Born to Kill: Robert Wise

The key to great tragedy is anagnorisis; the "hero's sudden awareness of a real situation, the realisation of things as they stood." In film noir, perhaps the most introspective genre of American cinema, the protagonists would frequently find themselves in such a situation. One of the very best examples that I can think of is contained in the last third of Robert Wise's Born to Kill. The first film noir by the acclaimed director, Born to Kill follows the doomed romance and destruction of Helen Brent (Claire Trevor), an ice-hearted socialite, and Sam Wilde (Lawrence Tierney), a two-bit crook who flies into murderous jealous rages. The two meet completely by accident as they flee Reno, Nevada for different reasons: Helen just finalized a divorce and Sam unknowingly had murdered her neighbor (his cheating girlfriend) and her lover. Though they fall in love, they are forced to maintain a facade of respectability by getting engaged with and marrying other people. It's quite chilling to see these two characters manipulate, abuse, and use other people, even their own friends and family, to suit their greedy desires. Trevor is one of the most subtly diabolical femme fatales this side of Bette Davis. Tierney is more a violent force of irrational anger than a man. However, when Sam's sins are discovered by the police, Helen realizes that she has isolated herself from everyone she cared for. This is the anagnorisis I was referring to earlier. As she desperately tries to find someone she can rely on to protect her from Sam, both she and the audience realize that she is doomed to a fate of her own design. The film also has two very fascinating supporting characters. The first, Albert Arnett, is a private eye hired to investigate Sam. At first, he seems like a foppish, eccentric dandy of a detective. But his charming exterior is merely a thin disguise for a shrewd extortioner. The second is Marty, Sam's ever-faithful friend who seems a little too eager to please him. Are those homosexual undertones I sense? Knowing Robert Wise, I might not be wrong. Either way, Albert and Marty add to the intrigue and tragedy of Born to Kill instead of grinding the plot to a halt like so many other film noir supporting characters.

8/10