Live stream preview

Watch this video and more on The Criterion Channel

Watch this video and more on The Criterion Channel

Start your free trial

Already subscribed? Sign in

Noir

Murder by Contract

1h 20m

Directed by Irving Lerner • 1958 • United States
Starring Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, Herschel Bernardi

Vince Edwards stars as a hired assassin whose latest “assignment” (Caprice Toriel) is about to testify against the mob. But this particular target is not so easy to get at. So he waits . . . and waiting gives the assassin what he needs least: time to think. Cited by Martin Scorsese as a B-movie favorite, MURDER BY CONTRACT has lean, efficient direction by Irving Lerner (CITY OF FEAR), complemented by the stark black-and-white cinematography of Lucien Ballard (THE WILD BUNCH).

Up Next in Noir

  • Nightfall
    1:18:57
    Nightfall

    Nightfall

    Directed by Jacques Tourneur • 1956 • United States
    Starring Brian Keith, Aldo Ray, Anne Bancroft

    Directed by Jacques Tourneur from one of the masterful, despairing novels of David Goodis, NIGHTFALL is the tale of an innocent man trapped in a senseless and lethal web of seduction and crime. The...

  • Strange Fascination
    1:21:23
    Strange Fascination

    Strange Fascination

    Directed by Hugo Haas • 1952 • United States
    Starring Hugo Haas, Cleo Moore, Mona Barrie

    One of a string of intriguing low-budget noirs directed in Hollywood by Czech actor turned gutter auteur Hugo Haas, STRANGE FASCINATION stars the filmmaker himself as a renowned concert pianist whose relatio...

  • The Big Heat
    1:29:43
    The Big Heat

    The Big Heat

    Directed by Fritz Lang • 1953 • United States
    Starring Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin

    Fritz Lang’s hard-boiled cop vs. criminals yarn stars Glenn Ford as Dave Bannion, a police detective and family man driven by grief to conduct a relentless vendetta against a mobster (Alexander Scourby)...

×