Assassin for Hire

Assassin for Hire is a 1951 British crime film directed by Michael McCarthy and starring Sydney Tafler, Ronald Howard and Katharine Blake. Its plot follows a contract killer who becomes stricken with remorse when he is led to believe he has murdered his brother.

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Plot
Cast
Production
References

Plot

Antonio Riccardi, a young British criminal of Italian heritage, works as a professional contract killer in order to pay for his gifted younger brother's violin lessons so that he can escape from a life of poverty and crime. A series of mistakes lead him to wrongly believe he has killed his brother, and he confesses his crimes to the police.

Cast

Sydney Tafler – Antonio Riccardi

Ronald Howard – Detective Inspector Carson

Katharine Blake – Maria Riccardi

John Hewer – Giuseppe Riccardi

June Rodney – Helen Garrett

Gerald Case – Detective Sergeant Stott

Reginald Dyson – Josef Meyerling

Sam Kydd – Bert

Ian Wallace – Charlie

Martin Benson – Catesby

Ewen Solon – Fred

Production

It was the first feature film made by Anglo-Amalgamated. It was made at Merton Park Studios from a screenplay by Rex Rienits.

Rienits based on the script on a television film Assassin for Hire which was screened by the BBC in September 1950. This in turn was based on a radio play. Rienits later turned the story into a novel.

It was intended as a supporting feature, although it may have been shown as a headline feature in some cinemas.