Swift, brutal, and black-hearted, Allen Baron’s masterful and underseen New York City noir, Blast of Silence, is a sensational surprise. This low-budget, carefully crafted portrait of a hitman on assignment in Manhattan during Christmastime follows its stripped-down narrative with mechanical precision, yet also with an eye and ear for the oddball idiosyncrasies of urban living and the imposing beauty of the city. Baron himself plays Frank Bono, a hired gun from Cleveland sent to knock off a mid-level mob boss, but his mission takes a detour when an old flame and a seedy arms dealer get in his way. An early example of independent American filmmaking—and containing some gorgeous on-location photography of New York City, artfully composed and featuring rough, poetic narration performed by an uncredited Lionel Stander (Cul-De-Sac)—Blast of Silence is a stylish triumph.

This screening is being presented in 35mm courtesy of Universal Pictures.