Great film
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Thrift_Store_Junkie05 — 19 years ago(February 06, 2007 05:28 PM)
Well, the film is unquestionably highly influential on later American film noir and Alan Ladd's character was influential in inspiring future action films. This Gun for Hire is a solid example of what film noir is supposed to be like: terse dialogue and atmospheric dark shots in the freight yards and the snappy presentation. It formed a lot of the main ideas in film noir and in later action films and lays down the blueprint for the existential lone hitman strand of thrillers weve been seeing on screens for years. What's most striking for me about this film is that we completely become complicit with this contract killer. We empathise with Ladd and thats hugely groundbreaking. You know Martin Scorsese saw the film a lot. The cat/milk scene reappears in Taxi Driver and the scene on the train in This Gun where Ladd says "you talkin to me?" is a real pre-homage.
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ae7641 — 19 years ago(March 23, 2007 04:23 PM)
In the beginning, Ladd shoots a man to death, then immediately shoots a young woman to death then he reaches for his pistol to blast a little girl who he thinks is a wittness to the murders. But doesn't because she is blind. The audience must have had a heart attack since he was ready to kill a little girl.
That we are made "to empathise with Ladd " despite his cold-blooded nature is amazing. -
Noir-It-All — 16 years ago(April 27, 2009 02:43 PM)
His reaction to the little girl.
Don't you think he felt sorry for the girl when he first saw her on the steps? I do think his decision then made him sympathetic. That and his treatment of cats.
"Two more swords and I'll be Queen of the Monkey People." Roseanne -
onepotato2 — 16 years ago(August 05, 2009 11:34 PM)
then he reaches for his pistol to blast a little girl who he thinks is a wittness to the murders. But doesn't because she is blind.
by - ae7641 on Fri Mar 23 2007 16:23:55
No, her eyes are just fine. She has polio. -
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pt100 — 11 years ago(September 09, 2014 01:40 AM)
Actually, this is not at all a good example of pure film noir. Sort of the opposite, if you think about it. In classic film noir a basically good guy is brought down by a femme fatale. (Think "Double Indemnity," "Out of the Past," "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Detour," etc.) Whereas here a basically bad guy is redeemed (somewhat) by a good woman.
It is better to be kind than to be clever or good looking. Derek -
onepotato2 — 16 years ago(August 05, 2009 11:38 PM)
Just saw this the other day and it is one of the best, if not the best of its kind.
To make a cold-blooded killer symphatic is a heavy feat, but it was pulled off.
The real vilian (the real gun for hire) was an American chemical company that will sell poision gas to the Japanese during wartime for a profit.
by ae7641
It was "pulled off" in the cheapest, most cliched way possible, by adding a ridiculous, unlikely patriotic sub-plot to the novel. The film-makers wanted to explore an anti-social killer as their protag, but knew they couldn't have gotten away with it without that weak revision. This is weak, weak writing.
His patriotism is a half-hearted joke. It's the worst part of the movie. -
MysteryTrain223 — 14 years ago(April 13, 2011 10:17 AM)
I don't think the film ever makes the argument that Ladd's character becomes patriotic. Veronica Lake is the patriot. She is the one who is working as a government agent. She is the one with the patriotic rhetoric. Ladd's motivations at the end aren't based on patriotism as much as a loyalty he has developed for Lake due to the fact that she is the one person in his life to have treated him squarely. The ending is perfectly in keeping with the nature of the characters.
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LouisRenault — 14 years ago(July 07, 2011 11:16 AM)
Sorry, can't agree it's a great film, although there are some fine performances. There is virtually no tension and little enough excitement generally.
Well worth seeing for me, but I love the genre. However, I doubt it would make any converts among those used to more modern pictures. -
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Bree_33 — 10 years ago(February 16, 2016 02:54 PM)
This is an excellent film that captures the amorality of the hitman. Alan Ladd is marvelous in the film.
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