Blast of Silence
Blast of Silence
| 31 March 1961 (USA)
Blast of Silence Trailers

A hired killer from Cleveland has a job to do on a second-string mob boss in New York. But a special girl from his past, and a fat gun dealer with pet rats, each gets in his way.

Reviews
Lovesusti

The Worst Film Ever

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Curapedi

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

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Salubfoto

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

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Mandeep Tyson

The acting in this movie is really good.

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jellopuke

Dark, and to the point with little fat and a tremendous second person narration, this lean story never lets up and showcases some lost locations and streetscapes. not a lot to it, but what's there is great stuff.

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PimpinAinttEasy

Dear Allen Baron,your film could have been named "The Portrait of the Assassin as a Reluctant Square". The beginning in the railway tunnel with the baby crying and the slap - it was almost like the emergence of some sort of childhood consciousness (I wonder if the beginning influenced one of the songs by the heavy metal band Tool). But then we see the adult walk out of the train. Almost as if you're saying that innocence does not last for long. The extremely cynical narrator adds to the air of decay and loneliness. The narrator is pretty sensational. He hits you on the head with the situation of the assassin. He is almost like the main character's patron. It is almost like he is talking to the assassin and not narrating a story (like in The Big Lebowski) Egging him along towards his inevitable destruction.I guess a young Martin Scorsese was watching this. All those scenes with Baby Boy Frankie Bono walking around the city all alone, the brightly lit Christmasy areas and the run down sleazy locations must have inspired his visual style. There is even a long sequence where Franky Bono works with a gun and even points it at the screen.Anyway, I liked the portrayal of Bono the assassin as a normal guy who longs for the regular life.The actors are not fantastic or anything. And there were instances when you went over the top with the music. I was wondering why it was called Blast of Silence. I mean, it was a pretty noisy film.I enjoyed it. It is definitely a very influential film. And very entertaining as well.Best Regards, Pimpin.(8/10)

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kenjha

A hit man comes to New York for an assignment. This was the film debut for director, writer, and star Baron, who looks like a cross between Robert De Niro and George C. Scott. Some inexplicably compared this debut to Orson Welles and "Citizen Kane." Baron proves a failure in all three roles. The script is dull, the acting is amateurish, the direction is incompetent, and the cinematography is drab. There are too many shots of Baron walking from one place to another. What silence? The film starts with Lionel Stander, in his signature gravelly voice, providing the narration, and he hardly ever stops blabbering. He is so annoying that one wishes the hit man would take him out.

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fredmelden-1

I find it hard to believe that this was seriously considered at Cannes in 1961, and praised at the Munich Festival in 1987. Let me list a few of its flaws, and giving a wide allowance for the fact that it was an independent film. First, the quality of the video is poor; for an indie, that's probably expectable. Second, the music is heavy and awful - probably cliché even for 1961. Further, the music often adds nothing to a scene, and frequently feels totally out of pace with it. For example, why would it have the kind of music it uses to accompany the stalking of the victim? Third, The walking scenes are far too long, especially those where no stalking is occurring. We see Bono just walking and walking and... We see this at night and in the daytime, and frankly, posing the 'city as a character' doesn't justify it. The director/writer takes no pains to actually explore the city AS a character; he merely displays it, and that is something quite different. Fourth, this is heavily narrated. Narration is normally considered a weakness, a crutch used when the action and dialog do not do their job of fully conveying the what and why of the story - a perfect description in this case. Fifth, the actor displays almost no emotion. Of course, one could say this is congruent with the character - a hit man. However, the narration establishes the 'fact' that Bono gets himself worked up into a hate for his victim. If that's his M.O., it should show on the screen. It absolutely does not, but his bad acting does. Sixth, he fights Big Ralph in an apartment, and in the process pretty much tears the place up. Surprisingly, no neighbors come out to see what's happening. It may be a minor point, but there are several such that destroy the film's credibility. Seventh, so does the silencer. He fires the gun and it makes a fairly loud sound, despite the silencer. Eighth, (going back to Ralph), it's unlikely he would threaten to rat on - of all people - a hit man! 'If I hear he dies, I'll know you killed him, and I'll tell on you, unless you pay me.' Uh, huh. Ninth, the contractor gives Bono half the money and promises the rest later. You don't have to be a mafioso to know it's never done that way. I don't know that it was EVER done that way, but certainly not in 1961. Just a plot device? Maybe, but a pretty weak one. Tenth, the movie is a short hour-and-a-quarter. Perhaps I should consider this a plus! I could go on, but I'm tired of writing, and these cover the main problems. Even allowing for the low budget, this is a poor film. Hearing that he was considered back then a new-generation Orson Welles is ridiculous. Welles might have considered Baron as a gaffer, but little more. As a TV director or producer, he may have been adequate, but not as a movie director or screenwriter.

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