Assassin for Hire
{{Short description|1951 British film by Michael McCarthy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Assassin for Hire
| caption =
| image = Assassin for Hire FilmPoster.jpeg
| director = Michael McCarthy
| producer = Julian Wintle
| writer = Rex Rienits
| screenplay =
| story =
| based_on = TV play by Rex Rienits
| starring = Sydney Tafler
Ronald Howard
Katharine Blake
John Hewer
| music = Ronnie Emanuel
| cinematography = Robert LaPresle
| editing = Eric Hodges
| studio = Merton Park Studios
| distributor = Anglo-Amalgamated Film Distributors
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|1951|4||}}
| runtime = 67 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Assassin for Hire is a 1951 British crime film directed by Michael McCarthy and starring Sydney Tafler, Ronald Howard and Katharine Blake.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090126185936/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/10034 BFI.org] Its plot follows a contract killer who becomes stricken with remorse when he is led to believe he has murdered his brother.
It was the first feature film made by Anglo-Amalgamated.{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|date=12 January 2025|access-date=12 January 2025|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-british-moguls-nat-cohen-part-one-1905-56/|title=Forgotten British Moguls: Nat Cohen – Part One (1905-56)}} It was made at Merton Park Studios from a screenplay by Rex Rienits. It was intended as a supporting feature, although it may have been shown as a headline feature in some cinemas.
Plot
Antonio Riccardi, a young British criminal of Italian heritage, works as a professional contract killer in order to pay for his gifted younger brother's violin lessons so that he can escape from a life of poverty and crime. A series of mistakes lead him to wrongly believe he has killed his brother, and he confesses his crimes to the police.Chibnall & McFarlane p.98
Cast
- Sydney Tafler as Antonio Riccardi
- Ronald Howard as Detective Inspector Carson
- Katharine Blake as Maria Riccardi
- John Hewer as Giuseppe Riccardi
- June Rodney as Helen Garrett
- Gerald Case as Detective Sergeant Stott
- Reginald Dyson as Josef Meyerling
- Sam Kydd as Bert
- Ian Wallace as Charlie
- Martin Benson as Catesby
- Ewen Solon as Fred
Original Radio Play
Rex Rienits originally wrote the story as a radio play, which aired in Australia in 1944 in a production starring Keith Eden.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article43233268 |title=THE WEEK'S RADIO FEATURES |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=16 December 1944 |accessdate=9 August 2020 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}} Another version was produced in 1952.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47408919 |title=From a Listener's Armchair |newspaper=The Advertiser |volume=95 |issue=29,341 |location=Adelaide |date=25 October 1952 |accessdate=9 August 2020 |page=15 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Television Play
Rienits moved to London in April 1949 and in May 1950 reported he had sold the script to television. It was one of two television scripts he sold, the other being The Million Pound Note which would be filmed in 1954.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article203241964 |title=TELEVISION FOR RIENITS' PLAYS |newspaper=Truth |issue=2617 |location=Brisbane |date=21 May 1950 |accessdate=9 August 2020 |page=46 |via=National Library of Australia}}
The television film Assassin for Hire was screened by the BBC in September 1950 with Sidney Tafler in the lead.Chibnall & McFarlane p.97-98{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47523159 |title=Latest Fiction. |newspaper=The Advertiser |location=Adelaide |date=8 November 1952 |accessdate=6 June 2015 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Film production
In November 1950 Rienits reported that film rights to his story had been purchased by Anglo Amalgamated, run by Nat Cohen. Filming started at Merton Studios on 13 November 1950 with Tafler repeating his television performance.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18476819 |title=Australian's Television Play To Be Filmed |newspaper=The Sunday Herald (Sydney) |issue=93 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=5 November 1950 |accessdate=9 August 2020 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}} It was the first time Anglo produced a film.{{cite magazine|title=The Anglo Amalgamated Story|magazine=Kine Weekly|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_kine-weekly_1959-12-31_511_2726/page/n15/mode/1up?|page=4-5|date=31 December 1959}}
Dallas Bower who directed the television version claims the movie "more or less started Nat Cohen off in the film industry because he decided he wanted to make this into a film and indeed he did" and "it made a mint of money." Bower thought Assassin for Hire might have been "the first occasion when a successful TV production also became a successful film."{{cite web|url=http://historyproject.org.uk/interview/dallas-bower|website=British Entertainment History Project|title=Dallas Bower|date=23 Nov 1987|access-date=21 Jan 2023}}
Novel
Rienits later turned the story into a novel. It was published along with the Rienits short story Wide Boy which was later filmed with Sidney Tafler in 1952. The Herald called the novel Assassin for Hire "a tightly written, quite exciting report on a professional killer."{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245280856 |title=NEW BOOKS REVIEWED |newspaper=The Herald |issue=23,538 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=1 November 1952 |accessdate=9 August 2020 |page=14 |via=National Library of Australia}} The Advertiser called it "An exciting, if not a very convincing, novel.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article57565709 |title=CRIME SHELF. |newspaper=The Mail |location=Adelaide |date=8 November 1952 |accessdate=6 June 2015 |page=2 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGAZINE |via=National Library of Australia}}
There was also talk the story would be turned into a stage play.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159013673 |title=Hat-Trick By Film Script Man |newspaper=The Newcastle Sun |issue=10,590 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=20 December 1951 |accessdate=5 July 2020 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- Chibnall, Steve & McFarlane, Brian. The British 'B' Film. Palgrave MacMillan, 2009.
External links
- {{IMDb title|0043301}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20201201032825/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b69a3bb74 Assassin for Hire] at BFI
{{Michael McCarthy}}
Category:Films directed by Michael McCarthy
Category:1950s English-language films