Oh, what Hitchcock could have done with this story and a bigger budget! Dix plays a man depressed and ridden with guilt over his wife's death. He decides to put a contract out on himself. He gives $10,000 to shady character who in turn hires the killer (Naish). Dix doesn't know who the killer is, what he looks, or whether it is a man or woman.
The shady character dies in a shootout with the police shortly after hiring the killer, so when Dix changes his mind and decides he wants to live, he has no way of canceling the contract.
There are some amusing twists in this fast paced noir which Hitchcock would have enjoyed. The best one is when the killer (well-played by Naish) poses as a fast-talking insurance salesman and tries to sell the man he plans to kill some life insurance! Also, as in Hitchcock movies, there is a ying-yang relationship between hero and killer. Hero initially wants to die, killer is morbidly afraid of death.
The seamy low-life characters that Dix encounters are very well-played by obscure character actors.
The whole thing is beautifully photographed in typical doom-noir style.
The plot is very similar to 1971's "The Face of Fear" where a young woman who thinks she's dying of leukemia, hires a mob killer to eliminate her, then changes her mind.
The shady character dies in a shootout with the police shortly after hiring the killer, so when Dix changes his mind and decides he wants to live, he has no way of canceling the contract.
There are some amusing twists in this fast paced noir which Hitchcock would have enjoyed. The best one is when the killer (well-played by Naish) poses as a fast-talking insurance salesman and tries to sell the man he plans to kill some life insurance! Also, as in Hitchcock movies, there is a ying-yang relationship between hero and killer. Hero initially wants to die, killer is morbidly afraid of death.
The seamy low-life characters that Dix encounters are very well-played by obscure character actors.
The whole thing is beautifully photographed in typical doom-noir style.
The plot is very similar to 1971's "The Face of Fear" where a young woman who thinks she's dying of leukemia, hires a mob killer to eliminate her, then changes her mind.