Intent to Kill *** (1958, Richard Todd, Betsy Drake, Herbert Lom, Warren Stevens, Alexander Knox, Carlo Giustini, Paul Carpenter, Lisa Gastoni, Peter Arne, Catherine Boyle, Kay Callard, Jackie Collins, John Crawford) – Classic Movie Review 13,561

‘If the operation didn’t kill him… their bullets would!’ The 1958 British film noir Intent to Kill stars Richard Todd, Betsy Drake and Herbert Lom. Richard Todd recalled it as ‘a stinker’.

Director Jack Cardiff’s 1958 British film noir Intent to Kill is written by Jimmy Sangster, based on a 1957 novel by Brian Moore (writing as Michael Bryan), and stars Richard Todd, Betsy Drake, Herbert Lom, Warren Stevens, Alexander Knox, Carlo Giustini, Paul Carpenter, Lisa Gastoni, Peter Arne, Catherine Boyle, Kay Callard, Jackie Collins, and John Crawford.

Richard Todd’s last film under his 20th Century Fox studio contract is a thin but engaging thriller in which he plays a brain surgeon at a Montreal hospital where someone is intent on killing a Latin American dictator called Juan Menda (Herbert Lom) after the head surgeon Doctor Bob McLaurin (Todd) has performed surgery on him.

Todd and cop Paul Carpenter work to unmask the villains, while Todd, who is unhappily married to shrewish Margaret (Catherine Boyle), is attracted to Dr Nancy Ferguson (Betsy Drake).

It engages in its old-fashioned way; Jack Cardiff keeps up the level of suspense nicely and films atmospherically (with the help of Desmond Dickinson’s distinguished black and white widescreen cinematography) in the depths of the Canadian winter, and there is a fragrant British 50s cast to savour.

Abandoning acting, Catherine Boyle (Katie Boyle) became a beloved TV personality and agony aunt for TV Times and Jackie Collins became a bestselling novelist.

Richard Todd recalled it as ‘a stinker. It was a melodramatic, unbelievable thriller that had all the merits of a run-of-the-mill TV drama.’

It was shot on location in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and at at Elstree studios near London, with a mixed bag of European and North American actors.

The cast are Richard Todd, Betsy Drake, Herbert Lom, Warren Stevens, Alexander Knox, Carlo Giustini, Paul Carpenter, Lisa Gastoni, Peter Arne, Catherine Boyle, Kay Callard, Jackie Collins, John Crawford, Maggie Rennie, John McLaren, John Carson, Ann Stephens, Mark Baker, Nancy Lewis, and Diana Hammond.

Intent to Kill is directed by Jack Cardiff, runs 89 minutes, is made by Zonic, is released by 20th Century Fox, is written by Jimmy Sangster, is shot by Desmond Dickinson, is produced by Adrian D Worker, is scored by Kenneth V Jones and Muir Matheson, and is designed by Alan Harris.

© Derek Winnert 2025 – Classic Movie Review 13,561

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