Blast of Silence (1961) Noir / English / No subs

Crime | Drama | Noir | USA | B&W | 77min | Dir: Allen Baron Cast: Allen Baron, Molly McCarthy, Larry Tucker, Peter Clune, Howard Man, Gil Rogers, Jerry Douglas, Lionel Stander (narration) A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York at Christmastime, but a special girl from his past and a gun dealer with pet rats get in his way. Accompanied by an avant-jazz soundtrack and a hard-boiled Beat narration from the gloriously gravel-voiced Lionel Stander, the blue-collar assassin wanders through the city at Christmastime, revolted by human contact but sucker enough to think a girl he once knew might redeem him. This carefully crafted B&W portrait of a hit man on assignment in Manhattan during Christmastime follows its stripped-down narrative with mechanical precision, yet also with an eye and ear for the oddball idiosyncrasies of urban living and the imposing beauty of the city's locations. Writer/director Allen Baron had to take over the lead role when he lost his first choice - Peter Falk; and Baron's face has an uncomfortable mixture of yearning and defensiveness that somehow suits the character to a tee. Stylishly framed B&W images and sharp, staccato editing, combined with the almost documentary feel of the performances and settings, wrap the entire movie in an alienated tension.