{"id":24406,"date":"2012-02-27T12:45:41","date_gmt":"2012-02-27T19:45:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24406"},"modified":"2021-01-19T20:01:31","modified_gmt":"2021-01-20T03:01:31","slug":"this-gun-for-hire-1942","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24406","title":{"rendered":"This Gun For Hire (1942)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I&#8217;m my own police.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/This-Gun-For-Hire-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/This-Gun-For-Hire-Poster-198x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"198\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-24409\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/This-Gun-For-Hire-Poster-198x300.jpg 198w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/This-Gun-For-Hire-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/This-Gun-For-Hire-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 198px) 100vw, 198px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nWhen a hitman (Alan Ladd) is double-crossed by his employer (Laird Cregar), he vows revenge, and soon crosses paths with a beautiful singer (Veronica Lake) working as a spy to learn about shady wartime deals being brokered by Cregar&#8217;s crooked boss (Tully Marshall).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alan Ladd Films<\/li>\n<li>Falsely Accused<\/li>\n<li>Hitmen<\/li>\n<li>Laird Cregar Films<\/li>\n<li>Revenge<\/li>\n<li>Robert Preston Films<\/li>\n<li>Spies<\/li>\n<li>Veronica Lake Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary\u2019s Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAs Peary notes, &#8220;Alan Ladd became an instant star&#8221; in this &#8220;exciting, compact adaptation of Graham Greene&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/A_Gun_for_Sale\">popular pulp novel<\/a>,&#8221; portraying &#8220;lethal hired killer Philip Raven&#8221;. Peary argues that &#8220;in a trench coat with its collar turned up, a hat pulled down to his eyes, a gun in his hand, and a deep voice, he is the coolest gunman to hit the scene since James Cagney in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=43223\"><em>Public Enemy<\/em><\/a>&#8221; &#8212; and certainly one of the most oddly sympathetic. Interestingly, as Peary notes, &#8220;we can&#8217;t help &#8220;root[ing] for Ladd on his mission of revenge&#8221;, in large part &#8220;because we realize that his past was so miserable that he never had a chance to be decent&#8221;, but also because &#8220;he was exploited by Cregar, because Lake sympathizes with him, and because we sense that he isn&#8217;t long for this world&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>However, it&#8217;s difficult to contemplate Ladd&#8217;s fine performance in isolation, given the importance of his relationship with &#8220;beautiful, buxom blonde Lake&#8221;, who in this film &#8220;found her ideal screen partner&#8221;. Peary notes that &#8220;with those dreamy eyes, a peek-a-boo hairstyle, and a husky voice to match Ladd&#8217;s&#8221;, they &#8220;are an electrifying screen couple&#8221; &#8212; a statement made all the more complex given that Lake is happily engaged to a policeman (Robert Preston) who&#8217;s on Raven&#8217;s trail. Naturally, loyalties quickly become conflicted, and it&#8217;s fascinating to watch as Lake and Ladd &#8212; who are clearly smitten with each other on some level &#8212; carefully negotiate their positions. Indeed, whenever they&#8217;re on-screen, we&#8217;re glued; the rest of the &#8220;taut&#8221; storyline, while competent and finely directed, feels mostly like icing. <\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, in his review, Peary refers to <em>This Gun For Hire<\/em> as &#8220;one of the few forties crime dramas that weren&#8217;t really <em>noir<\/em> films&#8221; &#8212; yet it certainly possesses many <em>noir<\/em> elements (including atmospheric cinematography and a sense of deeply pervasive cynicism), and it&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.noiroftheweek.com\/2009\/02\/this-gun-for-hire-1942.html\">generally considered<\/a> by others to be part of this genre. Perhaps Peary&#8217;s opinion is due to the occasional shifts in tone throughout the film &#8212; most notably when Lake performs a couple of unusual musical ditties (by Jacques Press and Frank Loesser); meanwhile, Cregar&#8217;s performance as Raven&#8217;s most direct nemesis lacks a requisite sense of menace &#8212; he&#8217;s a bit too much of a blubbering coward to be fully convincing in the role. However, all told, I would most certainly classify this one stylistically as <em>noir<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>Two of my favorite moments: Lake unexpectedly pecks Ladd on the cheek; Lake leaves a steady trail of evidence behind her while being held hostage by Ladd. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alan Ladd as Raven<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Ladd.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Ladd-1024x574.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"359\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-24412\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Ladd-1024x574.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Ladd-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Ladd-300x168.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Ladd.png 1591w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Veronica Lake as Ellen Graham<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-1024x572.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"358\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-24407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-1024x572.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake.png 1593w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Fine chemistry between Ladd and Lake<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-Ladd.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-Ladd-1024x570.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"356\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-24413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-Ladd-1024x570.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-Ladd-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-Ladd-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Lake-Ladd.png 1581w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Cinematography2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Cinematography2-1024x570.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"356\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-24411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Cinematography2-1024x570.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Cinematography2-128x71.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Cinematography2-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/TGFH-Cinematography2.png 1595w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, for Ladd&#8217;s magnetic debut performance &#8212; and his palpable on-screen chemistry with Lake. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Noteworthy Performance(s)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0035432\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1942\/05\/14\/archives\/this-gun-for-hire-seen-at-the-paramount-introduces-a-new-tough-guy.html\">New York Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/this-gun-for-hire\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m my own police.&#8221; Synopsis: When a hitman (Alan Ladd) is double-crossed by his employer (Laird Cregar), he vows revenge, and soon crosses paths with a beautiful singer (Veronica Lake) working as a spy to learn about shady wartime deals being brokered by Cregar&#8217;s crooked boss (Tully Marshall). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Alan Ladd Films Falsely Accused Hitmen Laird Cregar Films Revenge Robert Preston Films Spies Veronica Lake Films Response to Peary\u2019s Review: As Peary notes, &#8220;Alan Ladd became&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24406\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24406"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64547,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24406\/revisions\/64547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}