1947’s Shoot to Kill (aka Police Reporter) opens with a car crash. Two people dead. One is Lawrence Dale, the district attorney, the other a known gangster, Dixie Logan. The DA’s wife has somehow survived. But what were she and her husband doing in a car with Logan in the first place? From her hospital bed, and with a shimmer of flashback, injured Marian explains all to pushy reporter George “Mitch” Mitchell.
Back, back we go, to when the DA was just an ambitious assistant district attorney, and Marian was starting out in his office. Soon, having proven herself to be more than a capable secretary, she is practically running Larry’s office. She has also started dating her boss, though reporter Mitch – who is confusingly (or economically, take your pick) in this bit of the story too – has also been trying to woo Marian. She plumps for Larry (Edmund MacDonald) in the end. Because he’s a better prospect, she reasons out loud to Mitch in fairly mercenary fashion, thought she’s also spotted that Larry is as bent a lawman as they come, in hock to various bad guys about town, and so may have ulterior motives for getting pally.
Hold on to those basics, they do eventually play out in quite a satisfying way. Though the plot for much of this film’s running time seems convoluted, in the end it unkinks most satisfyingly and Marian’s motivation and her position on the good girl/bad girl continuum becomes clear.
It’s noir, or often seen that way, though in reality it would sit more happily with either the 1930s crime thriller or its 1950s revival. It does however really want to be taken seriously as a noir. All that insistent noir styling – light shafting through venetian blinds, a trembling score, collars turned up and hat brims down.
“Amateurish” is how the New York Times described this movie when it came out. Which is a touch unfair. It’s cheap, for sure, but it works the angles of that cheapness quite well.
Russell Wade, who plays Mitch, is a touch too flat to be really engaging, but we get the idea that Mitch is a decent sort and maybe Wade is leaving space for Luana (here billed as Susan) Walters, who starts out as incidental to the plot and winds up being central.
This is a tale of guys being clever – Mitch the smart reporter, Larry the smart operator, various other bad guys trying to get one over on each other – but gals being cleverer. That makes it interesting in terms of plot but also a challenge to the common run of post-War noirs that seemingly wanted women to stop doing the tough stuff and get back in the kitchen now the men were back home.
Marian never seems like the hearth and home type from the moment she is introduced. Walters plays her as hard nosed and resourceful, the “hero” of this show, a step ahead of Larry, two steps ahead of Mitch and about five steps ahead of the audience. Hang on for the surprise finish!
Director William Berke stays out of the way of the plot and directs with efficiency rather than flair. That said, this was his 42nd movie of the 1940s and it takes a fair bit of flair to be that productive.
Shoot to Kill isn’t going to win awards but it’s fast and well plotted, throws in some good twists and can be wholeheartedly recommended to anyone who is working their way through the noir genre and wants to take in places off the tourist main drag. Neat.
Shoot to Kill – Watch it/buy it at Amazon
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© Steve Morrissey 2026
