Murder by Contract

Murder by Contract (1958)

Runtime: 81 minutes

Directed by: Irving Lerner

Starring: Vince Edwards, Phillip Pine, Herschel Bernardi, Cathy Browne, Caprice Toriel

From: Columbia

A film noir that feels ahead of its time. This played Sunday night on the Criterion Channel as the second half of a double-bill with Gilda. While Gilda I knew of for many years due to its popularity & star-making performance by Rita Hayworth, Murder by Contract is one I was less familiar with. It was one that slipped through the cracks; besides the number of people who have rated it online, none other than Scorsese has noted it as being a big influence literally since before I was born.

At least that mistake has finally been fixed. This tale of Claude (Vince Edwards) wanting to become a hitman to have a second income-no, really-and wouldn’t you know it, after a few successful hits done at the behest of a mysterious leader, he’s asked to perform a big hit in Los Angeles. There are complications… the big draw was how modern this felt.

Besides the monologues that Claude would deliver to random characters, the interactions he had w/ his handlers George & Marc proved to be the crux of the movie. Heck, when it’s just George & Marc talking to each other I thought “Tarantino” more than once but when Claude conversates w/ one or both of his handlers, it’s a delight. So is the score from Perry Botkin where the guitar’s the only instrument. The movie slows down for a bit once Claude arrives in Los Angeles but not only does it pick up again, the time it spent presenting the trio’s dynamic in this understated world is quite enthralling.

As this also features several ingenious ways of killing a target, Murder by Contract exceeded my expectations where many comparisons can be made; this includes Godard, Bresson, and for certain I agree w/ the nods to Jean-Pierre Melville. It was rather startling to see such a ruthless, cold-blooded lead character in a late 50’s movie set in SoCal.

 

Gilda

Gilda (1946)

Runtime: 110 minutes

Directed by: Charles Vidor

Starring: Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready, Joseph Calleia, Steven Geray

From: Columbia

Yes, I viewed this plus Murder by Contract (that review will be posted around this time tomorrow) on the Criterion Channel. Recently, they started a Sunday night double feature A movie much more than just Rita Hayworth’s iconic introduction. If you’re like me, you’ve seen in .gif form Hayworth popping into frame and flipping her hair at the same time. Gilda made Rita a star; however, while the brightest star she wasn’t the only highlight that helped make this unforgettable.

Glenn Ford moves to Argentina; he’s a scruffy gambler who befriends George Macready, the rich owner of an illegal casino. He meets & marries Hayworth, who is not faithful to her new husband. The particulars won’t be dwelled on; instead, I’ll note that the film takes its time letting the story-full of bizarre elements & details somehow combined together, admittedly-slowly unfurl.

As both Ford and Macready play characters who act like an A-hole towards Rita (if All Men Are Bastards is an acronym not invented by me, those that believe in such things will apply that to the movie), thankfully there’s the obligatory wacky characters you’d meet in an illegal Argentinian casino—my favorite being Uncle Pio, an underling at the joint who was rather funny.

For those uneasy at seeing a woman being treated poorly-not to mention more than a few “of their time” ideas and themes-there are still elements to enjoy. The cinematography from Rudolph Mate & the costumes from Jean Louis are both stellar & can be appreciated by everyone. That and Hayworth are probably the details you should focus on rather than the peculiar, particular details of the plot.

 

Red Rooms

Red Rooms (Les Chambres Rouges) (2023)

Runtime: 118 minutes

Directed by: Pascal Plante

Starring: Juliette Gariepy, Laurie Babin, Elisabeth Locas, Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, Natalie Tannous

From: Nemesis Films Productions

Featuring DuckDuckGo, Chloe Ting, TOR & racquetball. For awhile now I’ve known of this French-Canadian film and it even played at more than one Regal Cinema in the area briefly back in September. In hindsight, a big mistake not making the theatrical journey. My increasing ambivalence towards modern genre movies (especially one heavily-hyped) was a reason why. The streaming rental happened as the price already dipped to a level where it was only a few dollars purchase.

The picture concerns the trial of a serial killer who brutally killed a trio of teenage girls & filmed it for the dark web. The focus isn’t on him, though, and only a brief non-graphic amount of that footage is shown—rather, it’s on Kelly-Anne, a fashion model who is obsessed with this case to the point she attends the trial on a daily basis. Now, I’m unfamiliar w/ the Canadian judicial system in general, let alone in Quebec. In the Montreal trial, both the prosecutors and defense wear a specific outfit and the defendant sits in a glass both. Was that only done because of the nature of his crimes? Or, was it done as one of a plethora of subtle clues revolving around Kelly-Anne? Perhaps both.

I went into the film relatively blind; to grant the same favor, only a few vague specifics will be mentioned. Kelly-Anne is a rather peculiar character; a loner who spends plenty of time online. She eventually becomes buddies w/ Clementine, a groupie of the serial killer. How depressing that this is a concept true to life. The keystone theme of the film is the obsession that people have w/ true crime; I do sometimes watch true crime & listen to those podcasts but more on that at the end. That obsession is carried to a frightening end.

Red Rooms is modern in its focus on technology; Kelly-Anne’s apartment is even run by an AI program she curated herself. Thankfully, while Les Chambres Rouges (to use its original title) uses long takes and slow camera movements, it is not a movie that falls into the modern tropes that I frequently bemoan. Ambiguity is used to make the film quite unsettling & to increase the intrigue surrounding the protagonist. Red did not need to show any explicit, gruesome moments to craft a tense piece of work. Naturally, the plot and its methodical pacing won’t be for all Letterboxd members. For me, though… I don’t know if “pleasant” surprise is the right word to use but it did exceed my expectations.

In this haunting tale which was filmed quite well (those that love weird aspect ratios, this was done in 1.50:1) had a unique score and a distinctive cinematographic look, the performances of Juliette Gariepy as Kelly-Anne and Laurie Babin as Clementine were tremendous. I wouldn’t have been as invested if not for those actors and how they brought those difficult roles to life. Viewing the film last night then sleeping on it, Red Rooms deserves a high rating due to effectiveness & the presence of scenes which will stick w/ me for a long while.

As for me and true crime, in the past I’ve viewed programs like Unsolved Mysteries, Dateline, 48 Hours and Forensic Files. Now, I don’t really view any of that on broadcast or cable television; YouTube, there’s been some Mr. Ballen videos but that’s it. Podcasts, that is a scant few despite the glut of options. In short, it’s me not liking the host(s) and/or the tone. The number of shows that are COMEDIC despite featuring murder and other abhorrent behavior is just disrespectful and disgusting. Talk about spitting in the face of the victims. The main two I listen to are The Trail Went Cold (covering missing persons) and DNA ID, where cold cases are solved via DNA. Both are serious and as there are other podcasts-not to mention other things, like watching movies-I am preoccupied w/, it’s not worth the effort to find other similar shows.

It makes me glad that among my obsessions, I am not focused on morbid topics like Kelly-Anne was.

Clerks II

Clerks II (2006)

Runtime: 97 minutes

Directed by: Kevin Smith

Starring: Many of the people you’d expect to be in Clerks II, + Rosario Dawson

From: The Weinstein Company

Instead of watching a freakshow fight in a sport I don’t like involving two reprobates in what was probably a crappy fight on a platform not smart enough to rent enough servers for an event they’ve been hyping up for months… instead of giving that a second thought, other things were done then I visited Prime.

My discovery that this was free for me on Prime was the main reason for me to revisit the movie. It was seen theatrically back in ’06 and I must have rented it once on DVD but the last viewing was more than 15 years ago. As mentioned before, my sympathy for Kevin Smith’s public admission of mental health struggles aside, as a filmmaker I think less of them than I did at the time. In 2024, whoo boy did some of this age rather poorly.

No surprise that this would be different from the first; among other considerations, where Kevin Smith was in life when the films were made. This time, Dante & Randal are forced to work at a fast-food joint. Dante is about to bail and get married to a girl in Florida but in this one crazy day (& night), things go awry. Now, despite comments in the past that may paint the picture for long-time readers that I’m automatically against vulgar humor, this isn’t the case. A particular gross setpiece in the third act inspired by a famous 80’s film did make me laugh, for example.

The Elias character did also inspire laughs, although he was still a cypher for what Smith doesn’t like, chiefly religion, Transformers and The Lord of the Rings. Back in ’06, “Pillow Pants” was preposterous and impossible to believe even in this universe. Homophobia is present; this was long before “humor” of this type was seen by many as negative. However, there’s a long scene involving racial slurs… and yeah, in any movie where Smith broaches the subject of race, I’m never going to like it (& I never have) as it’s just tone-deaf, not to mention embarrassing.

A shame, as there are laughs plus actual heartfelt, poignant moments as our 30-something leads start becoming moody over their lot in life, whether they should aspire for me, or find something that makes THEM happy. The presence of Rosario Dawson also was an asset. The overall effort can be sloppy and the filmmaking craft can be criticized; be that as it may, it’s a sequel so of course the original is better yet this was fine for me who still really likes the original. Scuttlebutt tells me it’d be best, re: my liking the first two films to never experience Clerks III.

Likewise, much of Kevin Smith’s filmography is best left ignored or forgotten by me. However, this and Clerks I can happily watch again.

 

The Sniper

The Sniper (1952)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Edward Dmytryk

Starring: Arthur Franz, Adolphe Menjou, Gerald Mohr, Marie Windsor, Frank Faylen

From: Columbia

 
Well, this was chilling. For awhile now I’ve known of this film noir from Columbia; the plot is uncomfortably prescient to modern times. It was even more so once I viewed it on the Criterion Channel last night. Get this:

The movie’s focus is on the villain lead (Eddie Miller, played to a chilling degree by Arthur Franz) who is by modern terms an incel. He is angry due to his inability to get a girlfriend; this behavior began in his youth w/ a horrific attack on a woman. We see him deteriorate after getting rejected by “an unattainable female.” The deaths via sniper rifle of women becomes increasingly random.

Much to my amazement, in this piece of work from over 70 years ago, it noted that Miller realized he needed mental health help but no one was willing to help him. In addition, there is discussion over the need for money/effort needed to help those not well in the head, including sending them to what we call now “mental health facilities.” Can you see why I found this uncomfortably modern? It’s not hard to envision a modern retelling of this basic story.

Time is also spent w/ the San Francisco residents & their increasing panic over law enforcement’s lack of success in tracking down the killer. In addition, we do see law enforcement cracking the case via traditional investigative methods and narrowing down the suspects. Some elements are undoubtedly of their time; however, overall this is a strong noir even if you don’t consider how ahead of its time it felt in certain ways.

The Sniper should be of interest to those that have seen some famous film noir & now have the desire for a deeper dive. Furthermore, those that would get excited at the thought of cop Adolphe Menjou slapping a young punk around… viewing this would be your lucky day. A nice return to Hollywood for (unfortunately) blacklisted director Edward Dmytryk.

Convoy

Convoy (1978)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Sam Peckinpah

Starring: Kris Kristofferson (RIP), Ali MacGraw, Burt Young, Franklyn Ajaye, Ernest Borgnine

From: EMI/United Artists

A belated RIP to Kris Kristofferson. There was no time during Spooky Season to properly tip my cap and it was uncertain what to select that I hadn’t reviewed or even seen before. Yesterday I finally read the Letterboxd Call Sheet e-mail that’s frequently sent out. I rarely read those in-depth due to bad writing, bad opinions, bad attempts at humor, etc. Well, the writer of those noted this movie then mentioned that they weren’t a fan of Sam Peckinpah’s “noxious bullet-ridden machismo.” See why I never take those e-mails seriously?

It's not the best Kristofferson by any means but boy does it give me something to discuss. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from a movie based on a novelty song (a new version of the song with lyrics concerning the film’s plot was recorded & heard in the film) about a hot trend at the time-CB radios & truckers), directed by a true talent who unfortunately was in the worst throes of personal demons… I should be glad the movie’s not a complete disaster. Kris is legendary trucker RUBBER DUCK who feuds w/ A-hole racist sheriff Ernest Borgnine. It escalates as the truckers are blatantly coded as “the new cowboys” and the public start to see them as heroes against “the man.” I shouldn’t have been surprised given both the director and the star, the latter who was willing to be political at the expense of his career.

It also wasn’t a surprise that the movie was incredibly disjointed, seemingly missing scenes and for certain full of ADR’ed dialogue. As Peckinpah was either “not in condition to direct” for part or much of the shoot, so at least a few scenes were directed by… James Coburn! He was an AD due to his desire for a DGA card; what a movie to work on. A big problem for Convoy is that it can easily be compared w/ Smokey & the Bandit, which easily outclasses it in terms of story, action (except for one big brawl) and fan appeal.

Be that as it may, the movie was at least watchable & a nice time capsule to a short-lived fad. The cast at least entertained; Kristofferson was certainly believable as an anti-authority badass and Ali MacGraw had quite the pixie cut curly-haired ‘do but Burt Young was the most memorable. The character itself was hysterical plus between the outfit, his wacky accent and his handle—it was a gas. He was called Pig Pen due to his cargo but before that the handle was LOVE MACHINE.

RIP to Kris Kristofferson-singer, actor, activist. Not only did he make bold stances such as supporting Cesar Chavez and Sinead O’Connor, he also cussed out Toby Keith to his face for Keith being “a fake patriot” when Kristofferson was actually in the military and in fact was part of a military family. We need more personalities like this; I hope they’re not a dying breed.

Smiles of a Summer Night

Smiles of a Summer Night (1955)

Runtime: 109 minutes

Directed by: Ingmar Bergman

Starring: Ulla Jacobsson, Eva Dahlbeck, Harriet Andersson, Margit Carlqvist, Gunnar Bjornstrand

From: Svensk Filmindustri

Last night felt like time to experience more Ingmar Bergman. Sometime during the Thanksgiving holiday I’ll post a list of the films I’ve seen from him so far; all have been highly rated. Technically this is my “least favorite”, although that is no insult as it is still a 4 star picture. Unlike the director’s typical serious, austere style, Smiles is comedic in nature.

Now, it was more amusing than uproarious yet I was still entertained. The focus is on the romantic entanglements between a variety of characters in turn of the 20th century Sweden. As this includes a stepson having the hots for his new stepmother that’s actually younger than him and another character makes a guy feel up her boobs… sex is a theme. “Wacky facial hair” was also a theme, at least to me. It culminates in a night spent at someone’s estate where yes, partner-swapping occurs. Bergman in fact was married 5 times and was rarely faithful.

Much of this journey I dare not spoil. It was nice to see something different from Bergman that was still filmed well and managed to be his international breakout. From hearsay, Bergman was at a low point in his life for a variety of reasons; that was not apparent just judging by what was on screen. There is a dark undercurrent throughout and in addition, some downhearted moments. That said, there is the presence of wine, the ingredients of which I hope were inaccurately stated by a character!