What a movie!!!....a different kind of killer,meticulous,coldest and smart with a psychological aproach,putting all this on lead character gave a high standard to the picture,becomes a near masterpiece on a tight budge,all elements have here exposed in each single acting,like in waiter scene where he complains about a dirty cup and once more with call girl...and finally when he was informed at short notice that has to kill a woman...all this scramble your cold mind!!!Scorcese told about a scene in the room where the killer make a body exercise while has to wait which he aplied in Taxi Driver!!Resume:First watch: 2017 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 9

Selected for an important contract killing due to his detached and unemotional approach towards murder, an arrogant young assassin questions his own skills after discovering that his next target is a woman in this slick thriller. Vince Edwards is excellent as the confident contract killer who simply sees murder as a great way to supplement his income. Along the lines of 'Strangers on a Train', he also professes that "the only type of safe killing is when a stranger kills a stranger" and the film has some fun comic relief moments as he often unsettles two goons sent to accompany him. Solid as Phillip Pine and Herschel Bernardi are as the goons though, their purpose is never clear and film veers close to being a comedy at times with the goons and his failed attempts to kill the woman from afar. Generally speaking though, this is an intense and riveting thriller. The film benefits from a catchy, taunting music score inspired by 'The Third Man' and Edwards has an undeniably fascinating character. Is he worried about killing her because he has more moral fibre than he would like to admit or is it genuinely harder to kill a woman? Whatever the case, this is a fascinating look into a dangerous mind.

This seven day wonder holds up pretty well considering how much tougher crime films have become since the demise of Hollywood's Production Code. Claude (Edwards) is one self- assured tough cookie, a killer with a philosophical bent. All in all, he's a rare bird, a Zen artist practicing the rare art of assassination. He does things his way or not at all, a stylish loner among a crowd of inferiors. Plus, with a name like "Claude" he better be good. But now he's got to take out a nervous woman in a hillside house surrounded by cops, and that presents him with a real challenge. Worse, his two local contacts, Marc and George, aren't much help. In fact all Marc (Pine) can do is whine since he's never been exposed to a Zen master like Claude. So, it's quite a contest, the ultimate in contract killers versus the LAPD, 1950's style. My one gripe is with the unimaginative ending. Given Claude's unique character, something more ironical than a commonplace shootout is needed, drainpipe or not.Edwards is excellent as the assassin, an icy exterior on top of an icy interior. Too bad Pine overdoes his loudmouth skeptic bit; you just know he'll get his, and it can't be too soon. On the other hand, is Bernardi as George, just then coming off the Hollywood blacklist, and fine as Marc's quiet counterpart. But my money's on kittenish Kathie Browne—what a dish. Note how the Code makes her Claude's dinner companion, and God forbid, not his bed companion, even when she's clearly a part-time call girl.But there's one scene that has stayed with me over the years. The fastidious Claude gets served a dirty cup on his breakfast tray at a hotel. Being the perfectionist he is, he berates the luckless waiter who's served it. Now, catch Joe Mell as the Bassett-faced waiter. He stands there with a single, dullish expression unlike any other I've seen. It's a perfect contrast in intelligence that each plays to the hilt. Note too, how even Claude is finally moved by the waiter's dull wits, giving him a five-dollar tip!Anyway, the film's a B-movie sleeper if there ever was one. Lerner directs writer Simcoe's tight little screenplay with flair and efficiency. I love obscure little triumphs like this, especially when contrasted with Hollywood's many overblown epics that are too often a waste of film. But certainly not this little gem.

Claude like most other American is in pursuit of its dream. His day job doesn't cut it so he seeks employment as a hit man. Soon he is making great strides towards buying the house in the burbs by coldly offing a couple of mugs. When he goes out west to whack another target he hesitates because the victim is a woman. He wants more cash.Murder by Contract is an over achieving B flic with a style reminiscent of Sam Fuller and a twist or two to keep things interesting. Vince "Ben Casey" Edwards as Claude utilizes his one dimensional style to convincingly portray the dispassionate terminator who also dispenses updated Schopenhauer philosophy to all within earshot. In one inspired scene he goes into a tirade when served a dirty coffee cup. Humiliating the waiter with his withering insults, it is a scene as violent as the hits. More than once in the film director Irving Lerner diverts from the formulaic path to lend originality and ambiguity to character and scenes. The narcissistic Claude sexual orientation is questioned while an associate thug (Hershel Bernardi) questions his. He makes Billie, the female target, a drunken self absorbed shrew, thus enabling you to root for Claude.There's a lot wrong with Contract (back projection that goes light and dark, a music score more appropriate for a Greek Island) but it makes the most of what it has with a touch of originality.