This Gun For Hire, released in 1942, has some claims to be the earliest true film noir. The Maltese Falcon was earlier, but is really (to my way of thinking) more a straight private-eye movie than a film noir.
In This Gun For Hire Alan Ladd plays a taciturn hitman with a surprisingly sentimental streak, while Veronica Ladd does the femme fatale thing. Not a genuine femme fatale, perhaps, since her motives are always honourable. This is the movie that made Alan Ladd a major star, and it’s easy to see why. He oozes cool. And Lake oozes sex, while Laird Cregar oozes wickedness. The acting is certainly one of the film’s strengths. Alan Ladd’s performance was nothing short of revolutionary – for almost the first time in American cinema he demonstrated the advantages of underacting, and paved the way for people like Robert Mitchum. And he pretty much invented the anti-hero. The movie has the regulation film noir convoluted plot, and it has some fine chase sequences in a chemical factory and a railroad yard. It confirms my oft-stated opinion that you just can’t make a bad film from a Graham Greene story. Highly recommended.
This Gun For Hire (1942)
Dfordoom wrote:
"This Gun For Hire, released in 1942, has some claims to be the earliest true film noir. The Maltese Falcon was earlier, but is really (to my way of thinking) more a straight private-eye movie than a film noir."
While THIS GUN FOR HIRE is an outstanding example of early film noir (one of the best, in my opinion) it misses the distinction of being the earliest of such films by two years. That honor would go to the unheralded 1940 RKO "B" gem, STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR. Released in the summer of that year, it was literally the first film to blatantly exploit many of the defining elements that would later come to typify film noir: expressionistic, high contrast photography (the director, Boris Ingster emigrated to the US from Germany; the cinematographer was Nicholas Musaraca, who would subsequently be responsible for the Val Lewton classics "Cat People" and "The 7th Victim" as well as future noir standards "The Spiral Staircase," "The Locket," and "Out of the Past"), a studio contrived urban milieu comprised of dingy rooming houses and seedy diners and populated by characters drenched in cynicism and paranoia. At the center of it all is Peter Lorre in a small but crucial role, one which echoes somewhat his performance in Lang's M a decade earlier. The film also features a distrubing, expressionistic dream sequence unlike anything you've ever seen! TCM runs this film periodically--please try to catch it the next time they do. Incidentally, it is truly a crime of omission that Warner Home Video has curiously avoided including this landmark title in their various Film Noir box sets. Over the years it has been released on both VHS tape and Laser Disc.
By the way, I completely agree with your comment about THE MALTESE FALCON; a great, deservedly classic detective film that fails to capture a definitive noir spirit.
"This Gun For Hire, released in 1942, has some claims to be the earliest true film noir. The Maltese Falcon was earlier, but is really (to my way of thinking) more a straight private-eye movie than a film noir."
While THIS GUN FOR HIRE is an outstanding example of early film noir (one of the best, in my opinion) it misses the distinction of being the earliest of such films by two years. That honor would go to the unheralded 1940 RKO "B" gem, STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR. Released in the summer of that year, it was literally the first film to blatantly exploit many of the defining elements that would later come to typify film noir: expressionistic, high contrast photography (the director, Boris Ingster emigrated to the US from Germany; the cinematographer was Nicholas Musaraca, who would subsequently be responsible for the Val Lewton classics "Cat People" and "The 7th Victim" as well as future noir standards "The Spiral Staircase," "The Locket," and "Out of the Past"), a studio contrived urban milieu comprised of dingy rooming houses and seedy diners and populated by characters drenched in cynicism and paranoia. At the center of it all is Peter Lorre in a small but crucial role, one which echoes somewhat his performance in Lang's M a decade earlier. The film also features a distrubing, expressionistic dream sequence unlike anything you've ever seen! TCM runs this film periodically--please try to catch it the next time they do. Incidentally, it is truly a crime of omission that Warner Home Video has curiously avoided including this landmark title in their various Film Noir box sets. Over the years it has been released on both VHS tape and Laser Disc.
By the way, I completely agree with your comment about THE MALTESE FALCON; a great, deservedly classic detective film that fails to capture a definitive noir spirit.
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MissGoddess
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My dream is a box set with This Gun For Hire, The Glass Key and The Blue Dahlia. The latter is my favorite of the three. Ladd and Lake were one of the most exciting teams in the movies. Somehow, they made ice playing off ice so cool it burned up the screen.
P.S. Though I have say it, I think Gary Cooper pre-dated Ladd with introducing the understated acting style.
P.S. Though I have say it, I think Gary Cooper pre-dated Ladd with introducing the understated acting style.
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MissGoddess
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Yes, I'm still waiting for a Region 1 release, but if I have no other choice I may pick up those R2s.dfordoom wrote:I bought the DVDs of The Blue Dahlia and The Glass Key a few weeks ago. I've watched The Blue Dahlia - a great little movie! They're both Region 2 DVDs.MissGoddess wrote:My dream is a box set with This Gun For Hire, The Glass Key and The Blue Dahlia.
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Mr. Arkadin
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