Shoot to Kill (1947 film)

Last updated
Shoot to Kill
Shoot to Kill FilmPoster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by William Berke
Screenplay byEdwin V. Westrate
Produced byWilliam Berke
Starring Robert Kent
Luana Walters
Edmund MacDonald
Cinematography Benjamin H. Kline
Edited by Arthur A. Brooks
Music by Darrell Calker
Gene Rodgers
Production
company
Robert L. Lippert Productions
Distributed by Screen Guild Productions
Release date
  • March 15, 1947 (1947-03-15)(United States)
Running time
64 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Shoot to Kill, also known as Police Reporter, is a 1947 American film noir directed by William Berke and starring Robert Kent, Luana Walters, Edmund MacDonald and Russell Wade. [1]

Contents

Plot

Pursued by police cars, a fleeing motor vehicle crashes off the side of the road. The survivor relates the events that preceded the chase in flashback format. A former gangster is framed by a corrupt district attorney. With his wife and an investigative reporter, he gathers proof of his innocence in hopes of clearing his name.

Cast

Reception

The New York Times panned the film, writing: "Screeching tires and the barking of guns are the chief sound effects in Shoot to Kill, an all-around amateurish job of movie-making which found its way into the Rialto yesterday. An outfit called Screen Guild Productions is responsible for this dilly about an assistant district attorney who double-crosses all his racketeer pals and winds up his career on a slab in the morgue. William Berke as the director-producer did not get anything resembling a performance, much less characterization, out of his players, chief of whom are Russell Wade, Susan Walters, Edmund MacDonald and Douglas Blackley." [2]

Soundtrack

Gene Rodgers appears on screen performing two of his own compositions: "Ballad of the Bayou" and "Rajah's Blues." The film's score was provided by Darrell Calker.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kent Taylor</span> American actor

Kent Taylor was an American actor of film and television. Taylor appeared in more than 110 films, the bulk of them B-movies in the 1930s and 1940s, although he also had roles in more prestigious studio releases, including Merrily We Go to Hell (1932), I'm No Angel (1933), Cradle Song (1933), Death Takes a Holiday (1934), Payment on Demand (1951), and Track the Man Down (1955). He had the lead role in Half Past Midnight in 1948, among a few others.

<i>Salems Lot</i> (2004 miniseries) 2004 TV series

Salem's Lot is a 2004 two-part television miniseries which first aired on TNT on June 20 and ended its run on June 21, 2004. It is the second television adaptation of Stephen King's 1975 vampire novel 'Salem's Lot following the 1979 miniseries adaptation.

<i>Born Reckless</i> (1930 film) 1930 film

Born Reckless is a 1930 American pre-Code crime film directed by John Ford and staged by Andrew Bennison from a screenplay written by Dudley Nichols based on the novel Louis Beretti. The film starred Edmund Lowe, Catherine Dale Owen and Marguerite Churchill.

<i>Disbarred</i> (film) 1939 film by Robert Florey

Disbarred is a 1939 American crime film about a crooked lawyer starring Gail Patrick and Robert Preston. The supporting cast includes Otto Kruger, Virginia Vale and Sidney Toler. The movie was directed by film noir specialist Robert Florey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luana Walters</span> American actress (1912–1963)

Luana Walters was an American motion picture actress from Los Angeles, California.

<i>The Gay Bride</i> 1934 film by Jack Conway

The Gay Bride is a 1934 gangster film-screwball comedy starring Carole Lombard as a wisecracking gold-digger and Chester Morris as the poor man she despises. It was directed by Jack Conway and written by the husband-and-wife team of Sam and Bella Spewak, based on the story "Repeal" by Charles Francis Coe.

<i>The Threat</i> (1949 film) 1949 film by Felix E. Feist

The Threat is a 1949 American film noir starring Michael O'Shea, Virginia Grey and Charles McGraw, and directed by Felix E. Feist.

<i>Go into Your Dance</i> 1935 film by Archie Mayo

Go into Your Dance is a 1935 American musical drama film starring Al Jolson, Ruby Keeler, and Glenda Farrell. The film was directed by Archie Mayo, and is based on the novel of the same name by Bradford Ropes. It was released by Warner Bros. on April 20, 1935. An irresponsible Broadway star gets mixed up with gambling and gangsters.

<i>No Orchids for Miss Blandish</i> (film) 1948 British film

No Orchids for Miss Blandish is a 1948 British gangster film adapted and directed by St. John Legh Clowes from the 1939 novel of the same name by James Hadley Chase. It stars Jack La Rue, Hugh McDermott, and Linden Travers, with unbilled early appearances from Sid James, as a barman, and Walter Gotell, as a nightclub doorman. Due to the film's strong violence and sexual content for its time, amongst other reasons, several critics have called it one of the worst films ever made.

<i>Cop Hater</i> (film) 1958 film

Cop Hater is a 1958 American crime film noir police procedural film based on the 1956 novel Cop Hater written by Ed McBain, the first in a series of books about the 87th Precinct in New York City. The film was produced and directed by William Berke, written by Henry Kane and stars Robert Loggia and Gerald O'Loughlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Kent (actor)</span> American actor (1908–1955)

Robert Kent, was an American film actor. His career included starring roles in several film serials of the 1940s, including The Phantom Creeps, Who's Guilty?, and The Phantom Rider. He also had a role in the 1938 film The Gladiator and was Virginia Vale's leading man in Blonde Comet, a 1941 movie about a female racing driver.

<i>City of Missing Girls</i> 1941 film by Elmer Clifton

City of Missing Girls is a 1941 American crime drama film directed by Elmer Clifton and starring H. B. Warner, Astrid Allwyn and John Archer. It was produced as an independent second feature.

<i>The Lawless</i> 1950 film

The Lawless is a 1950 American film noir directed by Joseph Losey and featuring Macdonald Carey, Gail Russell and Johnny Sands.

<i>Back in Circulation</i> 1937 film by Ray Enright

Back in Circulation is a 1937 American comedy drama film directed by Ray Enright and starring Pat O'Brien and Joan Blondell. Based on the short story "Angle Shooter" by Adela Rogers St. Johns, Blondell plays a fast-moving newspaper reporter who senses a story when she spots a young recent widow partying in a night club.

<i>Call of the Canyon</i> 1942 film by Joseph Santley

Call of the Canyon is a 1942 American Western film directed by Joseph Santley and starring Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, the Sons of the Pioneers, and Ruth Terry. Based on a story by Maurice Rapf and Olive Cooper, the film is about a singing cowboy who leads a group of cattlemen against the corrupt agent of a large packing company looking to swindle them by undercutting the buying price for beef. The film features three songs by Autry and the Sons of the Pioneers, including the classic "Take Me Back to My Boots and Saddle".

<i>Trail Street</i> 1947 film by Ray Enright

Trail Street is a 1947 American Western film directed by Ray Enright and starring Randolph Scott, Robert Ryan, Anne Jeffreys and George "Gabby" Hayes. Based on the novel Golden Horizons by William Corcoran, and a screenplay by Norman Houston and Gene Lewis, the film is about the legendary Bat Masterson who brings law and order to the town of Liberal, Kansas, and defends the local farmers against a murderous cattle baron. Filmed on location in Agoura, California, at the Andy Jauregui Ranch in Newhall, California, and at the Encino Ranch of RKO Pictures. The film made a profit of $365,000.

<i>The Penalty</i> (1941 film) 1941 film by Harold S. Bucquet

The Penalty is a 1941 American crime film directed by Harold S. Bucquet and written by Harry Ruskin and John C. Higgins. The film stars Edward Arnold, Lionel Barrymore, Marsha Hunt, Robert Sterling, Gene Reynolds and Emma Dunn. The film was released on March 14, 1941, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wade Wilson (film character)</span> Film character played by Ryan Reynolds

Wade Winston Wilson, also known as Deadpool, is a character portrayed by Ryan Reynolds in 20th Century Fox's X-Men film series and later the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise produced by Marvel Studios. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld, he was loosely adapted for his first appearance in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), in which he is depicted as a member of Major William Stryker's Team X who is transformed into a genetically altered mutant killer known as Weapon XI, before being defeated by his former teammate Wolverine.

<i>The Speed Reporter</i> 1936 film

The Speed Reporter is a 1936 American crime film directed by Bernard B. Ray and starring Richard Talmadge, Luana Walters and Richard Cramer. It was produced as a second feature by the independent company Reliable Pictures.

References

  1. Shoot to Kill at IMDb.
  2. The New York Times, film review, May 17, 1947. Accessed: July 13, 2013.