be eliminated for them to be happy. The police arrive, and Georgia reveals that it was Helen who called them, so Sam shoots Helen, then the police kill Sam. Helen ultimately dies. Cast Claire Trevor as Helen Brent Lawrence Tierney as Sam Wilde Walter Slezak as Albert Arnett Phillip Terry as Fred Grover Audrey Long as Georgia Staples Elisha Cook Jr. as Marty Waterman Isabel Jewell as Laury Palmer Esther Howard as Mrs. Kraft Tony Barrett as Danny Production Pre-production on the film began in early February 1945, more than two years before its release. Thalia Bell of Motion Picture Daily and Irving Spear for Boxoffice reported then that RKO had hired author Steve Fisher to begin writing the screenplay for James Gunn's 1943 novel Deadlier Than the Male. By April, however, the studio had replaced Fisher and enlisted freelance screenwriter Eve Greene and later Richard Macaulay to compose the script as a team and to manage its editing through production. Cast selections began in August 1945 with Lawrence Tierney being RKO's first choice due to his rising popularity after his powerful performance in Monogram Pictures' Dillinger, which had been released four months earlier. After announcing the casting of Tierney in August, film-industry publications in September and October reported that Tallulah Bankhead was RKO's top pick for the role of Helen Brent, but the actress was unavailable. According to the Film Bulletin the "timing was bad for Miss Bankhead" to join the project, so the part went to Claire Trevor, whose work the previous year in RKO's Murder, My Sweet had impressed studio executives. Trevor in January 1946 signed the contract to co-star in the "psychological mystery" Deadlier Than the Male, which continued to be the working title for the production, as well as the title used later in the year in a series of official release charts. RKO would not officially change the title to Born to Kill for domestic release until December 1946. Regular news notices document that filming of the production began on May 6, 1946, with exterior scenes being shot first on location at El Segundo Beach, situated about 25 miles southwest of Hollywood. Additional location work was done in San Francisco as filming continued into the latter half of June. As early as July, it was reported that the film was ready to be scheduled for release. Those notices proved to be premature, for problems