Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Murder by Contract Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 3, 2021

Irving Lerner's "Murder by Contract" (1958) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films. The supplemental features on the disc include vintage introduction to the film by Marty Scorsese; archival production and promotional materials for the film; trailer commentary by writer/producer Larry Karaszewski; new commentary by critic Farran Smith Nehme; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The human female is descended from the monkey, and the monkey is about the most curious animal in the world. Anything goes on, it just can't stand it not to know about it. She'll come out. Then I'll hit her.

Marty Scorsese’s admiration for Murder by Contract isn’t surprising because this film does some pretty interesting things that transform its production limitations into its biggest strengths. For example, instead of trying to replicate the lavish stylistic appearance of the big film noirs of its era, Murder by Contract embraces minimalism in much the same way Robert Bresson’s classic early films do. As a result, the simplicity and clarity that define its narrative become far more important than the particular atmosphere the big film noirs usually emphasize to build up their identity. However, unlike Bresson’s films, Murder by Contract is a very playful film with a great sense of humor, so its relationship with minimalism is actually quite unique. (Imagine a much cheaper American retro remake of Le Samouraï loaded with a variety of wisecracks and you should get a pretty decent idea what Murder by Contract looks like and how it behaves while trying to impress). The manner in which music is incorporated into Murder by Contract is quite intriguing as well. Perry Botkin’s guitar solos blend folk and jazz motives that add an unusual European vibe to the visuals that doesn’t seem right for a film noir yet quickly becomes very effective. (The exact same guitar solos would have worked just as well in Alberto Lattuada’s Mafioso, but while enhancing a completely different atmosphere).

The film opens up in New York City where the young and very ambitious killer Claude (Vince Edwards) auditions for a high-profile client. If he makes the right impression, Claude will be hired to do jobs on demand. The client immediately concludes that Claude is everything he is looking for, but tells him to go home and wait patiently for a call while he determines whether he can work for him. The move is a final test that is supposed to measure Claude’s commitment to his chosen profession. A few weeks later, Claude gets the call and his first assignment.

But it is not too long before the client’s boss hires Claude to get rid of him. After he does the job, Claude’s new client dispatches him to LA to take out another target. Local boys Marc (Phillip Pine) and George (Herschel Bernardi) greet him at Union Station and instantly realize that his working methods are about to test their patience. Their job of assisting Claude then becomes even more complicated after he discovers that his target is a woman, which he interprets as a guaranteed jinx, and tells them that he either has to renegotiate his contract or walk away from the job.

Irving Lerner directs with the confidence of a seasoned filmmaker who has a long history of successfully transforming small genre projects into big mainstream hits. This is the immediate impression that you will get from Murder by Contract -- it is very clear that it was conceived to be a B-picture, but Lerner’s direction gives it a style and personality that are perfect for bigger and much more ambitious films.

But what exactly is it that Lerner does that makes the difference? He cuts off the fat. There is minimal action and minimal talk, plus the camera does not seek the right angles to get the best views. Naturally, the entire film is like an educational course for ambitious killers, but without the lecturing that would have made it unbearably annoying. One more thing. Because of Lerner’s direction, the film does not produce a ‘cool’ character. Claude and his assistants are just ordinary guys who happen to be in the business of hurting and killing people, and Lerner and his camera spend some time in their company. It is a really simple concept for a great gangster film, but getting it right so that it looks entirely organic is a rather complicated business.

*There is plenty of visual material in Murder by Contract that influenced Scorsese. For example, the sequence in which Claude exercises in his tiny apartment while waiting for the phone call from his first client was used as a blueprint for a very famous sequence in Taxi Driver.

Murder by Contract Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Murder by Contract arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Indicator/Powerhouse Films.

Murder by Contract gets the least impressive technical presentation in the Columbia Noir #2 six-disc box set, which is rather ironic because apparently it was restored in 2K. So, the problem here is that there are traces of digital work that has destabilized the film's grain structure and produced other anomalies. For example, there is plenty of footage where the grain is flattened and existing detail lost. Sometimes the missing detail is what I would usually describe as background or peripheral nuances, but sometimes it is big chunks of major details. Loss of nuances can be seen in screencapture #9 (see the door). Loss of major details can be seen in screencapture #20 (the face looks like it has been damaged by the sun, but it is actually filtered). On a larger screen, these anomalies are routinely impossible to ignore, plus it is very easy to see that many of them impact even the stability of the color scheme. The grays and whites are affected the most, which is why there is plenty of black crushing as well, but even existing ranges of whites can suffer rather dramatically. Quite predictably, delineation and depth are never impressive. Image stability is very good. There are no distracting large debris, cuts, damage marks, stains, warped or torn frames to report. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Murder by Contract Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The audio is clear and stable. However, there are a couple of areas where some very light background hiss sneaks in. It is not at all distracting, but my guess is that if in the future the film is fully restored in 4K, and in the same way the folks at Sony Pictures prepare their masters now, the hiss will be carefully eliminated with digital tools. There are no balance issues and and dynamic intensity is good.

Murder by Contract Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction - in this archival introduction Marty Scorsese discusses some of the unique qualities of Murder by Contract and explains when, why and how the film influenced him. In English, not subtitled. (5 min).

• Larry Karaszewski Trailer Commentary - an archival episode of Trailers From Hell with writer/producer Larry Karaszewski (The People vs. Larry Flynt). In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Trailer - a remastered vintage trailer for Murder by Contract. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Image Gallery - a collection of original production and promotional materials for Murder by Contract.

• Swedes in America - Irving Lerner directed this short film about Swedish Americans in 1943. It is narrated by Ingrid Bergman. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. (18 min).

• Violent Is the Word for Curly - a short film about the three stooges directed by Charley Chase in 1938. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles. (18 min).

• Commentary - new audio commentary by critic Farran Smith Nehme.

• Book - limited edition exclusive 120-page book with new essays by Melanie Williams, Ellen Cheshire, Simon Abrams, Kulraj Phullar, Tara Judah, and David Thompson; extracts from interviews with director Phil Karlson, screenwriter Ben Maddow, and others; an extract from Vincent Sherman's autobiography; archival news articles, interviews, and reviews; new writing on the short films; and full film credits.

Murder by Contract Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jean-Pierre Melville was a huge admirer of the classic American westerns and gangster films, which is why his popular gangster films look and function a lot like them. Melville directed Le Samourai less than a decade after Irving Lerner completed Murder by Contract, and there is enough material in the latter to make conspiracy theorists very comfortable speculating that it could have been the blueprint for the former. Marty Scorsese is on record admitting that he borrowed quite a bit from Murder by Contract while working on Taxi Driver, and later on even planned to use more but could not while putting together Mean Streets. So, while often described as a B-picture, Murder by Contract is a pretty big and influential film with a very special personality. This release is sourced from an older and shaky master that was supplied by Sony Pictures. It is included in Indicator/Powerhouse Films' Columbia Noir #2 six-disc box set, which will be out later this month. RECOMMENDED.