In a recent Village Voice column, Andrew Sarris noted: “One of the final revelations of the current Museum of Modern Art RKO series was Born to Kill, the most Nietzschean of all American film noir. The unyieldingly malevolent character played by Lawrence Tierney makes no sense except as a projection of Claire Trevor's evil desires.” In 1947, Bosley Crowther of The New York Times was surely the last person on earth capable of appreciating the perverse and pessimistic qualities of Born to Kill: he called it “morally disgusting” and expressed outrage that “Claire Trevor as the lustful lady is permitted to conduct herself, especially in some scenes with Mr. Tierney, with surprising indecorum and lack of taste.”