This Gun for Hire (1942)
Genre: Filmnoir / Crime
Duration: 80 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Frank Tuttle
Stars: Veronica Lake, Robert Preston and Alan Ladd
IMDb score:
7,4 (11.084)
Releasedate: 24 April 1942
This Gun for Hire plot
"Lover without a heart...killer without a conscience!"
Cold-blooded hitman and cat lover Philip Raven kills a blackmailer. Raven learns that his client, sneaky nightclub owner Willard Gates, has paid him with marked money. By chance, Raven finds out that the police, led by Detective Michael Crane, are after him for that reason. Raven, in addition to evading the police, tries to take revenge on Gates. His path crosses that of the attractive blonde Ellen Graham, who works as a singer at Gates' nightclub. Ellen keeps an eye on Gates at the request of Senator Burnett, because he suspects he is working for the Nazis. Things get complicated for Raven, but also for Ellen, when Raven learns she's engaged to Michael Crane. Ellen will have to work with Raven, who has now taken her hostage, to try to survive.
Actors and actresses
Ellen Graham
Philip Raven
Det. Michael Crane
Willard Gates
Alvin Brewster
Tommy
Blair Fletcher
Senator Burnett
Annie
Albert Baker
Reviews & comments
pjmj
-
- 296 messages
- 279 votes
Atmospheric film noir on successful and recently released Blu-ray transfer from www.eurekavideo.co.uk with English subtitles.
Some scenes were less sharp. Veronica Lake literally and figuratively steals the show. She sings some catchy songs, including one while also performing some magic acts. At the end of the first song (entitled "That's Love") we see her "manager" in the form of a fantastically cute monkey (probably not allowed in a movie these days), applauding her loudly. I rewinded and rewatched that scene five times. There are also beautiful scenes to see at a marshalling yard. Particularly beautiful and eerily atmospheric and with hundreds of gray-black-white shades and of course the film noir typical long shadows of people. The broken left wrist of Alan Ladd (who plays Philip Raven) looked horrifyingly realistic. definitely recommended for film noir fans.
Roger Thornhill
-
- 5822 messages
- 2332 votes
Handsome noir where it is completely understandable why Alan Ladd became a star thanks to this film, even if he plays a dubious character. Nicely complex plot that is easy to follow, a nice supporting role by Laird Cregar as the villain who is averse to violence, and beautiful camera work by John Seitz; only Veronica Lake can't quite convince me, and I also find her beauty a bit too studied, with those huge locks and that annoying pout. Anyway, she's actually the only flaw of a movie that's actually still pretty exciting.
clubsport
-
- 3548 messages
- 6806 votes
Ladd does a good job as a hit man that you start to sympathize with as the story progresses.
Furthermore, a good crime thriller with an entertaining story and an (for that time) unusual angle in which more depth is reserved for the bad guy.
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