Hard Contract

Hard Contract
Hard Contract
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	S. Lee Pogostin
Written by	S. Lee Pogostin
Produced by	Marvin Schwartz
Starring	James Coburn; Lee Remick
Cinematography	Jack Hildyard
Edited by	Harry W. Gerstad
Music by	Alex North
Production; company	20th Century Fox
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	April 30, 1969;
Running time	106 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4,070,000
Box office	$1,750,000 (US/ Canada rentals)

Hard Contract is a 1969 American drama mystery film written and directed by S. Lee Pogostin and starring James Coburn and Lee Remick. It premiered on April 30, 1969 in Panavision.

Plot

CIA assassin John Cunningham, a cold-blooded killer with nerves of steel and no conscience, kills a man on election day, votes in the local election and spends the rest of the afternoon with Ellen, a prostitute. The next day, Cunningham goes to see James Ramsey, his mobilizer, a CIA man whose cover is a job as a college physics professor.

Ramsey offers one final, lucrative job, or "hard contract" as he calls it, that can allow Cunningham to retire from the business for good. This consists of three hits, two in Spain and Belgium, with the last victim to be revealed after the first two are dispatched.

On his way to Spain to make the first hit, Cunningham meets two women in Tangier who will change his life: American tourist and jet setter Sheila Metcalfe, and her naive but good-hearted friend, socialite Adrianne.

He does kill the first two victims, but later, as remorse slowly takes hold over him, Cunningham can't bring himself to knock off his third target, former top CIA hit-man Michael Carson. A more vicious and effective hit-man in his day than Cunningham is now, Carson has become so passive, he wouldn't even defend himself.

Ramsey flies to Spain to persuade Cunningham to complete the job, and promises Cunningham that if he does not do so, he will himself be killed, and so will Sheila. Cunningham drives Ramsey, Sheila, Carson, and everyone else who knows about him back down a mountain, and is close to deliberately causing a car crash that would free him for all time, only to relent at the last moment, telling a confused Ramsey afterwards that murder is obsolete. Ramsey is then romanced by Adrianne, much to his bemusement, and it's unclear if he has also weakened in his resolve.

The ending is enigmatic, with Cunningham and Sheila running off together and beginning to make love, as Cunningham tells her that the worst deeds can be done for the best motives. The final image of them narrows to a circle around their heads, reminiscent of the image one would see in a rifle scope.

Cast

James Coburn as John Cunningham
Lee Remick as Sheila Metcalfe
Lilli Palmer as Adrianne
Burgess Meredith as Ramsey Williams
Patrick Magee as Alexi
Sterling Hayden as Michael Carlson
Claude Dauphin as Maurice
Helen Cherry as Evelyn Carlson
Karen Black as Ellen
Sabine Sun as Belgian Prostitute
Jo Nupie as Flemish lady
Miquel Bordoy
Gerda Marchand
Vic Moeremans

Production

Pogostin was an award-winning TV writer and director, who had written some features including Pressure Point.^[4] Producer Marvin Swartz approached him to see if he was interested in adaptating a story for the screen. Pogostin instead pitched an original story of his, Hard Contract, and Schwarz was enthusiastic. Pogostin insisted on directing. Schwartz financed the writing of the script over 15 months.^[5]

Filming began in May 1968. The film was shot in Spain, Belgium and Tangier.^[6] "It's an allegory," said Coburn. "It's a very violent film, but the violence is of the mind."^[7]

Reception

Critical

Variety said it was a "skillfully-mounted film" and "most audiences should buy it to the profit of 20th and the exhibs."^[8]

Harlan Ellison declared the film was "that incredible rarity, a film of entertainment that comes to grips with secondand third-level philosophical concepts. A film of meaning."^[9]

Sight and Sound called it a "slightly pretentious oddity of a metaphysical thriller" with "limping direction, but a script which lakes its attractive cast out on some rather intriguing limbs."^[10] A later review in the same magazine from Tim Lucas said, "Lurking behind its John Woo-like title is a movie that lures people in with the promise of an action thriller but then presents them with a heady talk-fest about love, morality and commitment. It may be the artiest picture produced by a major US studio up to that time."^[6]

Sam Peckinpah, who at one stage was going to form a company with Pogostin, said of Hard Contract, "I read the script and I saw the film. I think he’s a very talented writer. But he doesn’t understand making films."^[11]

Box office

According to Fox records the film required $7,200,000 in rentals to break even and by December 11, 1970, it had made $3,200,000, making it a loss for the studio.^[12]

Subsequent release

Hard Contract was first broadcast on television by ABC in 1974. It was released on VHS by 20th Century Fox in 1982 in the UK and by Fox Video in 1996 in the United States.

Ster-Kinekor Video and CBS/Fox Video released the film with 20th Century Fox, which was released on VHS in 1990 in South Africa.

References

^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p255
^ Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p231
^ "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, 7 January 1970 p 15
^ "Emmy-Nominated Writer-Director S. Lee Pogostin Dies at 86". Variety. 12 March 2014.
^ Champlin, Charles (Apr 15, 1969). "Director and Producer Do the Possible". Los Angeles Times. p. h1.
^ ^a ^b Lucas, Tim (February 2017). "Hard Contract". Sight and Sound. p. 102.
^ Haber, Joyce (6 October 1968). "Coburn:Apostle of script selection". The Los Angeles Times. p. 10.
^ "Hard Contract". Variety film reviews 1968-1970. Vol.12. 8 April 1969.
^ Ellison, Harlan (1989). Harlan Ellison's Watching. p. 63.
^ "Film guide". Sight and Sound. January 1970. p. 56.
^ Peckinpah, Sam (2008). Sam Peckinpah : interviews. p. 150.
^ Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 328. ISBN 9780818404856.

External links

Hard Contract at IMDb
Hard Contract at AllMovie
Hard Contract at the TCM Movie Database
Hard Contract at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
Hard Contract at Letterbox DVD
Hard Contract at BFI

[1] Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p255

[2] Solomon, Aubrey. Twentieth Century Fox: A Corporate and Financial History (The Scarecrow Filmmakers Series). Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8108-4244-1. p231

[3] "Big Rental Films of 1969", Variety, 7 January 1970 p 15

[4] "Emmy-Nominated Writer-Director S. Lee Pogostin Dies at 86". Variety. 12 March 2014.

[5] Champlin, Charles (Apr 15, 1969). "Director and Producer Do the Possible". Los Angeles Times. p. h1.

[tim-6] Lucas, Tim (February 2017). "Hard Contract". Sight and Sound. p. 102.

[7] Haber, Joyce (6 October 1968). "Coburn:Apostle of script selection". The Los Angeles Times. p. 10.

[8] "Hard Contract". Variety film reviews 1968-1970. Vol.12. 8 April 1969.

[9] Ellison, Harlan (1989). Harlan Ellison's Watching. p. 63.

[10] "Film guide". Sight and Sound. January 1970. p. 56.

[11] Peckinpah, Sam (2008). Sam Peckinpah : interviews. p. 150.

[12] Silverman, Stephen M (1988). The Fox that got away : the last days of the Zanuck dynasty at Twentieth Century-Fox. L. Stuart. p. 328. ISBN 9780818404856.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]