sense or not.
Like many film noir, the story begins at the end, as everything is retold via flashback. Its mostly set at night, making great use of lights and shadows, its gritty in plot and looks, has some witty dialogue, and one great femme fatale. The gist of the story, which I'm still trying to figure out, follows the reporter investigating how his D.A. friend ended up involved with crime boss Dixie Logan (Douglas Blackley).
But again, it doesn't matter since it's all a setting to watch our heroes facing thugs, thugs shooting others, and cars chasing bad guys. So in that respect, it is fairly simple despite its apparent complexity. I don't think it would crack any lists for me, but it made for a fun watch and a more than appropriate closing to the month of noir.
Grade: