Three Came to Kill

Between September 1959 and March 1960 United Artists released three crime movies starring Cameron Mitchell, directed by Edward L. Cahn and produced by Robert E. Kent. The latter also wrote "Pier 5, Havana" and this one, while Orville H. Hampton wrote "Inside the Mafia" and provided the story for this, which in my humble opinion is the best of the three. What the three films have in common is a hard-boiled voiceover, brief running time (none is more than 72 minutes long), and narrative drive. Hampton obviously wasn't one to let a good idea go to waste. "Mafia" featured Mitchell and a sidekick taking over a small airfield in order to kill a top Mafia boss, while this one has him and Steve Brodie taking over a house next to Los Angeles airport to kill a Middle Eastern premier who's due to fly out. As usual, action is reserved for the men; the women are there to look good and be frightened. Others have noted the similarity between these two films and both "The Desperate Hours" and "Suddenly." This one is particularly close to "Suddenly." Mitchell's Marty Brill, like Sinatra's character, has shooting skills he developed in the army and plans to use them to kill a politician: much better paid than fighting for your country. Mitchell is very good, and has an interesting speech about how, having been born poor, his life has been plagued by policemen. He even manages to make a worthless mercenary rather attractive at times. The film wouldn't have been half as good with a lesser actor.