Portrait of a Hitman

The first time I watched this I could have sworn it caused me pain, but the second time I watched it (years later) I didn't find it to be too bad...not great mind you...but not awful.

Jack Palance (It can Be Done Amigo) is JimBuck, painter and hit-man and supreme mumbler who can't do a hit because it's on the head of his mate Bo Svenson (Snowbeast), a brilliant neurosurgeon who's about to operate on a guy who's going to rat on the mob. JimBuck can't go through with it, which enrages Rod Steiger (Duck you sucka), who is also Palance's friend. Can Jack put everything right and get out of the mob? Or will Richard Roundtree get 'his arse' as he says in his African accent.

There's much navel gazing in this film and not much action. You'd be surprised to know that Rod Steiger does some shouting. I did kind of dig it up to a point but was supremely confused by the ending (what happened to Richard Roundtree?). Palance does get into a few gunfights but you'll have to be pretty tolerant of low budget films to enjoy this. Like me- I'll watch any crap these days. Palance does kill an awful lot of black guys, which is a bit alarming.

To sum up - I had this film in my collection for years before I watched it. That should give you an indication of what to expect.

What in the world were Jack Palance and Rod Steiger thinking about when they agreed to appear in this film? It is so poorly written and the characters so shallow as to be beyond belief. It reminds me of the really trashy porn movies of the early 70's where plot and character development didn't feature, just the naked flesh. There is no porn here just the lack of plot and every other item that makes for an interesting and enjoyable film. The lack of realism is also evident and all concerned appear to be 'going through the motions' as if paying back some obligation . My vote is 1/10. why oh why did you do it Jack? you can't have been that hard up.

This movie sounded to me exciting because I like films about hitman and stuff like this. But his film has a boring story and I only watched it half before I fell asleep

I just bought this film on DVD for $5 from a disposal bin. Why? to be honest, I wanted to see if Jack could act.

I found out he can! This film is another in a stream of 1970's examples of a great script and (some) excellent acting ruined by disappointing cinematography.

Very little imagination appears to have been used in the design of shots and locations, which is a odds with the good choice of atmospheric. It's as if a minimalistic lip-service has been paid to realising the vision of the screenplay.

Was this budget related? It was right in the middle of a massive move to TV production by a lot of the big money Hollywood players.

Personally, I'd like to see this film remade with a better crew and budget - the script deserves another chance ... maybe Jack does to!

I remember seeing the full 1 hour 26 minute version of this late 1970s crime movie on VHS. It held together ok and although not able to stand up against the truly magnificent films of this genre, it was watchable.

My low score however, is for the 2002 "Hollywood DVD" release. Its transfer looks terrible and its missing 16 minutes, clocking in at only 71 minutes duration.

Not only is it missing key scenes, but the edit is totally different than the VHS version.

If you have a VHS player and can find a VHS version cheaply then 'Portrait of A Hitman' is worth seeing but don't buy the 2002 dvd version distributed by 'Hollywood DVD', that company was operating at a low budget level and obviously couldn't afford to perform a proper restoration of this movie

Maybe in time, 'Vinegar Syndrome' or 'Arrow' may release a Blu Ray version given its cast boasts Rod Steiger, and Jack Palace. If not, don't waste your money on the butchered 2002 release.