Kill or Be Killed (1950)

Written by CinemaSerf on December 27, 2022

This is probably most notable for the performance of Lawrence Tierney ("Warren") playing a goodie for a change. He has just installed an air-con system in a bar in Brazil and whilst chasing up his cash, he discovers the owner has been robbed and murdered and he has to escape into the jungle on an old river boat; with the help of concert pianist Marissa O'Brian ("Maria"), who is joining her husband (Rudolph Anders) and his dodgy business partner George Coulouris ("Sloma") in the remote Amazonian wilderness. Aside from a rather fun contribution from his young, mute, pal who gives him a timely warning about piranha fish, the plot degrades quickly into a plodding melodrama with some beautiful scenery but precious little else to rescue it from the doldrums with a rather underwhelming conclusion.