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When assassin Philip Raven shoots a blackmailer and his beautiful female companion dead, he is paid off in marked bills by his treasonous employer who is working with foreign spies.
Sadistic killer-for-hire Philip Raven becomes enraged when his latest job is paid off in marked bills. Vowing to track down his double-crossing boss, nightclub executive Gates, Raven sits beside Gates' lovely new employee, Ellen, on a train out of town. Although Ellen is engaged to marry the police lieutenant who's hunting down Raven, she decides to try and set the misguided hit man straight ...
With an intricate plot that requires careful attention, This Gun for Hire is a hugely entertaining movie and a smash-up of elements that would go on to become noir tropes. Fifteen years later, superstar James Cagney paid homage to the film by re-animating Burnett’s screenplay in his single directorial effort, Short Cut to Hell (1957).
Color. Black and White. Theatrical Aspect Ratio. 1.37 : 1. Film Length. 8,350ft (8 reels) A hired killer dodges police while tracking down the enemy agents who tried to frame him.
"This Gun for Hire" is thickly plotted but nevertheless somehow holds the viewer's interest, most likely because of the characterizations. The diminutive, beautiful Lake is an absolute delight as a singer with a magician routine. As one of the villains, Laird Cregar creates an excellent character - a hugely built fraidy-cat who abhors violence.
This Gun for Hire is regarded as one of the pioneering works of American film noir and that reputation is well earned. Ladd’s portrayal of Raven draws up a template for emotionally cold criminals and killers for years to come, from Delon in Le Samouraï to Ryan O’Neal in Walter Hill’s The Driver, while his solitary life and affection for ...
