Intent to Kill
| Intent to Kill | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Jack Cardiff |
| Produced by | Adrian D. Worker |
| Written by |
Jimmy Sangster Brian Moore (novel) |
| Starring |
Richard Todd Betsy Drake Herbert Lom |
| Cinematography | Desmond Dickinson |
| Distributed by | Twentieth-Century Fox |
|
Release date
|
16 July 1958 (UK) 31 March 1959 (U.S.) |
|
Running time
|
88 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Intent to Kill is a 1958 British film noir thriller film directed by Jack Cardiff and starring Richard Todd, Betsy Drake and Herbert Lom. The film was based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Brian Moore (written under the pen-name Michael Bryan). It was shot on location in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with an international cast of European and North American actors.
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 Gastoni), with whom he fancies his chances once Menda is out of the way.
Meanwhile, British 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.
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Wikipedia