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This Gun for Hire (1942)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
13 May 1942 (USA)
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Tagline:
Lover without a heart...killer without a conscience! more
Plot:
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...
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User Comments:
Great early Noir
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | Veronica Lake | ... | Ellen Graham |
 | Robert Preston | ... | Det. Michael Crane |
| Laird Cregar | ... | Willard Gates |
 | Alan Ladd | ... | Philip Raven |
| Tully Marshall | ... | Alvin Brewster |
| Marc Lawrence | ... | Tommy |
| Olin Howland | ... | Blair Fletcher (as Olin Howlin) |
| Roger Imhof | ... | Senator Burnett |
| Pamela Blake | ... | Annie |
| Frank Ferguson | ... | Albert Baker |
| Victor Kilian | ... | Drew |
| Patricia Farr | ... | Ruby |
| Harry Shannon | ... | Steve Finnerty |
| Charles C. Wilson | ... | Police Captain |
| Mikhail Rasumny | ... | Slukey |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
80 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The movie's poster was as #17 of "The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever" by Premiere.
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Goofs:
Continuity: When Gates discovers Graham and Raven sleeping, on the train. Raven's head is on Graham's shoulder, but the next shot after the one of Gates retracing his steps shows them separated.
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Quotes:
Movie Connections:
Featured in The Best of Film Noir (1999) (V)
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Soundtrack:
Now You See It, Now You Don't
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (43 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for This Gun for Hire (1942)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| Bogie as Raven | pery-1 |
| Avaliable Online? | adrianafrance |
| Cats (spoiler alert) | tollsaver-1 |
| Read the book | m-j-mooney |
| Lake and Ladd - Nordic Twins | Noir-It-All |
| Philip? | Darth_Carousel53 |
Recommendations
If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
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| Out of the Past | Nightmare Alley | The French Connection | The Fugitive | The Godfather |
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Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Film-Noir section | IMDb USA section | Add this title to MyMovies |
This is a great, compelling crime thriller that stands the test of time quite well. This would be one of the first movies I'd choose to show to a fan of recent movies who wants to explore classic thrillers but doesn't know where to start (along with "The Maltese Falcon" and one or two others). While many period pieces are "appreciated", this one still provides a jolt of adrenaline right from the opening scene, when Alan Ladd rips the maid's dress and slaps her. He's a bad man, no doubt about it, and his portrayal throughout most of the movie is surprisingly dark, even by today's standards. His character, Raven, is a man whose sole act of human compassion is not to murder a crippled orphan in cold blood, and Ladd's performance is underplayed just enough to make him chillingly believable.
This is a relatively early feature in the cycle that would later be called "film noir". A few films had begun to establish the new look and feel for the new generation of gangster movies, but the archetypal noirs were still a couple of years off. This movie is an interesting example of the early style because it visits the typical noir territory (culturally and emotionally) but avoids the stereotypical noir cast of characters. Rather than a flawed, weak man and a femme fatale, "This Gun For Hire" gives us a coldly amoral killer as the male lead and a tough, streetwise woman as the main "good guy" (her cop boyfriend spends most of the film running around frantically and accomplishing nothing).
Visually, this film is pure noir. It's directed by Frank Tuttle, who made the first version of "The Glass Key" in 1935, combining a hard-boiled gangster story and expressionist-influenced lighting. "This Gun For Hire" fits firmly into that mode, and shows that many of the stylistic trademarks of the supposedly "post-war" Noir style were firmly in place before the US had even been in WW2 for a full year. More importantly, it provides thrills, and a great dose of "the good stuff" in a neat, 81-minute-long package.