"blast of silence" just got issued on DVD...
ii saw it about 10 years about at a film noir festival and it really stuck w/ me...
first, because it was made 1961, it's WAY past my film noir cut-off (i cannot stand Kiss Me Deadly because it is SOOOOOOOOOO 50's and bourgeoise...), yet is it so fucking dark and urban. It is all filmed in NYC right when urban decay was beginning...
second, because it was so obviously the work of one man... Alllen Baron wrote it, directed it, and starred in it; total indie film thing...
third, becuase it seemed very influenced by the French new wave (particluarly Goddard's Breathless), which is funny as the French new wave was very influenced by American film noir!
But, the idea of a film about a criminal, complete with a low key "boring" middle section involving romance and woman and the dialogue therein is exactly out of Breathless... Shit, but not to give the movie away, but it even ends like Breathless... remove the French post-modernism and STYLE and add pure NYC dirt.grit.and.blood. and you get BLAST OF SILENCE.
i am curious as if he was familiar with Cassavete's "Shadows", as they have alot in common. Now, don't get it twisted, one is a Hollywood gangster pic and one is a underground sketch, but they have alot MORE in common with each other than they do with any other movies that came out between 59-61...