Post by Vercetti on Mar 11, 2006 6:26:57 GMT
This Gun for Hire
Director: Frank Tuttle
1943 USA
A hitman by the name of Raven kills a blackmailer only to be paid in dirty money. Soon this money backfires on him and he must go to L.A. to kill his employers. Along the way he meets a sexy blonde bombshell.
Who trusts anybody?
These words are coldly spoken by Raven to a middle man who is paying him for killing a blackmailer. He’s nervous about fake money, but accepts the payment. As it turns out he was paid with dirty money, and he ends up being chased by the police while he tries to track down his employers. Mostly in films, especially old Hollywood films we get good guys and bad guys. The bad guys are defeated by the good guys, and sure there are good movies that follow this formula. However This Gun For Hire is one of those rare gems that digs deeper into the protagonist’s skull. Raven is a sociopath and a hitman. He is also the hero of the film and it’s probably impossible not to sympathize with him.
Raven lives alone in an average apartment. He doesn’t show much emotion or concern for other humans, although he has a noticeable soft side for cats as well as children. An interesting characteristic we see early on is his misogynic behavior to a woman, which we brush off since she had chased his cat away, though it’s a little deeper then that. He rips the shoulder of her dress and slaps her, eventually repaying her with a new dress, with the counterfeit money, unfortunately. When the cops come to look for him, we can see he’s alienated from others by the negative light he’s painted in. “He doesn’t talk to anyone” a person says. My favorite moment of dialogue comes after his contract, where he’s being paid.
Willard Gates: Raven, how do you feel when you’re doing…(motions to the murder headline)…this?
Raven: I feel fine.
Normally this type of indifference is portrayed in black and white (morally), but this film cares about Raven. In a pivotal moment in the film, he describes his early life to a sexy blonde bombshell he met played by Veronica Lake. It’s moments like these that start making you feel sorry for these characters. It reminded me of another great film, Collateral, in which a hitman played by Tom Cruise describes his abusive father to the taxi driver he’s using to transport him. This film itself has become very influential. Le Samourai is the best to come from it’s influence, which is also about a sociopathic hitman. This film in turn inspired many other films like Collateral, Leon, and The Transporter. But looking back at this film, it’s hard not to admire it. In gangster films like Scarface or White Heat, we watch these people rise and fall, and we accept it. In This Gun For Hire, it’s different. You care about Raven, and don’t want anything bad to happen to him. The cop who is tracking him down is a perfectly good man, but you really pray against him.
Raven is played by Alan Ladd is his breakthrough role, and he does a great job. He holds his presence wonderfully in a role that would later inspire an even greater performance in Le Samourai. Veronica Lake is also a delight as the sexy woman who gradually befriends Ladd. There are little moments of character interaction that just stick with you. In one scene Ellen (Lake) bandages a cut on Raven, and he rushes her to stop. She comments on how he secretly likes the fact that she helps him, despite pretending to hate it, and it’s true. Raven doesn’t trust women, so he doesn’t know how to react normally to this kind of behavior.
CREDITS
Director[/b]
Frank Tuttle
Producer
Richard Blumenthal
Writer
Albert Maltz & W.R. Burnett
Based on the book by Graham Greene (A Gun for Sale)
Cinematographer
John F. Seitz
Original Music By
David Buttolph
Editor
Archie Marshek
CAST
Alan Ladd
Philip Raven
Veronica Lake
Ellen Graham
Robert Preston
Det. Lt. Michael Crane
Laird Cregar
Willard Gates
Tully Marshall
Alvin Brewster[/size]
Director: Frank Tuttle
1943 USA
A hitman by the name of Raven kills a blackmailer only to be paid in dirty money. Soon this money backfires on him and he must go to L.A. to kill his employers. Along the way he meets a sexy blonde bombshell.
Who trusts anybody?
These words are coldly spoken by Raven to a middle man who is paying him for killing a blackmailer. He’s nervous about fake money, but accepts the payment. As it turns out he was paid with dirty money, and he ends up being chased by the police while he tries to track down his employers. Mostly in films, especially old Hollywood films we get good guys and bad guys. The bad guys are defeated by the good guys, and sure there are good movies that follow this formula. However This Gun For Hire is one of those rare gems that digs deeper into the protagonist’s skull. Raven is a sociopath and a hitman. He is also the hero of the film and it’s probably impossible not to sympathize with him.
Raven lives alone in an average apartment. He doesn’t show much emotion or concern for other humans, although he has a noticeable soft side for cats as well as children. An interesting characteristic we see early on is his misogynic behavior to a woman, which we brush off since she had chased his cat away, though it’s a little deeper then that. He rips the shoulder of her dress and slaps her, eventually repaying her with a new dress, with the counterfeit money, unfortunately. When the cops come to look for him, we can see he’s alienated from others by the negative light he’s painted in. “He doesn’t talk to anyone” a person says. My favorite moment of dialogue comes after his contract, where he’s being paid.
Willard Gates: Raven, how do you feel when you’re doing…(motions to the murder headline)…this?
Raven: I feel fine.
Normally this type of indifference is portrayed in black and white (morally), but this film cares about Raven. In a pivotal moment in the film, he describes his early life to a sexy blonde bombshell he met played by Veronica Lake. It’s moments like these that start making you feel sorry for these characters. It reminded me of another great film, Collateral, in which a hitman played by Tom Cruise describes his abusive father to the taxi driver he’s using to transport him. This film itself has become very influential. Le Samourai is the best to come from it’s influence, which is also about a sociopathic hitman. This film in turn inspired many other films like Collateral, Leon, and The Transporter. But looking back at this film, it’s hard not to admire it. In gangster films like Scarface or White Heat, we watch these people rise and fall, and we accept it. In This Gun For Hire, it’s different. You care about Raven, and don’t want anything bad to happen to him. The cop who is tracking him down is a perfectly good man, but you really pray against him.
Raven is played by Alan Ladd is his breakthrough role, and he does a great job. He holds his presence wonderfully in a role that would later inspire an even greater performance in Le Samourai. Veronica Lake is also a delight as the sexy woman who gradually befriends Ladd. There are little moments of character interaction that just stick with you. In one scene Ellen (Lake) bandages a cut on Raven, and he rushes her to stop. She comments on how he secretly likes the fact that she helps him, despite pretending to hate it, and it’s true. Raven doesn’t trust women, so he doesn’t know how to react normally to this kind of behavior.
CREDITS
Director[/b]
Frank Tuttle
Producer
Richard Blumenthal
Writer
Albert Maltz & W.R. Burnett
Based on the book by Graham Greene (A Gun for Sale)
Cinematographer
John F. Seitz
Original Music By
David Buttolph
Editor
Archie Marshek
CAST
Alan Ladd
Philip Raven
Veronica Lake
Ellen Graham
Robert Preston
Det. Lt. Michael Crane
Laird Cregar
Willard Gates
Tully Marshall
Alvin Brewster[/size]