Imagine Rita Hayworth in "Gilda," slinking around in that black satin dress, huskily singing "Put the Blame on Me." Now think of Veronica Lake in "This Gun for Hire" performing sub-standard nightclub songs while doing magic tricks. That ought to give you some idea of how and why "This Gun for Hire" doesn't measure up with better film noirs.
Lake is great to look at of course, and she her acting is just fine, but you can't help feeling she's being wasted here. The movie has some interesting moments. I liked the opening with Ladd preparing himself for a "job" and then executing a blackmailer. The creepy, millionaire villain hiding in his mausoleum of an office, munching on cookies while selling America's war secrets to the Japanese was good. But the direction was uninspired. Most scenes just hung there limply, and did almost nothing to really capture the beauty and allure of the leading lady.
Ultimately, "This Gun for Hire" wasn't *bad*, but I wouldn't recommend it over better film noirs like "The Big Sleep" and "The Lady from Shanghai."
Lake is great to look at of course, and she her acting is just fine, but you can't help feeling she's being wasted here. The movie has some interesting moments. I liked the opening with Ladd preparing himself for a "job" and then executing a blackmailer. The creepy, millionaire villain hiding in his mausoleum of an office, munching on cookies while selling America's war secrets to the Japanese was good. But the direction was uninspired. Most scenes just hung there limply, and did almost nothing to really capture the beauty and allure of the leading lady.
Ultimately, "This Gun for Hire" wasn't *bad*, but I wouldn't recommend it over better film noirs like "The Big Sleep" and "The Lady from Shanghai."