Read the book
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — This Gun for Hire
m-j-mooney — 16 years ago(June 24, 2009 05:38 AM)
As an imdb regular I'm quite used to seeing these forums comparing films with the books they are based on, so I'm surprised that there isn't such a thread here.
I have read most of Graham Greene's work (studied him in depth at school), but only recently got round to reading "A Gun For Sale", followed closely by watching this film.
First off, the book is set in Britain, in the 1930s, rather than the US during WWII. The man Raven kills at the beginning is a European politician, the conspiracy being engineered by an arms manufacturer who will benefit by driving the world to war.
Raven himself has a hare lip, rather than a deformed wrist, but Hollywood obviously couldn't resist casting a hearthrob actor rather than somebody actually "ugly". The showgirl is not in any way working for the "good guys", she is simply a bystander caught up in events. In the final scene, the "Brewster" character doesn't have a heartattack, Raven simply blows him away!
These (admittedly important) details aside, the film is remarkably true to the structure and - critically - the spirit of the book. I'd recommend any fans of the film to read it - but be prepared for a completely different setting. It's certainly "noir", but of a grimy, austerity British version, rather than the dark glamour of 40s L.A.
What it shares with the film is the way it draws the reader/viewer into a sympathy with the psychotic, damaged, but somehow sympathetic hitman Raven, rather than the traditional "hero" - the pursuing policeman is in both cases, a rather dull "plod" character. You just KNOW that the heroine finds Raven more sexy, but in the end settles for domestic security.
Good book, good film. The variance between the two is no bad thing, simply food for thought. -
Phillip Marlowe — 14 years ago(July 22, 2011 01:14 PM)
I recently read the novel also and I would disagree that the girl found Raven sexier than her policeman fiancee. Initially the girl felt much sympathy for Raven, pretty much as Veronica lake does in the film. But as Raven gains confidence in her, he reveals more of the things he's done in the past as well as the murder of the European cabinet minister. This fills the girl with revulsion and she ultimately breaks her word to Raven and reveals all he told her to the police.