Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, and Alan Ladd in “This Gun for Hire”

Release date: May 13, 1942

Director: Frank Tuttle

Story by: Graham Greene

Adapted from: A Gun for Sale

Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd

This Gun For Hire, based on the novel by Graham Greene, was released in 1942, long before the label “film noir” was invented. As an early film in the genre, some of the plot devices that we associate with film noir are here: A killer who is a major protagonist, a cool female lead, an honest-by-the-book cop, and a double-crossing villain.

The plot concerns a hired gun named Raven (Alan Ladd) who has been double-crossed by a man named Willard Gates (Laird Cregar) who represents a chemical company that may be working with enemies abroad, selling them poison gas. To keep tabs on Gates, the U.S. government enlists a beautiful novelty entertainer named Ellen Graham (played by Veronica Lake). Ellen is a magician who sings while she performs her magic act. She auditions for Gates, who, in addition to his duties at the chemical company, owns a popular nightclub. Her audition captivates Gates, and he hires her.

Straight and vicious—that’s what this picture is. But it is a good cut above the average, both in its writing and its tensile quality. Bosley Crowther, The New York Times

While on a train to perform at Gates’s Neptune Club, she accidentally runs into Raven. Gates, also on the same train, sees the two sitting next to each other. He assumes they’re working together, which sets him on edge and puts Ellen’s life in danger. Ellen’s cop boyfriend, Michael (Robert Preston), does his best to save her and capture Raven.

Lake was an established star when the movie was released. Ladd, as Raven, gave a breakout performance, making him an overnight sensation. New York Times movie reviewer, Bosley Crowther, compared Ladd’s performance to James Cagney’s in The Public Enemy a decade earlier. In his 1942 review of the film, he said, “Keep your eye peeled for this Ladd fellow; he’s a pretty-boy killer who likes his work.” Crowther also complimented the leading lady: “Miss Lake is a competent customer, and handles her men with cool disdain.”

The chemistry between Lake and Ladd was noted by the public and the executives at Paramount. It didn’t hurt that Lake was 4'11" tall, making her the only leading lady Ladd worked with who was shorter than he was. Ladd was reported to be 5'5" tall. The two costarred in a total of four films, all of which were very popular with critics and 1940s film audiences.

Publicity photo with Ladd, Lake, and Preston

This Gun for Hire trivia

• Ladd and Lake made six more movies after This Gun for Hire: The Glass Key (1942), The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Saigon (1947). They also appeared as themselves in  Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), Duffy’s Tavern (1945), and Variety Girl (1947). 
• In the novel, Raven’s motivation for becoming a killer was due to his mother disfiguring his face. Paramount didn’t want Ladd’s handsome face to be maimed, so they had his aunt permanently cripple his wrist with a red-hot flatiron.
• The film was released five months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
• Nineteen-year-old Yvonne De Carlo appears as one of the showgirls at the Neptune Club. She’s uncredited.
• Laird Cregar was borrowed by Paramount from 20^th Century-Fox for this picture.

Click HERE to watch the movie on the Internet Archive.

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Discussion questions

1. This is considered an early must-see film noir. Would you recommend this film to your friends?
2. What did you think of the pairing of Alan Ladd with Veronica Lake? Do you see what audiences in 1942 saw?
3. Some of the violence was shocking to audiences in 1942. Is any of the violence in the film shocking or surprising to you?
4.  Was Laird Cregar convincing as Willard Gates?
5. Robert Preston was originally up for the role of Raven. The director thought Ladd presented a more menacing characterization. Do you think the film would have been the same if the roles were reversed?