This Gun for Hire [Blu-ray]

Director: Frank Tuttle Frank Tuttle

Overview

Though billed fourth in This Gun For Hire, Alan Ladd was catapulted to stardom in the role of Phillip Raven, a ruthless professional killer with a long-suppressed streak of decency. After successfully pulling off his latest murder, Raven reports to his boss, effeminate fifth columnist Willard Gates (Laird Cregar). He collects his $1000 fee, only to discover later that Gates has double-crossed him with marked bills. This was done at the behest of Gates' boss, crooked business executive Alvin Bewster (Tully Marshall), who wants no loose ends left around to connect him with a plot to sell poison gas to the Axis. As Raven ducks and dodges the police, detective Michael Crane (Robert Preston) is hot on the trail of Bewster and Gates. Crane talks his girlfriend, nightclub singer-musician Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake), into taking a job at Gates' nightclub. While on the train to the club, Ellen makes the acquaintance of the escaping Raven. Gates boards the train, spots Ellen innocently sitting next to Raven, and assumes that the two are in cahoots. Later, Gates kidnaps Ellen and spirits her away to his mansion, intending to do away with her the first chance he gets. Instead, Raven, still seeking revenge for being set up, bursts into the mansion in search of Gates. Having previously been impressed by Ellen's kindness, he rescues her, though he intends using her as hostage should the police catch up with him. As they hide out together in the rail yards, Ellen and Raven get to know each other. Learning of Raven's miserable, abusive childhood, Ellen tries to chip away his murderous veneer, hoping to reform him. But when the cops arrive, Raven reverts to his instincts, shooting his way out of his hiding place. As Crane escorts Ellen out of harm's way, Raven rushes towards a bloody showdown with Bewster and Gates. Based on Graham Greene's A Gun For Sale, This Gun For Hire was remade in 1958 as Short Cut to Hell, then again under the original title as a 1990 made-for-TV film.

Product Details

Release Date:	05/14/2019
UPC:	0826663197754
Original Release:	1942
Rating:	NR
Source:	Shout Factory
Language:	English
Time:	1:21:00
Sales rank:	20,765

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Alan Ladd	Philip Raven
Laird Cregar	Willard Gates
Veronica Lake	Ellen Graham
Robert Preston	Det. Michael Crane
Tully Marshall	Alvin Brewster
Mikhail Rasumny	Slukey
Harry Shannon	Steve Finnerty
Frank Ferguson	Albert Baker
Bernadene Hayes	Baker's Secretary
James Farley	Night Watchman
Vivita Campbell	Crippled Girl
Roger Imhof	Sen. Burnett
Victor Kilian	Brewster's Secretary
Olin Howlin	Blair Fletcher
Emmett Vogan	Charlie
Chester Clute	Mr. Stewart
Charles Arnt	Will Gates
Virginia Farmer	Woman in Shop
Clem Bevans	Scissor Grinder
Harry Hayden	Restaurant Manager
Tim Ryan	Weems
Yvonne De Carlo	Show Girl
Edwin Stanley	Police Captain
Eddy Chandler	Foreman
Phil Tead	Machinist
Charles Moore	Dining Car Waiter,Young Raven in Cut Dream Sequence
Pat O'Malley	Conductor
Karin Booth	Waitress
Sarah Padden	Mrs. Mason
Richard Webb	Young Man
Frances Morris	Receptionist
Cyril Ring	Waiter
Lora Lee	Girl in Car
William Cabanne	Laundry Truck Driver
Patricia Farr	Ruby
Charles Wilson	Police Captain
Mary Davenport	Salesgirl
Earle Dewey	Mr. Collins
Lynda Grey	Gates' Secretary
Dick Rush	Lt. Clark
Elliott Sullivan	Officer Glennon
Don Barclay	Piano Player
John Sheehan	Keever
Alan Speer	Frog
Fred Walburn	Walt
Robert Winkler	Jimmie
Hermine Sterler	Raven's Aunt
Adele Pearce	Annie
Víctor Laplace	Dancer
Pedro de Cordoba	Steve Finnerty
Louise LaPlanche	Dancer
Marc Lawrence	Actor
David Buttolph	Composer

Technical Credits

Albert Maltz

W.R. Burnett

Frank Tuttle	Director
Albert Maltz	Screenwriter
W.R. Burnett	Screenwriter
Richard Blumenthal	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Adapted from the Graham Greene novel by W.R. Burnett and Albert Maltz, This Gun for Hire (1942) introduced the archetypal film noir coupling of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake in an early noir story of murder and deception-with a little war-time patriotism added to soften the harshness. In his star-making performance, Ladd's cat-loving contract killer Raven is icily amoral in his work, utterly emotionless except when angered. Lake's alluring nightclub singer-turned-spy Ellen is his steely, impassive match, even when she manages to momentarily appeal to his well-hidden better nature in order to foil a plan to sell chemical secrets to the enemy. Robert Preston's good cop may wind up getting Ellen, but it is Ladd who proves Lake's coolly charismatic onscreen equal. Shot with shadowy style by John F. Seitz, enhancing the underlying threat of corruption and violence, This Gun for Hire became a box office success, helping to set the standard for noir along with The Maltese Falcon (1941); Ladd and Lake sustained their popularity as the ultimate hard-boiled noir duo in The Glass Key (1942) and The Blue Dahlia (1946). Remade twice, as the feature Short Cut to Hell in 1957 and for TV in 1991.

All Movie Guide - Lucia Bozzola