The 1942 noir movie that introduced Alan Ladd to film audiences is fascinating. It's a better than usual noir, from a book by Grahame Greene, which means it's got a complex plot. "This Gun for Hire" is more than a crime drama, it is a spy case, with bad guys who are not just screwing over each other, but the U.S. of A. Veronica Lake and Robert Preston are the ostensible stars, but it is Lake's and Ladd's movie, with him playing a stone cold killer who turns out to be something more, and her playing a songstress/magician who soothes the savage beast. both her musical numbers are terrific. Lake and Ladd are so beautiful it's no problem watching them, and they layer their performances nicely. One of the bad guys, Willard Gates, played by Laird Cregar is wonderful, as a crook with delicate sensitivities.
Ellen Graham (Lake) has just gotten engaged to her cop boyfriend Michael Crane (Preston) when she is enlisted by a Senator to spy on Gates, so she accepts a job in L.A. at his nightclub. Gates has already hired Phillip Raven (Ladd) to kill someone he says is blackmailing his boss. But after the hit he double crosses Raven, who ends up on the same train with Graham and Gates. The action is fast and furious, with lots of twists and turns. The patriotic tones stem from World War II and the poison gas threat adds to the danger. Graham can't tell her boyfriend what she's doing, and he tries to save her with none of the relevant information, with the bad guys playing him and only his instincts to go on. The psychological bent to this film, like Hitchcock's "Spellbound" makes the characters more interesting and fun.
What's not to like with two gorgeous leads, powerful photography in black and white, and a plot with some meat on it?
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