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This Gun for Hire (1942, Frank Tuttle)
Directed by: Frank Tuttle
Written by: Graham Greene (novel), Albert Maltz (writer), W.R. Burnett (writer)
Starring: Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, Alan Ladd, Tully Marshall, Marc Lawrence, Olin Howland
[Editor's Note; In order to read writer Andrew Katsis' review of the 1942 film "This Gun For Hire"...Please visit him (Andrew Katsis) here at...
Shooting in the Dark

 

 As a piece of cinema, Frank Tuttle's This Gun for Hire (1942) is both brief and insignificant, a throwaway crime story about a hardened assassin, a glamorous girl, a police manhunt and an international conspiracy. It's just what you'd expect from an adaptation of Graham Greene's "A Gun for Sale," one of those novels with such low literary aspirations that the author affectionately labelled them "entertainments" to distinguish from his more noble and artistic works.













 

 [Editor's Note; The Screenshot [Which feature actor Alan Ladd, is taken from the Universal Cinema Region 2 DVD]

Greene certainly wasn't kidding – entertainment is provided in great abundance, the film delivering short and sharp thrills that keep the viewer on the edge of their seats.

Alan Ladd, in his first major role, carves up the screen as an emotionally-tormented contract killer who will cradle a kitten in his arms, but won't take kindly to any woman who gets in his way. Veronica Lake, looking positively luminous, is the woman who gets in his way, but whose charms are enough to melt even the hardest of hearts. The success of their teaming spawned a fruitful partnership during the 1940s.Philip Raven (Ladd) is afforded the introduction of a classic hard-boiled anti-hero. After waking up to lovingly greet a stray cat with fresh milk, he then rips open the dress of the landlady's daughter, who tries to disrupt the cat's breakfast, before reprimanding her with a taut slap across the side of the face.

 

 

Raven is not presented to us as a hero, but neither as a villain; like all good film noir protagonists, his personality and motivations are tantalisingly ambiguous, and so our sympathies towards him are confused. Blonde bombshell Veronica Lake arrives on the scene with a lively performance of "Now You See It, Now You Don't" (her singing voice dubbed by Martha Mears) that is sure to have any male viewers quickly sitting upright.

 

In this film, Lake has none of the frail passiveness that of her follow-up Ladd collaboration The Glass Key (1942), instead bringing an independent and subtly erotic charm that is reminiscent of what Lauren Bacall would provide two years later in To Have and Have Not (1944).

Alan Ladd here also benefits from the absence of a love interest. One of the few weaknesses of The Glass Key was the unintentionally awkward romantic sequences between Lake and himself. Ladd can surely play hard-boiled, but he doesn't do tender very well (unless the object of his affection is feline).
In 'This Gun for Hire,' his relationship with Lake is first one of necessity, but gradually transforms into a mutual respect, and an understanding that hints just enough at sexual attraction without drawing attention to it.














 

Robert Preston is adequate, though oddly insubstantial as the film's most reputable character, and Laird Cregar is interesting as the plump and cowardly villain who's inadvertently bitten off more than he can chew.
The film winds down in its final twenty minutes or so, and the finale's weak attempt at patriotism – an apparent obligation under the current political climate – serves to distance the modern viewer from the engrossing and intimate thriller we had previously enjoyed. Nevertheless, if you see it on the rental shelf, this gun is very much worth hiring out.


[Editor's Note: Oh! No, Andrew, you have to go no further than Gary Tooze's place over there at dvdbeaver in order to find out the availability of Graham Greene's 1942 film "This Gun For Hire." In order to compare the U.S. version and the R2 version of Universal Picture..."This Gun For Hire" Just go over to Gary Tooze's website... Gary Tooze's dvdbeaver ]

Currently Andrew's Favorite #3 film of 1942:
1) Casablanca (Michael Curtiz)
2) To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch)
3) This Gun for Hire (Frank Tuttle)
*4) The Major and the Minor (Billy Wilder)
5) The Glass Key (Stuart Heisler) *
Posted by ackatsis at 5:27 PM
Labels: 1940s, 1942, 8/10, Alan Ladd, Frank Tuttle, Graham Greene, Robert Preston, Veronica Lake

This Gun For Hire Movie Trailer...




 

The Corner of Memorabilia...For The 1942 Film
"This Gun For Hire..." The "Holy Grail"**** of American Movie Posters...



...and Two French Posters, International Posters, Five Lobby Cards, One Insert and One Promo Card...By The Way, If You Are Interested In Learning More About Collecting Film Noir Memorabilia You May Be Interested In These Two Very Interesting Books...Which May Assist You In Your Quest As You Discover The World Of
Collecting Memorabilia...And They Are:authors
Eddie Muller, Bruce Hershenson, and Lawrence Bassoff's books...

Eddie Muller's Art of Noir: The Posters And Graphics From The Classic Era Of Film Noir , Lawrence Bassoff's Crime Scenes:Classic Posters from 1941-1959 and Crime Movie Poster

In Lawrence Bassoff's book "Crime Scenes:Classic Posters from 1941-1959
...A Couple of pages that feature Lobby Cards from the 1942..."This Gun For Hire"


According to author Eddie Muller, the poster for the 1942 film "This Gun For Hire" is the most sought after poster of all" ...

[Editor's note; Right you are Eddie, and here is the proof...The Asking Price Today for The American poster of the 1942 film"This Gun for Hire is"...too much!..Just kidding, but [one] of the original movie poster for the 1942 film "This Gun For Hire" was purchased for nearly...$19,000.00 (The Lobby cards aren't cheap neither) in 2006...Wow! ]
In order to view the item(s) that were sold just click on the link, but don't click on the link if you, don't want to registar in order to view the memorabilia at the
The Heritage Collection...website.
Thanks,
Now The Question Is...
...What, precisely, is a lobby card? Well, it's like a movie poster, only much smaller. They are usually around 11 x 14 or 8 x 10 inches and obviously designed to promote the advertised film. The smaller version is also known as a "still" or "front-of-house" card, and briefly summarizes the movie in a series of captioned scenes.

However, Mexican lobby cards are larger than the U.S. version - at 13 x 17 inches, and are regarded as a cross between a jumbo lobby card, title card and one sheet poster. Lobby cards come in sets that range from three up to 20 - although it is fairly typical to simply come across one, and for framing purposes, one should be enough.

Lobby cards first appeared in the United States in the early 1910s. They were ostensibly designed for display in a cinema's lobby, the way the large format movie posters have done so exclusively since the 1980s, when the use of lobbies cards was discontinued (at least for the U.S. market; some other countries soldiered on with them). Mexican lobby cards were produced by local graphic artists and tended to be much more artistic, colorful and lurid - utilizing such tools as painting, photo montage, drawing, dramatic comment and an inset black-and-white still from the film.

Lobby Cards...For This Gun For Hire

 
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