Double Feature: MURDER BY CONTRACT + SMOG
Special Features: Intro by film historian Foster Hirsch on October 19
MURDER BY CONTRACT
Cold, ruthless Claude (Vince Edwards) has no prospects in his young life, so he decides to stake his place in the world as a hired killer. But when he's sent to sunny California to kill a gangland witness, his sudden discovery of "ethics" could prove fatal. This ultra-low-budget gem from director Irving Lerner was shot in only seven days, with a strangely hypnotic pace and a spare, haunting musical theme by guitarist Perry Botkin. It is a personal favorite of director Martin Scorsese, who has admitted the film's stylistic influence on TAXI DRIVER — particularly in the Travis-in-training sequences. (Note courtesy of Noir City.) DIR Irving Lerner; SCR Ben Simcoe, Ben Maddow; PROD Leon Chooluck. U.S., 1958, b&w, 81 min. NOT RATED
Followed by:
SMOG
A strange, spellbinding and singular cinematic experience. Vittorio (Enrico Maria Salerno), a conservative and bourgeois Italian attorney, has a day to waste in Los Angeles while in transit to Mexico City. After making his first mistake — walking — Vittorio is absorbed into the orbit of a group of sexy and slightly sinister Italian expats hustling to survive in modern America. Presaging later works such as Martin Scorsese's AFTER HOURS and David Lynch's MULHOLLAND DRIVE, this is an astounding rediscovery, gorgeously restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. (Note courtesy of Noir City.) DIR Franco Rossi; SCR Franco Brusati, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa, Ugo Guerra; PROD Goffredo Lombardo. Italy, 1962, b&w, 104 min. In Italian and English with English subtitles. NOT RATED
Restored by Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna and the UCLA Film & Television Archive in collaboration with Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Restoration funding provided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
MURDER BY CONTRACT also screens Mon, Oct. 21. View details here.
Run Time: 200 Minutes
Opening Date: Saturday, October 19, 2024
Genre: Film noir
