Fourth-billed, but breaking thru as a major star on THIS GUN FOR HIRE/’42, Alan Ladd got solo above-the-title billing for the first time on this slapdash wartime comedy later the same year.* Paramount Pictures rushing to get Ladd back on screen before the Draft Board grabbed him for the Army. And, wouldn’t you know, that’s pretty much the plot of the pic; just that Ladd’s a big-time racketeer with the draft board on his tail rather than a big-time movie star with the draft board on his tail. But treating superior officers like mob underlings doesn’t fly when your boss is Uncle Sam. On the other hand, when a cache of secret documents goes missing, and foreign agents are hot on the trail, some of those underworld talents come in mighty handy, especially if you’re on the run, AWOL with the film’s antagonist WAC (debuting Helen Walker) who’s beginning to see possibilities in this arrogant soldier boy. Sounds kinda fun, no? Especially with the lousy news from the front in the early days of the way. For a time, it brought out the silly side in Hollywood war movies. Alas, nothing in here plays to its comic potential. (Other than a running bit between Ladd and the drunken old ‘biddy’ (Mabel Paige) who pretends to be his mother.) And while cinematographer John F. Seitz was proving transformative to Paramount literary writer/directors Preston Sturges & Billy Wilder at the time, there’s little he can do to give payoffs to disappearing characters & plot lines, or fix director Frank Tuttle’s lackluster comic timing. (Note how elements snap into place whenever the script drops the comedy and goes for straight suspense.) The film’s not unpleasant, just a mess.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *See what all the fuss was about in THIS GUN FOR HIRE/’42. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/01/this-gun-for-hire-1942.html
No comments:
Post a Comment