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By
NICK ZEGARAC
"This Gun For Hire" is a
watered down version of Graham Greene's novel "A
Gun for Sale." It represents the first of four
cinematic outings that teamed sultry Veronica Lake
with the stoically handsome Alan Ladd, a potent
cocktail of personalities that proved to be much
in demand over the next decade.
Perhaps a tad heavy on sentimentality than most
film noirs, the plot concerns Philip Raven's
(Ladd) obsession with Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake)
a nightclub dancer with a rough and rumble cop
boyfriend, Michael Crane (Robert Preston). Ellen
is supposed to be working on exposing Alvin
Brewster (Tully Marshall), a chemical company CEO
who sold poisonous gas to the Japanese. But an odd
and Freudian driven relationship surfaces between
Ellen and Raven when she senses his childhood pain
and angst. Ellen becomes Raven's willing captive,
in the process transcending his nightmares and
making him more human. The very first scene in
this film is so incredibly chilling it begs
special mention. After having been double-crossed
by ne'er-do-well, Williard Gates (Laird Cregar),
Raven (Ladd) contemplates killing an innocent
little girl who has seen him. Even though the
resulting decision is typical "golden age"
morality, Ladd makes one believe, if only for a
moment, that such cold-blooded silencing might be
possible.
Once again, Universal's DVD transfer is remarkably
solid and clean. The gray scale is very well
balanced with deep solid blacks and whites that
are almost pristine. There's a hint film grain and
some age related artifacts. Also, some edge
enhancement and pixelization occur as well but
nothing that will distract from a visual
presentation that is a considerable improvement
over previously issued VHS tapes. The audio is
mono and very well represented. There are no
extras on this disc. Nevertheless, it is a good
disc to add to your library of classic cinema. |
