Starring Vincent Edwards, Caprice Toriel and the criminally underrated Herschel Bernardi and Phillip Pine, Murder by Contract is a cool, efficient and all-around excellent B-movie noir that deconstructs the cold business of contract killing and what happens when a hitman disappoints his employers.
Martin Scorsese wanted to borrow from this film for Mean Streets but couldn't fit it in. He did find some influence from it for Taxi Driver.
And then there's Quentin Tarantino and Pulp Fiction. Don't get me started.
Historical note (SPOILER): had Murder by Contract been made either before or after the era of the Motion Picture Production Code (1930 through 1968) the ending would almost certainly have been different, but the rules for American movies in 1958 dictated that the bad guy had to get his comeuppance.
Enjoy! And it's an open thread.
[Thanks much to those commenters who answered my question from last week. It was Daredevil. Thanks again.]
