Eureka: This Gun for Hire

News on Eureka and Masters of Cinema.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
Apperson
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2016 3:47 pm
Location: Oxfordshire, UK

Eureka: This Gun for Hire

#1 Post by Apperson » Thu Jul 02, 2020 10:18 am

This Gun for Hire

Image

One of the most revered film noir hits of the 1940s, This Gun for Hire was also the debut teaming of Veronica Lake, in one of her sultriest and most iconic roles, and Alan Ladd. Following the success of the film, the duo would go on to team up in several more features, although This Gun for Hire remains their most fondly remembered pairing. Ladd – as a frightening yet oddly sympathetic hit man – was only fourth-billed in this defining early noir, yet it became the breakout role that turned him into a star. As The New York Times said of Ladd upon the film’s 1942 release, “He is really an actor to watch. After this stinging performance, he has something to live up to – or live down.”

Lake is nightclub chanteuse Ellen, and her police detective boyfriend Michael (Robert Preston) is on the hunt for assassin-for-hire Philip Raven (Ladd), after Raven performed a hit on a chemist with a secret formula and a taste for blackmail. When Raven’s employer Gates (Laird Cregar) double crosses him after the job is done, Raven seeks revenge, and his path crosses with Ellen after she is hired to perform at Gates’ club. Raven learns that the stolen formula is for a poison gas that is to be sold to the Japanese, and his pangs of conscience – and revelations of his tortured past – turn Ellen’s fear into compassion, just as dangerous forces close in on Raven. But Ellen is still unsure if Raven can be trusted…

Adapted from Graham Greene’s novel, This Gun for Hire is a stylish wartime espionage noir that was actually in the middle of shooting when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the U.S. entered the war. Lake and Ladd were such a dynamic pairing that Paramount already teamed them again for the same year’s adaptation of Dashiell Hammett’s The Glass Key before this was even released. In a touch of cinematic irony, The Glass Key had previously been filmed in 1935…by This Gun for Hire director Frank Tuttle (who did not return for the ’42 version).


BLU-RAY EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES:
  • 1080p presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K scan of the original film elements
  • Uncompressed LPCM 2.0 audio
  • Audio commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin
  • “This Gun for Hire” episode of Lux Radio Theater with the voices of Alan Ladd and Joan Blondell
  • “This Gun for Hire” episode of The Screen Guild Theater with the voices of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake
  • Theatrical trailer
  • A collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film writer and journalist Barry Forshaw, and film writer Craig Ian Mann
Last edited by Apperson on Mon Aug 03, 2020 6:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Eureka: This Gun for Hire

#2 Post by TMDaines » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:22 pm

What makes this a Eureka release and not a MoC?

User avatar
swo17
Bloodthirsty Butcher
Joined: Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:25 am
Location: SLC, UT

Re: Eureka: This Gun for Hire

#3 Post by swo17 » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:34 pm

I guess since no one knows who Frank Tuttle is

User avatar
What A Disgrace
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:34 pm
Contact:

Re: Eureka: This Gun for Hire

#4 Post by What A Disgrace » Thu Jul 02, 2020 12:38 pm

Image

Frank who?

User avatar
htom
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2004 1:57 pm

Re: Eureka: This Gun for Hire

#5 Post by htom » Mon Jul 06, 2020 7:53 pm

It is true Alan Ladd was fourth billed after Lake, Preston and Laird Cregar but it still looks strange not to have his name anywhere on the cover just because the bottom of the original poster art is cropped out. Perhaps this could still change, though.

User avatar
L.A.
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 7:33 am
Location: Helsinki, Finland

Re: Eureka: This Gun for Hire

#6 Post by L.A. » Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:50 pm


User avatar
Ste
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:54 pm

Re: Eureka: This Gun for Hire

#7 Post by Ste » Sat Nov 14, 2020 1:14 pm


Post Reply