If you’re fortunate to be in a location where Richard Linklater’s Hit Man is playing in a movie theater I highly suggest you make the effort! Considering the outcry about the dying box office and what can entice people to make the pilgrimage to a local theater, Hit Man is a movie worth supporting on the biggest screen possible. I absolutely adored the Glen Powell-starring story when I saw it last month and will be watching it again however I have to.
The film, about a mild-mannered guy who moonlights as a fake hit man to capture people for the police is funny and incredibly sexy. And the latter part I’m definitely happy to see considering how often I wrote last year about the lack of sex in movies. (No, Challengers does not count as another example of this and I won’t be taking questions as to why.) But, more importantly for the purposes of this week’s write-up, Hit Man is also a great gateway movie to watching some great Old Hollywood films.
During a Q&A for the movie I saw in April, Powell talked about how he and Linklater watched old movies and took inspiration from them for the script. One of their inspirations made my list below. But I also wanted to give a few other classic films worth seeking out that I think the movie also drew some unintentional inspo from. So this weekend your to-do list should be: watch Hit Man in a theater and then watch these movies. You’ll thank me later.
It Happened One Night (1934)
Powell has talked about the film borrowing heavily from the screwball genre which, bold claim. But, to watch the movie you can definitely see the commonalities. Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night tells the story of a reporter (played by Clark Gable) who teams up with a daffy heiress (Claudette Colbert) fleeing from her father and the press.
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The screwball genre is often designed to put a wealthy woman opposite a salt of the Earth man and that’s certainly the case with Hit Man regarding Powell’s Gary Johnson and Adria Arjona’s Maddy. There’s also a hilarious sequence between Powell and Arjona wherein she has to act like she’s mad at him during a phone call while he, silently, stage manages directions. It’s very reminiscent of a scene between Gable and Colbert where the two have to feign an argument as if they are a married couple.
The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
I actually told Powell to his face this 1938 screwball mystery was what I saw when I watched this movie. So if he ever name drops it, I suggested it! Barbara Stanwyck plays socialite Melsa Manton who discovers a dead body only to have it disappear. Labeled a prankster Melsa sets out to prove everyone wrong with the help of a cynical newspaper reporter played by Henry Fonda.
I tweeted after I saw Hit Man that it made me wish Fonda and Stanwyck made it back in this time period. Powell definitely gives off Fonda vibes — both of them have that “aw, shucks” personality that belies a hidden darkness underneath — while Arjona can play the sweet young woman while also being a tough as nails dame, like Stanwyck. Also, both movies are funny as hell.
Double Indemnity (1944)
It’s a very basic choice but it’s easy to suss out why Powell and Linklater have cited Billy Wilder’s Double Indemnity as an influence on this. Both films focus on an illicit couple trying to deal with the husband of the lady in question. In this case, Arjona’s Maddy is trying to exit her relationship with her husband and a whole list of complications ensue. I’ve already mentioned why Arjona gives off Stanwyck vibes but I can also see the Fred MacMurray influences in Powell’s performance, specifically the cool confidence he gives off when he’s playing the hit man character. If you’re gonna steal, steal from the best!
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
It’s kind of funny that Glen Powell himself is supposedly making some kind of remake of this 1949 Ealing studios dark comedy. Alec Guinness stars as a member of a wealthy, titled family who, in order to claim the inheritance, kills off all the family members ahead of him in the succession. Oh, and Guinness plays every single character. Hit Man has a similar dark comedy vibe but, honestly, it’s just hilarious watching Powell play multiple takes on the hit man, all catering to the specific clients he’s interacting with. Very reminiscent of Guinness.
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Foul Play (1978)
We got from classic era screwball comedy to a more contemporary look at the genre (and murder mysteries) with Fair Play. Like Arjona’s character, Goldie Hawn plays a woman stalked and set upon, forcing her to rely on an unconventional cop (Chevy Chase) to save the day. Like Hit Man, the two leads here are just so charming — which could be proof that Chase is a good actor because…wow, who’d believe now he’s a nice guy — that you want them to succeed and elude the baddies.
What classic film influences did you get after watching Hit Man? The film hits Netflix June 7.
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