This Gun for Hire: Frank Tuttle

This Gun for Hire starts out as a promising tale of crime and redemption that ultimately gets distracted and sidetracked into mediocrity.  At its core is Raven (Alan Ladd), a hardened hit man who is betrayed by his employer after carrying out a job.  On the run from the police, he encounters Ellen Graham (Veronica Lake), a young singer and magician.  The two pair up to find the man who hired and betrayed Raven.  The best scenes examine Raven's methods (he mercilessly guns down innocent witnesses to his hits) and motives (he was constantly abused as a child to the point where he killed his aunt).  However, this is all discarded once it is revealed that Raven's betrayer is manufacturing chemical weapons for...wait for it...the Imperial Japanese in World War Two.  Suddenly, finding his betrayer is not about justice and redemption, but about wartime patriotism.  I almost expected Lake to start advertising war bonds during one of her two musical routines (which are nonetheless terrific).  Of great interest is Raven's left wrist which was permanently disfigured after breaking it.  This is utilized as a source of tension in crowd scenes where the police are examining peoples' left wrists.  But it is largely used as an afterthought when a more competent director like Hitchcock or Huston would have taken an almost perverse delight in exploiting such a plot point.  All in all, This Gun for Hire is a disappointment, not a monumental one, but a disappointment nonetheless.

6/10