This Gun For Hire Film Noir

Being one of the most famous and recognizable genre of movies, film noir became extremely popular from the 1940s to the 1950s. It has distinguishable features such as integrating shadows and darkness in shots and having a dark moral story with the main character losing control of their life. An early, yet classic and perfect example of a noir film is This Gun for Hire, directed by Frank Tuttle and released in 1942. The film stars Alan Ladd as the stone cold hitman Raven with a slight side of affection and love & Veronica Lake as the seductive femme fatale, Ellen. Raven works as a paid hitman and decides to get revenge on his boss that betrayed him when he paid him for an old job with traced money so the police could hunt him. By coincidence,

Raven meets Ellen, who is the fiancee of the policeman who is trying to track him down for his crimes. Ellen tries to help Raven escape from the cops and also tries to help her country in it’s time of war in a patriotic way.
This Gun for Hire has several film noir characteristics, with the use of a femme fatale occuring most notably out of all throughout the film.

Ellen Graham uses her seductive charm and beauty to trick a handful of men in the storyline, but it’s not for her personal benefit. While she is an extremely deceptive character, she ultimately tricks all the men she encounters for the benefit of her own country. For example, there is a sense of attraction between Ellen and Raven the entire team they are with each other, but she never ends up in a serious relationship with him and instead betrays him. However, Ellen is not necessarily evil in the movie, she is rather just patriotic and wanting to do the best for her nation. Another attribute that makes This Gun for Hire a great example of a noir film is the use of shadows and darkness. Dark shots are used in the storyline to signify the upcoming sense of uncertainty and danger. Raven is also increasingly used in shadowy shots because of the fate he’s falling into and how he is being hunted later in the film. When Raven and Ellen are found by the police in an empty factory, a series of dark and shadowy shots are used to show the deteriorating fate of Raven and how his mental thoughts are getting worse and worse. The typical film noir features of the use of a femme fatale and shadows make This Gun for Hire the perfect example of a film for the

genre.
Unlike several other noir films, This Gun for Hire includes a main character who isn’t completely innocent and perfect. In the storyline, Raven has the simple goal of killing another man for the entirety of the film. He also comes from a shady background of being a “gun for hire” as stated in the title. While he does perform evil actions, Raven is shown as not being so evil in his personality. For example, he is affectionate for his cat and only causes harm to others for his job. This slight sense of evilness also lets the audience be eased into the impending doom that falls upon Raven. As the plot progresses, he goes from the one doing the chasing and hunting to the one being followed and hunted down by the police. Cinematography also comes into play to show the sense of uncertainty with use of darkness when danger is present for Raven. Towards the end of the movie, his paranoia becomes evident through his physical behavior and he seems to know things are looking bleak for him. Because of his slight hint of evilness, the sense of danger and doom slowly creeping up on Raven is much more tense and ties in the plot excellently.
A characteristic of film noir that This Gun for Hire shares with the genre is the main character having no control over their destiny and their life ultimately taking a turn for the worst. At the beginning of the film, Raven is making decisions for himself off his own freedom and is in no apparent danger. As the film progresses, he starts to lose control over choices bit by bit while also getting into a more dangerous situation. Towards the end of the film and the plot, Raven has no freedom and has his life shaped by the people pursuing him. He doesn’t have the ability to make choices for himself anymore and the sense of death closing in on him is almost tangible. This recurring theme in film noir may be a shock to those who are used to happy endings in other types of films, but it makes the plot much more memorable and allows for the story, such as in This Gun for Hire, to be overall better.
In the early classic years of film noir This Gun for Hire proved to be an extremely successful noir film because of the key concepts it included. The tell-tale characteristics of noir are mastered throughout the movie and combine excellently together. The dark and shadowy shots show how dark and dangerous the matter of the story is and help characterize Raven. Ellen was depicted as the perfect femme fatale, not being obnoxious or rude, but kindly deceptive. Another concept of noir that was shown was Raven’s life spiraling out of control and eventually getting put in the situation he least wanted to be in. Because of the flawless execution of film noir qualities, This Gun for Hire is one of the best examples of a movie in the genre.