They Made Me a Killer *** (1946, Robert Lowery, Barbara Britton, Frank Albertson, Lola Lane, James BushBy, ron Barr) – Classic Movie Review 12,133

Crooks frame a youngster (Robert Lowery) for murder and force him to help them commit a series of robberies, in the efficient 1946 film noir crime thriller They Made Me a Killer.

Director William C Thomas’s 1946 American film noir black and white crime thriller film They Made Me a Killer stars Robert Lowery, Barbara Britton, Frank Albertson, Lola Lane, James Bush and Byron Barr.

Crooks frame an innocent youngster, Tom Durling (Robert Lowery), for murder and force him to help them commit a series of robberies. It is up to the feisty heroine, June Reynolds (Barbara Britton), to come to his aid and get him cleared of the charges.

They Made Me a Killer is a basic, efficient, though highly improbable action-packed B-movie that contains enough fast-moving drama in a short running time of only 64 minutes to satisfy most armchair vintage action-seekers and fans of film noir crime thrillers.

The screenplay by Daniel Mainwaring, Winston Miller and Kae Salkow is based on a story by Owen Francis.

Writer Daniel Mainwaring was credited as Geoffrey Homes.

It is the final screen appearance of Lola Lane.

It is made by Pine-Thomas Productions, the B-movie unit of Paramount Pictures, who released it on 3 May 1946 in the US.

The cast are Robert Lowery as Tom Durling, Barbara Britton as June Reynolds, Lola Lane as Betty Ford, Frank Albertson as patrolman Al Wilson, Elisabeth Risdon as ‘Ma’ Conley, Byron Barr as Steve Reynolds, Edmund MacDonald as Jack Conley aka Chance, Ralph Sanford as Patrolman Roach, James Bush as Frank Conley, Paul Harvey as District Attorney Booth, John Harmon as Joe Lafferty, Edward Earle, William Hall, Victor Potel and Will Wright.

It is in the public domain and available for free download at the Internet Archive:

https://archive.org/details/TheyMadeMeAKiller

Byron Barr is best known for his first role as Nino Zachetti in Double Indemnity. He also appeared in Love Letters, Pitfall, Down Dakota Way, They Made Me a Killer and The File on Thelma Jordon, but his only lead role is in the 1946 Tokyo Rose.

They Made Me a Killer is directed by William C Thomas, runs 64 minutes, is made by Pine-Thomas Productions, is released by Paramount Pictures, is written by Daniel Mainwaring [Geoffrey Homes], Winston Miller and Kae Salkow, is shot in black and white by Fred Jackman Jr, is produced by William H Pine and William C Thomas, and scored by Alexander Laszlo, with Art Direction by Frank Paul Sylos.

© Derek Winnert 2022 Classic Movie Review 12,133

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