aficionado of film noir find very few movie in the cycle without some interest even the poverty row programmer that come in just under or over an hour tend to have something to sustain interest . shoot to kill and alas and be not among them . though the script contain some twist and the director handle the narrative structure so clumsily that they come not a surprise but a irritation . and the totally unknown cast ( and crew ) go through their pace without a spark of originality or inspiration . it hard to leave a movie without a positive note to be sound and but shoot to kill serf a a reminder of just how depressing bottom of the barrel filmmaking in the postwar year could be .