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This Gun for Hire (1942) 7.6
When hired killer Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he's is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies. Director:Frank Tuttle |
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Title: This Gun for Hire (1942)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Veronica Lake | ... | ||
| Robert Preston | ... |
Michael Crane
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Laird Cregar | ... |
Willard Gates
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| Alan Ladd | ... | ||
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Tully Marshall | ... |
Alvin Brewster
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| Marc Lawrence | ... |
Tommy
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Olin Howland | ... |
Blair Fletcher
(as Olin Howlin)
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Roger Imhof | ... |
Senator Burnett
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Pamela Blake | ... |
Annie
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Frank Ferguson | ... |
Albert Baker
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Victor Kilian | ... |
Drew
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Patricia Farr | ... |
Ruby
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Harry Shannon | ... |
Steve Finnerty
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Charles C. Wilson | ... |
Police Captain
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Mikhail Rasumny | ... |
Slukey
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Hit man Philip Raven, who's kind to children and cats, kills a blackmailer and is paid off by traitor Willard Gates in "hot" money. Meanwhile, pert entertainer Ellen Graham, girlfriend of police Lieut. Crane (who's after Raven) is enlisted by a Senate committee to help investigate Gates. Raven, seeking Gates for revenge, meets Ellen on the train; their relationship gradually evolves from that of killer and potential victim to an uneasy alliance against a common enemy. Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>
Taglines:
Lover without a heart...killer without a conscience! See more »Parents Guide:
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Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
3 November 1942 (Mexico) See more »Also Known As:
Die Narbenhand See more »Company Credits
Show detailed
company contact information
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IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
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(1942) (uncredited)
Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Music by Jacques Press
Performed by Veronica Lake (dubbed by Martha Mears)
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Dickie Jones (Raven as a Boy) and Hermine Sterler (Raven's Aunt) are listed in studio records as members of the cast, but those scenes were cut before the film's release. Studio records also indicate a running time of about 93 minutes, indicating about 12 minutes were eventually cut from the film. See more »Goofs
When Michael Crane leaves Willard Gates' residence (at around 45 mins) only about a second, an impossibly short period of time, elapses between his stepping outside the house and the sound of his car driving away. See more »Soundtracks
"I've Got You"(1942) (uncredited)
Lyrics by Frank Loesser
Music by Jacques Press
Performed by Veronica Lake (dubbed by Martha Mears)
See more »
Two of the most beautiful actors in film history, Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake got together for the first time in this crime drama that also launched the former's career; a combined fact that in itself is enough to make this a must-see feature. Ladd is justly remembered as the star of Shane, the classic George Stevens' revision on the Western mythology, but his legacy remains overlooked beyond that great achievement. He could be a fine performer, against the average public opinion, and a film like This Gun for Hire proves his neglected status as one of Film Noir's prime antiheroes.
As witty as she's a long-haired blonde, Miss Lake has a sexiness and a childlike casualness about her that only underline her smartness. Her character is neither a typically passionate nor a bitchy femme fatale, and it's kind of a relief that we see the Ladd's character through her eyes ultimately. I can't remember another female role in the genre -- or any noiresque role for that matter -- of such a personal balance and empathy.
This is a Graham Greene movie that somehow looks more a Dashiell Hammett one*. Greene's concern with morality puts things in motion as it would do in The Third Man and Our Man in Havana, both films directed by Carol Reed. Lake apparently plays the angelic symbol of redemption to the fallen angel of her captor, a reminder of the peculiar Catholicism the novelist professed.
* Next to This Gun for Hire, Ladd and Lake did make a Hammett film: The Glass Key (1942).