Intent to Kill
Encyclopedia
- For the 1992 film, see Intent to Kill (1992 film)Intent to Kill (1992 film)Intent to Kill is a 1992 film directed by Charles T. Kanganis. The film is about drug trafficking. This film is rated NC-17 due to extreme violence.-Cast:*Traci Lords as Vicki Stewart*Yaphet Kotto as Captain Jackson...
. For the legal term, see Voluntary manslaughterVoluntary ManslaughterVoluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion," under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. In the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the...
.
Intent to Kill is a 1958
1958 in film
The year 1958 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* February 16- "In the Money" by William Beaudine is released on this date. It would be the last installment of The Bowery Boys series which began back in 1946....
British thriller film directed by Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff
Jack Cardiff, OBE, BSC was a British cinematographer, director and photographer.His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor to filmmaking in the 21st century...
and starring Richard Todd
Richard Todd
Richard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
, Betsy Drake
Betsy Drake
Betsy Drake is an American actress, psychotherapist and writer. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant.-Early life and education:Drake, the eldest child of two American expatriates, was born in Paris, France...
and Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
. The film was based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Brian Moore
Brian Moore (novelist)
Brian Moore was a Northern Irish novelist and screenwriter who emigrated to Canada and later lived in the United States. He was acclaimed for the descriptions in his novels of life in Northern Ireland after the Second World War, in particular his explorations of the inter-communal divisions of The...
(written under the pen-name Michael Bryan). It was shot on location in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, with an international cast of European and North American actors.
Plot
Having previously survived an assassination attempt, Juan Menda (Lom), president of an unspecified South American country, is moved to Montreal under an anonymous pseudonym for treatment of a potentially fatal cranial blood clot. His political opponents have got wind of his whereabouts and hire a trio of Canadian hitmen to finish the job. Menda's aide Francisco (Carlo Giustini) is also in town, and unknown to Menda he is actually a prime-mover in the assassination plot, keeping close to Menda while duplicitously passing on information to the would-be killers. Not only is Francisco an unsuspected political arch-rival, but he is also keeping an eye on Menda's glamorous wife Carla (Lisa GastoniLisa Gastoni
Lisa Gastoni is an Italian film actress. She has appeared in 60 films since 1954. She also co-starred as Giulia, Ricco Poccari's girlfriend in the Sapphire Films TV series The Four Just Men for ITV.-Selected filmography:* Doctor in the House * The Baby and the Battleship * Three Men...
), with whom he fancies his chances once Menda is out of the way.
Meanwhile, English surgeon Bob McLaurin (Todd) is under pressure from nagging, dissatisfied wife Margaret (Catherine Boyle), who wants him to give up his job in Canada and move back to England to open a private cosmetic surgery for the wealthy, where he could at least double his income. Margaret knows of Bob's affair with fellow surgeon Nancy Ferguson (Drake), and is threatening to go public with the information. The worry causes Bob to lose concentration during Menda's operation, and he almost makes a fatal slip-up. However in the end the operation is a complete success.
As Menda recovers, he grows uneasy about Carla's apparent lack of interest as she makes no effort to visit. He also starts to suspect that there is more to Francisco than meets the eye. Eventually he comes to the conclusion that the two of them are in league in some way or another, at best to dally romantically behind his back, at worst to be working with his enemies to plot his demise. Fearing for his safety, he demands to be moved to a different hospital room.
The hitmen make their move on what they believe to be Menda's room, only to find they have killed a completely innocent man in the hospital for surgery on a slipped disc. Bob, Nancy and the police all believe the unfortunate dead man was mistaken for Menda, and a policeman is detailed to provide Menda with a 24-hour guard until he is ready to return home. The hitmen, determined not to lose their payoff, end up acting rashly and their carelessness leads to a confrontation in the hospital corridors, shooting it out with the police while Bob is caught up in the middle. The hitmen start to turn on each other. The wounded Bob tackles one, and during a struggle the two crash out of a window and fall to the ground. The unconscious assassin is arrested.
As confusion and chaos rages in the hospital, one of the hitmen manages to slip away and takes the opportunity to enter Menda's temporarily unguarded room to perform a quick hit. He discovers that Menda is far more ready for him than he could have anticipated.
Cast
- Richard ToddRichard ToddRichard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
as Dr. Bob McLaurin - Betsy DrakeBetsy DrakeBetsy Drake is an American actress, psychotherapist and writer. She was the third wife of actor Cary Grant.-Early life and education:Drake, the eldest child of two American expatriates, was born in Paris, France...
as Dr. Nancy Ferguson - Herbert LomHerbert LomHerbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
as Juan Menda - Warren StevensWarren StevensWarren Stevens is an American stage, screen, and television actor.Born in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania, Stevens began his acting career after serving in the U.S. Army Air Force as a pilot during World War II. He trained at The Actor's Studio in New York, received notice on Broadway, and thereafter...
as Finch - Paul CarpenterPaul Carpenter (actor)Paul Carpenter was an Canadian actor and singer.He sang with Ted Heath and His Music in the 1940s.-Selected filmography :* Landfall * Albert R.N. * The House Across the Lake...
as O'Brien - Alexander KnoxAlexander KnoxAlexander Knox was a Canadian actor and author of adventure novels set in the Great Lakes area during the 19th century.-Biography:...
as Dr. McNeil - Lisa GastoniLisa GastoniLisa Gastoni is an Italian film actress. She has appeared in 60 films since 1954. She also co-starred as Giulia, Ricco Poccari's girlfriend in the Sapphire Films TV series The Four Just Men for ITV.-Selected filmography:* Doctor in the House * The Baby and the Battleship * Three Men...
as Carla Menda - Carlo Giustini as Francisco Flores
- Peter ArnePeter ArnePeter Arne was a British character actor best known for various performances in British film and television, including supporting roles in the television series The Avengers, Danger Man, as well as villains in Blake Edwards' Pink Panther series, in a career that spanned 40 years...
as Kral - Catherine Boyle as Margaret McLaurin
- John CrawfordJohn Crawford (actor)John Crawford was an American actor.Crawford was born Cleve Allen Richardson in Colfax, Washington. In films from the 1940s, Crawford appeared in bit parts for many years before playing leads in several films in the UK in the late 1950s and early 1960s...
as Boyd - Jackie CollinsJackie CollinsJacqueline Jill "Jackie" Collins is an English novelist and former actress. She is the younger sister of actress Joan Collins. She has written 28 novels, all of which have appeared on the New York Times bestsellers list. In total, her books have sold over 400 million copies and have been...
as Carol Freeman - Kay CallardKay CallardKay Callard was a Canadian film and television actress.-Selected filmography:* Stolen Assignment * Reluctant Bride * Find the Lady * West of Suez * The Flying Scot...
as Sally Gordon
External links
- Intent to Kill at BFI Film & TV Database