This Gun for Hire (1942)

Directed by Frank Tuttle; produced by Richard Blumenthal (associate producer)

After a tense but relatively simple assignment, Raven (Alan Ladd), a hired assassin, meets with his employer’s representative (Laird Cregar) and is paid for his work. What Raven doesn’t know is that his money was stolen. He’s being set up to take the blame for the robbery, in the hopes that he will be killed by the police, thus eliminating any connection of his paymasters to the murders they bought. But the one thing the hitman values is a deal, and the breaking of a deal is something he takes personally.

A simple story is turned into an entertaining and deceptively simple movie, thanks to the star power of its two leads, and the characters they create. Hinging upon the coincidence of Raven encountering a singer (Veronica Lake) with a secret agenda, the tale is pretty straightforward. Yet the situations in which it places the main characters provide for excitement and suspense, and some mystery as to what will happen.

I am not of the opinion that Ladd was a deep or broad actor; his capacity for displaying emotions seems, paradoxically, to have been limited in many of his better films. But what he has works well here. Raven is not meant to be someone who shows what he is feeling. A quick glance, a movement of the eyes, a gesture toward a hidden weapon are enough to convey what needs to be seen. Though Ladd had acted in at least forty movies prior to This Gun for Hire – including, famously (in retrospection), a bit part in Citizen Kane – he is ‘introduced’ in the credits here, and, while billed fourth on the poster, is clearly the lead from the opening shot of the movie. Whatever his acting ability, he has presence. In cinema, as in real life, that trait can be decisive.

Ladd is matched perfectly by Lake, who also has – or, in her case, uses – a limited range of expressions; her tools are the feminine equivalent of Ladd’s: a touch, a pout, a drop in the tone of her smoky voice tell the audience more than dialogue.

The character of Raven as interpreted by Ladd and directed by Tuttle at first appears superficial. It seems there is not much to this young murderer (Ladd was but 29 at the time). Killing is just a job to him; he’s good at it, and he’s not restricted by morality. But when he makes a bargain, he expects it to be kept. The deal is his one constant, his one principle. Even when he himself breaks a deal he makes, his character and the events leading up to it make it clear that he acts because he must, and sees no other way. (And anyway, a man who likes cats cannot be entirely bad.)

Raven and the girl’s relationship begins, really, only when the two of them strike their bargain, late in the movie. Before that, each works with the other because it is expedient. At one point, Raven is about to kill her, as she is the only witness to his presence in a city. Later, he saves her life, because she has information he wants. In the isolated, perverse world Raven inhabits, she becomes his only friend, almost exclusively because she sticks to their deal.

There is an interesting scene in which Raven talks about his recurring dream. It is immediately apparent that he’s describing his past, his severely abused childhood, his first killing, his betrayal by the system. Yet his plea that talking about a recurring dream will end it shows that he is living his nightmare every day. His comment about wishing he could lie down and sleep, and another character’s observation that Raven ‘never sleeps’, demonstrate that whether or not these are hyperbole, the character doesn’t rest, and shows the dread of life Raven has. It is in small instances such as this that This Gun For Hire becomes much more intriguing than it could have been.

As for the remainder, the other cast members are very good: Cregar is always interesting to watch, and is almost amusing as the cowardly middle-man, someone who would be a marvelous villain – if he had the guts – while Robert Preston, the nominal male lead, provides a solid police foil for Raven. Due to the era – the United States had at last entered the World War, so the pretence that it wasn’t happening, common in American movies of 1940 to ’41, is thrown off – an espionage/fifth column device is inserted into the plot. This would be insignificant except for what it suggests about Raven’s character: despite his new friend’s insistence that he help the war-effort, Raven’s motives remain self-centred.

For the pairing of the stars, then, the unexpected depth of the characters and the story, and the good, old-fashioned action, This Gun For Hire is an essential part of a cinema fan’s viewing – and just a fun time at the movies.