This Gun for Hire (1942)

The recently released Universal DVD of This Gun for Hire brings this great early 40s crime story to a new generation of viewers. Although billed as a Veronica Lake vehicle, the real news is Alan Ladd’s breakthrough performance as trench-coated hitman Philip Raven.

The first five minutes economically establishes Raven’s character: He awakens fully clothed in his flop house apartment, a honky tonk piano jangling somewhere below. He sits up, checks his gun, cinches his tie and checks the address of his next job. When the slutty maid Annie (Pamela Blake) tries to shoo his cat out of the apartment, he grabs her shoulder, spins her around, and slaps her right across the face. You oughta buy me a new dress,” she says. “Beat it, is his response.

The next scene shows him carrying out his mission , revealing him as a brutal character without remorse. On his way out he passes a crippled child and you can see the thought cross his mind that she ought to be silenced, but he picks up her ball and hands it back to her. Hmm - likes cats and kids, but not much of anybody else. He gets his payoff from his contact Will Gates (Laird Cregar) who turns out to be pivotal in a whole bunch of story threads that converge in the climax.

Gates is a bent character that paid Raven off with marked cash; bad mistake, as Raven is his own police force and wants revenge on Gates and his principal. Gates goes to the police and tells them to keep an eye out for the bills.

In the meantime, Veronica Lake has established her bona fides as a songstress who also does magic tricks in a nightclub act. In one of the many coincidences in this tersely plotted film, she is hired by Gates, who in addition to being a big chemical exec also owns a nightclub in Lost Angeles. Lake is approached by a US Senator who is investigating a ring of corrupt businessmen selling war materials to the Japanese, our enemy at the time. Yep, you guessed it - Gates is at the middle of this group also.

Besides the Alan Ladd thread, the Veronica Lake thread, and the Laird Cregar thread, there is also a police thread, headed up by Robert Preston, who also happens to be Veronica Lake’s boyfriend. Small world.

Shifting scenes from San Francisco to LA, the three principal characters ride down on the same train, unbeknownst to them!! Well, Ladd and Lake haven’t been introduced yet, but they get acquainted when he takes the seat next to hers and tries to pickpocket her of her last five bucks.

There is lots of tense action during the remainder of the film including a rough night in the LA railroad yards, but I want you to see it for yourself.

The script was adapted from a Graham Greene novel and directed by Frank Tuttle. Lots of the shots look like the prototypes of film noir, and that makes good sense given the camerawork was by John Seitz, who has Double Indemnity, The Lost Weekend, and Sunset Boulevard on his resume.

The movie shows the roots of film noir style, but there are a few elements that are problematic in identifying it with that fatalistic genre. Ladd’s character in particular does some nice things that are not strictly in keeping with his hitman persona. He likes cats; he does not kill a child who is a witness; he buys a dress for Annie. The marked bill he uses to buy it puts the police on his trail. The story also has an upbeat ending, Alan Ladd takes one for the good old USA and stops the evil capitalists who are selling poison gas formulas to the Japanese. Veronica Lake, of course, is in no way an evil presence here, she is great as a nightclub entertainer and companion for Raven as he goes after revenge. Lake does a couple of numbers that show her as a good entertainer as well as a stunner. Robert Preston (Beau Geste, The Music Man) is basically a fifth wheel here; Although he did a good job and got second billing, after Ms. Lake, Ladd stole the entire picture away from him.

Apart from the overly ambitious plot, This Gun for Hire is one of the best, OK, I’ll say it - film noir - movies you’re likely to run across.

The Universal DVD is presented in 1.33:1 theatrical format in well preserved black and white and runs 81 minutes. Fans of crime stories or film noir will want to see this one as it is very influential besides being a great movie.

Thanks for reading!

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening