Oh sure, there have been films before about hitmen suffering existential angst: however, few films have unrolled the theme in such an economical way as Murder by Contract (1958).
Directed by Irving Lerner, and shot in seven days, the film stars Vince Edwards as Claude, a man whose main focus is gathering enough cash to buy a home. In other words, he wants to settle down and belong.
What to do? Become a contract killer for a Mr. Brink. Claude builds up his resume by wacking a few people. Then, the big contact: kill a witness in a high-profile trial, to begin in two weeks in Los Angeles.
Claude is as calm and cool as an undiscovered tomb—until he discovers the target is a woman. No dice he says, unless he gets more dough. Why? Because women are more “unpredictable” than men, hence, harder to kill. That’s it. No gender bias. All business.
Claude is indeed a type of ‘étranger’, a man somehow disengaged from society, without a conscience, whose psychopathic / sociopathic behaviour is deftly masked behind a suit and tie.
Aside from wanting a home, we never discover much about Claude. He doesn’t say much. Claude’s contemporary in modern film is Tom Cruise’s character in Collateral (2004). We are left wondering if these hitmen want money or just say that they do, giving themselves a reason to accept depraved behaviour. Could it be they labor under the weight of existentialism, absurdism and/or nihilism?
Existentialism: What’s it all about? Create your own meaning. It doesn’t matter.
Absurdism: It is impossible, therefore irrelevant, for you to understand the meaning of life. So, relax.
Nihilism: There is no (nihil) inherent meaning in the world. Accept it.
As the hitman, Vince Edwards has pitch perfect. Not robotic, but not entirely human. Sometimes cruel, but mostly strategically savage. Not brave because he’s unafraid to die. Surprisingly, the woman he intends to kill, is beautiful but unpleasant, an atypical character given the plot—yet ideal when considering the existential implications.
The resolution is barely aligned with an expected narrative. Albert Camus wrote, “Since we’re all going to die, it’s obvious that when and how don’t matter.” Claude would likely agree, if he decided to think about it, which is unlikely. No point.
By the end of Murder by Contract, you may well wonder if there was a contract at all.
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