MURDER BY CONTRACT

Pine, Bernardi and Edwards

MURDER BY CONTRACT (1958). Director: Irving Lerner.

"Us two, we don't claim to be Superman. Me, I don't even claim to be Mighty Mouse." -- Marc.

Claude (Vince Edwards) isn't making enough money on his job, so he decides to pile up the cash quickly by becoming a hit man. After several successful assignments, he is offered far above his usual rate to travel to California where his latest victim is waiting. Claude takes his time mulling over his game plan, which worries his boss' associates, Marc (Phillip Pine) and George (Hershel Bernardi). Then the whole plan hits a snag when Claude discovers who -- or rather what -- his latest victim is to be. Will Claude go ahead with this hit that is very important to his unseen boss, and even if he does will he be able to get past dozens of cops to pull it off? Murder By Contract is a simplistic film with modestly developed characters, but it works because it's completely absorbing as well as unpredictable. The performances help a lot, with Edwards solid (if hardly perfect) as Claude, and Pine and Bernardi giving expert support. There is also fine work from Kathie Browne [Happy Mother's Day, Love George] as a hooker; Frances Osborn as a drunken former maid; Michael Granger [Pier 5 Havana] as Moon, who gives Claude his earliest assignments; and Joseph Mell in a nice bit as a room service waiter who temporarily excites Claude's ire. Caprice Toriel plays a nightclub singer who was once involved with Claude's boss and she is competent; she only appeared in this one movie. Lucien Ballard's cinematography is top notch, although I don't think Perry Botkin's guitar score works all that well. Oddly, Lerner also directed Edwards (and Browne) in City of Fear the following year, yet that was a terrible picture.

Verdict: Unusual crime suspense film. ***.

PIER 5 HAVANA

Allison Hayes

PIER 5 HAVANA (1959). Director: Edward L. Cahn.

Steve Daggett (Cameron Mitchell) comes to Havana -- right after Castro has taken over -- to look for his missing friend, Hank Miller (Logan Field). Hank is married to an ex-girlfriend of Steve's named Monica (Allison Hayes), who is now keeping company with a character named Fernando Ricardo (Eduardo Noriega of The Beast of Hollow Mountain). Steve's trail leads to Schluss (Otti Waldis of Unknown World), whose warehouse is inexplicably stocking guns. Steve contacts Lt. Garcia (Michael Granger of Creature with the Atom Brain), but he has nothing to pin on Schluss. Then Garcia tells Steve they have found Hank Miller's body -- or have they? Steve discovers that there's a plot afoot to put Batista back in power, and to bomb Havana. The performances are all solid in this cheap melodrama, which is more like an expanded television episode than a movie. Vincent Padula, Rick Vallin, and Ken Terrell all have small roles.

Verdict: It's always fun to see the 50 Foot Woman herself, Allison Hayes. **.

CALYPSO HEAT WAVE

Alan Arkin (left) as a young calypso singer

CALYPSO HEAT WAVE (1957). Director: Fred F. Sears. Produced by Sam Katzman.

Mack Adams (Paul Langton of The Big Knife) is head of a record company whose primary artist is Johnny Conroy (Johnny Desmond). Sleazy Barney Pearl (Michael Granger) tries to insert himself into Adams' business even as Pearl's girlfriend, Mona (Meg Myles) gets herself a hit record thanks to Adams' assistant, Alex (Joel Grey). Meanwhile Johnny walks out on this new hybrid company and takes off to the West Indies -- can Mack and his secretary Marti (Merry Anders of The Hypnotic Eye) convince him to come back and save the company? Calypso Heat Wave has a slender plot that employs the talents of Columbia recording artists, including Maya Angelou in her pre-poetess days, an all-black group called the Treniers, and a romantic trio known (confusingly) as the Tarriers, for whom a young Alan Arkin is the lead singer -- and he's not bad. If that weren't enough we have Pierre Watkin as the lawyer Thornwall, and Darla Hood (of The Bat and "Our Gang" comedies fame) singing a duet with Johnny but having no real role or dialogue. Desmond is a charismatic performer who manages in some numbers to crediby do the Calypso with a Caucasian twist, although in other numbers he comes off a little hokey. Angelou, known as "Miss Calypso," gets two numbers and is effective, while Meg Myles does a nice job with the catchy "Treat Me Like a Lady." Of the actors, Langton, Grey [Cabaret] and Myles make the best impression. That same year director Sears came out with the zesty The Giant Claw.

Verdict: Some genuine and Hollywoodized Calypso music and that's about it. **.