Blast of Silence

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Allen Baron directs. Merrill S. Brody behind the camera. Meyer Kupferman scores. Merrill S. Brody cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Tight 77-minute runtime — shorter than most television pilots.
• 2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 365 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 4Directed by Allen Baron, shot by Merrill S. Brody. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Original score by Meyer Kupferman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 6Editor Merrill S. Brody shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 7Allen Baron and Molly McCarthy and Larry Tucker carry the top of the cast.
• 8Marketing tagline: "An unforgettable experience in suspense! ... as seconds tick off a timetable ... for murder!".
• 9IMDB entry: tt0054687 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography

Merrill S. Brody

Original score

Meyer Kupferman

Editing

Merrill S. Brody

Sound

Al Gramaglia

Runtime

77 min · 1h 17m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$65,000

Original language

EN

IMDB

Blast of Silence (1961) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

83% 🍅 Fresh

Metacritic

75/100

IMDB rating

7.4/10 · 6,486 votes

MPAA

Approved

Also by

Allen Baron

• 
  Switch

  1975 · ★ 9.0
• 
  Mister Roberts

  1965 · ★ 8.3
• 
  Automan

  1983 · ★ 7.8
• 
  Kolchak: The Night Stalker

  1974 · ★ 7.7
• 
  Temperatures Rising

  1972 · ★ 7.5
• 
  The Immortal

  1970 · ★ 7.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  Blast of Silence (1961) Trailer

  Trailer
• 

  ▶
  Joe Dante on BLAST OF SILENCE

  Featurette

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2013-12-02
  ★ 9.5/10

  The Hate of Harlem. Blast of Silence is written and directed by Allen Baron, he also stars along with Molly McCarthy, Larry Tucker and Peter Clume. Music is by Meyer Kupferman and cinematography by Merrill Brody. It’s Christmas week and hit man Frankie Bono (Baron) blows into New York City from Cleveland to take out a mobster who has gotten above his station. Casing locales and plotting his course of action, Frankie is shaken out of his dead cold approach to his work by a couple of faces from his past… Blast of Silence beats a black heart, stripped down to the basics it’s a film about one man who hasn’t known what it is like to be human. Frankie Bono is case study of self-loathing, of how to hate everything around him, his biggest crime may not actually be the hits he carries out with cold blooded efficiency, but that of being born in the first place. But now Frankie, in all his miserable glory, has strolled into the Big Apple and hitched a ride to noirville, and those well balanced ice chips on his shoulders are starting to melt. The air is pungent, reeking of fatalism, pessimism and of course nihilism. New York City is a place of towering construction wonders, we can see that, but Baron and Brody film it as a foreboding entity, with a cold grey veneer befitting our hit man rattled out of his cemented equilibrium. The constant gravel voiced narration by Lionel Stander is in the second person, it’s also in Frankie’s head, mocking him, reminding him of failures and pitfalls, of impending misery. While over the top is Kupferman’s jazzy score, where at times it’s like a panzer attack (that ferocious double bass is just magnificent), at others a melancholic lament to a life never lived. The low budget and use of every day Joe actors helps keep the film grounded, which is just perfect for the tale. There’s no need for histrionics or visual tricks here, Baron and Brody use the naturalism of the actors and the city surrounds to great effect, covering proceedings in a semi-documentary style. Blast of Silence is a hard picture, it isn’t trying to cheer you up, this is not a Christmas movie for annual pleasures. From the super opening of a speeding train birthing out of a tunnel, to the bleak finale, it’s a film noir movie of considerable class. Don’t let anyone tell you film noir ended in 1958… 9/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• MA

  Magla Productions

Key crew

• SoundLee Bost
• Sound Re-Recording MixerAl Gramaglia
• Sound EditorJohn Strauss
• Camera OperatorErich Kollmar
• Story ConsultantWill Sparks
• ProducerMerrill S. Brody
• EditorMerrill S. Brody
• EditorPeggy Lawson
• Art DirectionCharles Rosen
• Production ManagerJoel Mandel
• Assistant DirectorCarole Brody Sheppard
• Assistant CameraJack Schatz
• Title DesignerSherman Labby
• ConductorMeyer Kupferman
• Production AssistantElias Jacob

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• new york city
• hitman
• film noir
• murder
• christmas

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical (limited)1961-03-20· New York City, New York
• Theatrical1961-03-31

Also known as

International titles

• El verdugo condenadoMX
• Explosão do SilencioBR