Apparently, the Criterion Channel recently dropped a bunch of noir films into their streaming service. Yesterday as I browsed the ‘recently added’ queue I stumbled across noir after noir and the titles were unknown to me. Under the limitations of a time and temperament I selected Murder by Contract as the one to watch Sunday night.

Hailing from 1958 Murder by Contract is a low budget quickly produced film noir centered on Claude and man with large dreams and no empathy. Claude leaves the respectable life of an upright citizen and becomes an assassin for the mob in order to secure the funds for his dream home. Curious for a character of this type and profession Claude rejects firearms for most of his contracts and quickly establishes himself as a killer of unusual competence. The mob sends Claude out west to Los Angeles where he meets up with two local hoods, George and Marc, for the most challenging assignment of his cruel career where nothing goes as anyone planned.

Though the word is never used in the film Claude is presented as a sociopath. He professes to have taught himself to have no feeling but it is more likely that this is a justification for the character than an actual achievement. His intellect and cool demeanor carry him through most of his assignments unperturbed but as this final contract goes awry the illusion of his self-control crumbles.

Shot in seven days Murder by Contract presents the material in a spare and unadorned style. Aside from Vince Edwards as Claude who would later go on to portray Doctor Ben Casey from 1961 thru 1966, the aspect of casting that leapt out to me was that four future Star Trek (the original series) guest actors also appeared in the crime drama, Phillip Pine, who played the genocidal Colonel Green in the episode The Savage Curtain, is the hoodlum Marc, Kathie Brown plays a secretary who moonlights as an escort and she appeared in the episode Wink of an Eye as Deela one of Kirk’s alien romantic conquests, Joseph Mell who plays Harry also was in the pilot for Star Trek as a trader from Earth who sparks Pike’s interest in the Orion slave woman, and finally David Roberts as a Hall of records clerk but got a promotion to doctor for the episode The Empath.

While lacking the depth of characterization found in classic noir such as Double Indemnity and with a jazz inspired soundtrack that bordered on irritating, Murder by Contract still proves to be an interesting entry in the sub-genre from the end of its classical period.