This Gun for Hire

source: This Gun for Hire

Grahame Greene's novel "A Gun For Sale" is brought to excellent life in this 1942 early film noir. This was Alan Ladd's breakthrough performance, and although he is billed under the title with introducing credits, he had made many films prior to this, often in small, unrewarding roles, sometimes uncredited. His Philip Raven is cold-blooded, ruthless, but vulnerable, his abusive past always foremost in his mind, although he shows a soft spot for cats, children, and Veronica Lake. In their first pairing, Ladd and Lake show the electric intensity that made them a great screen pair of the 1940s. Both were petite, blond, with cool acting styles that belied their sometimes sensitive natures, no matter what kind of a tough front they presented. Lake's character, Ellen Grahame, is a nightclub performer (her vocals were dubbed by Martha Mears), who finds herself drawn into spying on her rather suspicious boss. Laird Cregar is the almost sympathetic villain, Gates, who burned Raven and in doing so, has signed his own death warrant. Robert Preston portrays Ellen's fiancée, Lt. Michael Craven, who is determined to capture Raven. When Ellen unwittingly finds herself alongside Phillip on a train, she ends up in on his "job" and, later in the proceedings, as his 'hostage'. They soon form a rather tentative bond as Raven relates his horrendous childhood beatings at the hand of a nasty relative. She reaches out to him, and although he rejects her comfort (he thinks she's trying to make him "go soft"), he agrees to help her get Gates to reveal his dastardly plans for America involving bombs (this was during WW2, after all). There is an almost misty eyed longing in their faces, sensing that maybe, if in another time or another place, things might have been different. A touching moment when Raven rests his head on Lake's shoulder on the train, his telltale deformed wrist exposed. There can be no good ending for this killer, for he is a bad guy. But after pulling off what he was so set on doing, he also has redeemed himself through his friendship with Ellen. "Did I do okay for you?" Phillip asks her with his dying breath, to which she responds with a compassionate smile and nod. A tiny grin briefly crosses his face before he closes his eyes. Ellen embraces Michael, uttering the somewhat inane phrase, "Oh, Michael, my darling, hold me." Fade out to final credits. The other films Ladd and Lake made together are becoming increasingly hard to find; there really ought to be a DVD box set. The DVD looks very good; however, there are no extras included, not even the original theatrical trailer. But even without the special features, it's worth having in your collection, especially if you are a fan of Alan and Veronica or film noir.

A strange film for 1942 relative to the war effort. World War Two called for total mobilization from all quarters to confront and challenge the Axis powers, yet somewhat justifying multiple murders by a hired killer makes for extreme patriotism. The image of a murderer with a patriotic heart seems too illogical to approach probability, and the explanation for his motives are even less plausible. The best acting is done by Veronica Lake, if in a somewhat less than demanding role. Fans of Lake, Alan Ladd and Robert Preston will find this film mildly interesting. Look for Yvonne DeCarlo as a showgirl. Like so many films produced early in World War Two, there seems to be some confusion as to what type of treatment war topics should be given. At a time when the Allies were suffering one setback after another, perhaps there was little value in reminding audiences about current events.

This Gun for Hire has an uncommon richness of details for a film noir and a terrific supporting cast. There are as many small original ideas and nuances as in an early Hitchcock movie. This Gun for Hire is impregnated with a kind of elegant sarcasm that later got lost as the noir genre became more and more minimalistic. Many scenes dug themselves deep into my memory (this is what makes watching movies so fascinating). It starts with Raven, the frail, insecure bad guy played by Alan Ladd, caring for a cat in his boarding house while someone plays harshly on a badly tuned piano somewhere in the vicinity. Another beautiful scene: That Raven is not the hard boiled character he yearns to be is underlined by his meeting a crippled girl on the stairs that lead to the man he is to murder. On the way back after the job, the girl stops him and asks him to retrieve a ball she had let fall and cannot reach because of her impediment. First Raven wants to kill her because she is a witness. He reaches for his gun, then he hesitates and finally decides to pick up the ball, hands it over to the girl and leaves hastily. The well acted and filmed encounter does not take more than ten seconds, but it is deeply moving. Veronica Lake sings! Apparently it was an item that her kind of character was required to deliver in a movie like this. Her curious "Hocuspocus" song, sung during an audition for a job as a conjurer, is a sheer delight! I know the refrain by heart and could recommend the film for this song alone. Never, ever have I seen someone sing with such a bored deadpan-attitude – it's fantastic! Lake is doing little conjuring tricks all along – the song's lyrics are actually commenting those tricks. And just listen to the quirky warbling of the accompanying orchestra! Laird Cregar and Marc Lawrence constitute a memorable team as Willard Gates, the man who had framed Raven, and his chauffeur and sidekick Tommy. Willard Gates is afraid of Raven to the point of hysteria, Tommy likes nothing better than seeing his arrogant boss scared. The strange relationship between the two persists to the climactic ending during a gas-attack exercise. How Tommy happily gloats after having scared his boss by entering his office with a gas mask is a sight to behold. It is a fine example about how "Schadenfreude" can soothe a hurt self! Also notable is the character of the big schemer behind it all, a grizzled paralyzed tycoon who does not give up to the very end, trying to shoot Raven with a gun disguised as a pen. Finally he gets a heart seizure and, as his last act among the living, catapults a glass of milk from the tray fixed to his wheelchair. Frank Tuttle belongs to Hollywood‘s lesser known directors. This film shows he could do a very good job. He added suspenseful action parts shot on location to his films; in This Gun for Hire, there are good shots of a railroad yard and of Raven fleeing over a long narrow footbridge across the tracks.

This Gun for Hire is a crime thriller with shades of film noir thrown in. The film stars Alan Ladd as a cold-blooded killer. His portrayal of Raven is the definition of anti hero. He kills without any remorse. In fact, he usually has to think of a good reason not to kill people. This is demonstrated at the beginning of the movie when he's spotted leaving a murder by a crippled little girl. He reaches for his gun then decides better of it. That same thinking, later in the film, saves Ellen Graham (played by Victoria Lake sporting beautiful long blonde hair - mimicked by Kim Basinger in L.A. Confidential). Lake has two musical numbers. She does them while performing magic tricks! They're cheesy, but I watched them in slow motion so I could catch the slight of hand. The songs are supposed to make her into an unattainable sex goddess (like "Put the Blame on Mame" did for Rita Hayworth in Gilda.) It doesn't. The supporting cast is excellent. The heavy (literally and figuratively) Laird Cregar has a lot of fun trying to seduce Lake and at the same time running scared of Ladd. Marc Lawrence as his chauffeur/thug is particularly slimy. He likes to torment his boss by explaining the dirty details of his work. His part reminded me of his uncredited role years later in Diamonds Are Forever. A good double feature would be this and L.A. Confidential (TGFH is seen on TV in the film.) Remember the lines between Basinger and Crowe? LYNN BRACKEN: You're the first man in five years who didn't tell me I look like Veronica Lake inside of a minute. BUD WHITE: You look better than Veronica Lake.

Imagine Rita Hayworth in "Gilda," slinking around in that black satin dress, huskily singing "Put the Blame on Me." Now think of Veronica Lake in "This Gun for Hire" performing sub-standard nightclub songs while doing magic tricks. That ought to give you some idea of how and why "This Gun for Hire" doesn't measure up with better film noirs. Lake is great to look at of course, and she her acting is just fine, but you can't help feeling she's being wasted here. The movie has some interesting moments. I liked the opening with Ladd preparing himself for a "job" and then executing a blackmailer. The creepy, millionaire villain hiding in his mausoleum of an office, munching on cookies while selling America's war secrets to the Japanese was good. But the direction was uninspired. Most scenes just hung there limply, and did almost nothing to really capture the beauty and allure of the leading lady. Ultimately, "This Gun for Hire" wasn't *bad*, but I wouldn't recommend it over better film noirs like "The Big Sleep" and "The Lady from Shanghai."

Alan Ladd made his debut as a leading man in this silly pastiche of pulp-fiction clichés, adapted from a popular novel by Graham Greene. The diminutive actor plays a tough-as-cardboard killer with a fashionable scar on his soul, opposite Veronica Lake as the sympathetic fiancé of the cop assigned to track him down. The wildly improbable, coincidence-filled plot involves espionage, blackmail, wartime patriotism, and Freudian psychology, with a few musical numbers (believe it or not) added for good measure. Viewers today would have little choice but to enjoy it as a laughably dated early noir potboiler, not exactly what the filmmakers originally had in mind.

one of the things that can make a film noir great is the ability to, at each turn, make the audience think that things are going to turn out okay, and then slam the door in its face. this film is able to do just that. alan ladd doesn't get the lead billing (that honor goes to lake and preston), but make not mistake - he is the star of the film. he plays a loner hit-man and we pick up the action just before he's set to do a job. he holds up his end of the bargain, but the man who hired him pays him in marked bills in an attempt to pin a robbery on him. ladd goes on the lam, but runs into the girlfriend (lake) of a cop (preston) who is after him for having passed one of the marked bills. little does ladd, or even preston, know, but lake has been enlisted by the government to do some investigative work on the man who paid ladd for the hit with the marked dough. it's quite a criss-crossed story, but it's all very easy to follow and very fun to watch while it unfolds. lake is sworn to secrecy because of the sensitive nature of her investigation, and she has no idea that the man she meets on the train (ladd) is the same man her boyfriend is pursuing. it's not as dark a noir as detour, but the ending is surprisingly affecting and certainly dark enough to qualify as a noir. the lighting is more subtle than it is in some noir and i made a note of looking into the cinematographer on this film. my hunch was right - john seitz did the cinematography for this and such films as invaders from mars, sunset blvd., double indemnity, sullivan's travels, and big clock. it's a crime that i've never heard of the guy. but i redeemed myself by finally looking into his work after watching this film. with sunset blvd and double indemnity i probably attributed the good lighting and camera work to billy wilder and the same is true for sullivan's travels and preston sturges. at any rate, this is a good film - ladd and lake do a good job, preston is capable; the cinematography is good even though it doesn't knock you over the head with its brilliance; and the story is well-constructed despite being a little far-fetched in places. B+.

Phillip Raven (Alan Ladd) is a hit-man hired by Willard Gates (Laird Cregar) to execute the blackmailer Albert Baker (Frank Ferguson) and retrieve a letter and some documents for his unknown boss. When the work is done, Raven is double-crossed by Gates, receiving marked ten dollar bills. Gates delivers the list with the serial number of the bills to the police, expecting they find and kill Raven. Meanwhile, the performer Ellen Graham (Veronika Lake), who is the fiancée of the L.A Detective Lieutenant Michael Crane (Robert Preston), is contacted by Senator Burnett (Roger Imhof) and asked to help investigating Gates. She accepts the invitation, and is hired by Gates to work in his private club in Los Angeles. The police force, leaded by Det. Crane, chases Raven for the death of Baker; Raven chases Gates and his unknown boss, expecting to kill them for their betrayal; Ellen secretly chases Gates for the government. This is the beginning of a great classic. Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake have fantastic performances in this movie. Alan Ladd is magnificent in the role of a cold blood killer, needy of a friend, that loves cats. In order to show the personality of his character, there is a scene in the beginning of the story, where he almost shoots a crippled girl to eliminate any possible witness of his murder. Veronika Lake is wonderful and very gorgeous, inclusive singing two songs. I disagree with the reference of film-noir for "This Gun For Hire", since there is no "femme-fatale", no dirty cop, no weak man (other than Gates) or sordid motivation. Indeed it is a police story, showing a cold-blood hit-man without compassion, capable of killing without showing any emotion, hunting "worse guys" looking for his personal vengeance. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): "Alma Torturada" ("Tortured Soul")

This is definitely an enjoyable film to watch. It starts out like gangbusters with great film noir qualities having the trajectory of a bona fide classic. Alan Ladd is superb as the cold-blooded killing man for hire and Laird Cregor - who unfortunately was to die at 30 only two years after this film - is equally superb in his role. The film misses the mark, however, when the patriotic aspects of World War II (then a current event) are used in the end to appeal to the conscious of the cold-blooded killing Ladd. For a character of Ladd's ilk to be won over on such a near-corny patriotic appeal is a bit of a stretch, and takes away from the true grit realism of the movie's potential. Sort of reminds me of all the romance and self-righteousness that frequently is the focus of movies or intellectual discussions of the U. S. Civil War, rather than simply telling the true plain cold-blooded reasons for its initiation and declaration, regardless of how evil, and immoral the facts. But alas, Hollywood is about entertainment, not necessarily realism. And, we can't forget the near-mandatory Studio happy-ending requirements. On a lighter note, those with an ear for a good tune with their flicks will enjoy two Frank Loesser compositions in the film, particularly "Now you see it, Now you don't," where Veronica Lake does an excellent job lip-synching Martha Mears' vocal.