Oscar as an Assassin!

I wouldn’t normally comment on something this obscure, but Hail Mafia! (despite its rather cringe-inducing title) is a really terrific mid-sixties Euro-crime flick that warrants a viewing. It’s not released on legit video or DVD and the Black Vault copy is mediocre at best, but it’s worth a little patience. The director/writer/producer/gaffer/sandwich maker is a guy named Raoul Levy (who offed himself on New Year's Eve 1966, the year of this film’s release). Too bad.

The plot has two hitmen (Henry Silva and JACK KLUGMAN!) flying off to France to waste Eddie Constantine, who is a potential witness in a Senate Investigation into a “construction” company back in the U.S. The weird, static B&W cinematography is coupled with one of the great, unknown jazz scores of any film I’ve ever seen, including Louis Malles’ great Elevator to the Gallows (Miles Davis’s great score).

This is an existential mini-masterpiece about the relationship between two hitmen that begs an audience. Right up your alley, Joe and maybe Kris/Shaun too. I’ll bring it in.

Hail Mafia!