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Hard Contract

Play trailer Poster for Hard Contract PG 1969 1h 46m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 3 Reviews 36% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
John Cunningham (James Coburn), a remorseless contract assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency, is offered a high-ticket job by his superior, Ramsey (Burgess Meredith), one that will pay Cunningham enough to retire if he wishes. En route to Europe to complete the assignment, Cunningham falls for Sheila (Lee Remick), a well-heeled American traveling with the devious German Alexi (Patrick Magee) and the sweet-natured Adrianne (Lilli Palmer), and questions his own morality.

Critics Reviews

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Joseph Gelmis Newsday Writer-director S. Lee Pogostin has courageously tried to avoid pandering to the violence he is repudiating by not showing it on the screen. Unfortunately, the long speeches he substitutes are simply dull. Mar 10, 2022 Full Review Harlan Ellison Los Angeles Free Press S. Lee Pogostin, the creator of a new film titled Hard Contract, is indeed not only a genuine genius, but a cinematic emotion-wringer of the first order. Jan 23, 2020 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews James Coburn is too stiff for the part of the hit man. Rated: C- Sep 23, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member good but very familiar Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Very good film, hasn't dated. Wonderful ensemble cast, nice European locations. Lee Remick at her most beautiful. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/10/23 Full Review Audience Member my all time fave coburn movie. iceman meets his match... Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Like a black-hearted "The Sun also Rises", a hit man comes to Spain to assassinate a brace of targets, but instead, this edgy hitman Coburn discovers love. This is so crazily philosophical that you need to stick your finger down your throat, it has the 60s flower philosophy that Love could bring an end to all murder. But, look at it another way, maybe Coburn's no murderer at all and the man ordering him to kill just a figment of his imagination, that id inside us demanding the worst in our psyches. So too, then Sterling Hayden, in a old man speaking slow role (could his crazy "Old Man and the Sea" speak have been written for any other), the recovering sinner, is the voice of another morality. And then this is a movie about a normal man, with a dark suspicious heart, challenged by his budding relationship to find a peace with the world. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Hard Contract

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Cast & Crew

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S. Lee Pogostin

Director

James Coburn

John Cunningham

Lee Remick

Sheila Metcalfe

Lilli Palmer

Adrianne

Burgess Meredith

Ramsey Williams

Patrick Magee

Alexi
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Hard Contract

Hard Contract (1969) Hard Contract (1969) Hard Contract (1969) Hard Contract (1969) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis John Cunningham (James Coburn), a remorseless contract assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency, is offered a high-ticket job by his superior, Ramsey (Burgess Meredith), one that will pay Cunningham enough to retire if he wishes. En route to Europe to complete the assignment, Cunningham falls for Sheila (Lee Remick), a well-heeled American traveling with the devious German Alexi (Patrick Magee) and the sweet-natured Adrianne (Lilli Palmer), and questions his own morality.
Director
S. Lee Pogostin
Producer
Marvin Schwarz
Screenwriter
S. Lee Pogostin
Production Co
Twentieth Century Fox
Rating
PG
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Runtime
1h 46m