The Graham Greene adaptation makes its UK blu-ray debut this September.
A few years ago a pair of films noir starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake - 1942's The Glass Key and 1946's The Blue Dahlia - made their UK blu-ray debuts courtesy of Arrow Academy. We now have Eureka Entertainment to thank for bringing another classic Ladd/Lake noir, 1942's This Gun for Hire, to UK blu-ray this September.
Directed by Frank Tuttle and adapted by screenwriters Albert Maltz and W.R. Burnett from a novel by Graham Greene, This Gun for Hire marked the first screen pairing of Ladd and Lake. Ladd plays an assassin for hire out for revenge when his employer (Laird Cregar) double crosses him following his latest job. This leads him to uncover a plot involving plans to sell a secret formula for poison gas to America's WWII enemies while also crossing paths with Lake's nightclub singer.
This Gun for Hire will be released on blu-ray by Eureka Entertainment on September 14th.
Special features include a commentary by film scholar Adrian Martin; a Lux Radio Theater adaptation with the voices of Alan Ladd and Joan Blondell; a Screen Guild Theater adaptation with the voices of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake; theatrical trailer; and a collector’s booklet featuring new writing by film writer and journalist Barry Forshaw, and film writer Craig Ian Mann.
Check out a restored clip, blu-ray artwork and official synopsis below.
The official synopsis reads:
Veronica Lake is nightclub chanteuse Ellen, and her police detective boyfriend Michael (Robert Preston) is on the hunt for assassin-for-hire Philip Raven (Alan Ladd), after Raven performed a hit on a chemist with a secret formula and a taste for blackmail. When Raven's employer Gates (Laird Cregar) double crosses him after the job is done, Raven seeks revenge, and his path crosses with Ellen after she is hired to perform at Gates' club. Raven learns that the stolen formula is for a poison gas that is to be sold to the Japanese, and his pangs of conscience – and revelations of his tortured past – turn Ellen's fear into compassion, just as dangerous forces close in on Raven. But Ellen is still unsure if Raven can be trusted...
PARASITE Returns to UK Cinemas With New Black and White Edition [Trailer/Poster]https://t.co/HsexWjPfZY pic.twitter.com/S8crS0c7mO— The Movie Waffler (@themoviewaffler) July 12, 2020