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by Fiona Underhill, Staff Writer

In 1941-1942, classic Hollywood siren Veronica Lake cemented her movie star status with two enduring screwball comedies (Sullivan’s Travels [1941] and I Married a Witch [1942]) and with two successful film noirs (This Gun For Hire [1942] and The Glass Key [1942]) both co-starring Alan Ladd. Her first collaboration with Ladd, in This Gun For Hire, was only supposed to feature Ladd in a supporting role, with Lake’s romantic interest being played by Robert Preston. But Ladd made such a big impression in the role of Philip Raven, an assassin hellbent on revenge (hello, John Wick), that he ended up overshadowing Preston. And Ladd’s chemistry with Lake was so sizzling, that they would go on to co-star in three further film noirs together.

The last Ladd-Lake collaboration was in 1948’s Saigon, which was not a success and, unfortunately, sounded the death knell of Lake’s career. At the end of 1948, Lake’s contract with Paramount expired, and the studio decided not to renew it. Despite this, it’s one of the most enjoyable of their four movies together. As with 1946’s The Blue Dahlia, Ladd plays one of three aviators who are close friends in the immediate aftermath of WWII. And as with 1942’s The Glass Key, the Lake-Ladd relationship in the film is a fraught one–with plenty of barbs and even slaps being traded between them. Instead of Lake fulfilling the femme fatale role in any of the noirs she made with Ladd, they actually follow the more traditional romantic tropes, such as enemies to lovers or friends to lovers. 

In Saigon, Ladd’s character Larry spends most of the film trying to persuade Lake’s Susan to fall for his best friend Mike (played by Douglas Dick, best known for Hitchcock’s Rope [1948]). Larry knows that Mike is dying from a head injury sustained in the war, but Mike is unaware of this. Larry wants to give Mike one last adventure–a risky, high-stakes plane journey involving a lot of money–and one last love affair, with Susan. But, of course, the ever-present chemistry between Lake and Ladd cannot be denied. One of the main reasons that Lake and Ladd were seen as a good match is because she was so short (around five-one), and even in heels she was still shorter than the diminutive Ladd (who was only five-six). Luckily, they ended up bringing out the best in one another.

While The Blue Dahlia (1946) is another good film noir, featuring another fantastic performance from Ladd, Lake unfortunately doesn’t have much screen time. Another regular Ladd collaborator–William Bendix–as another character with a head injury makes the most lasting impression in the film. Lake’s main contribution here is to look stunning in stupendous outfits, as she also does in 1942’s The Glass Key. The Glass Key is the weakest of the four Lake-Ladd collaborations, due to having an overly complicated plot, featuring far too many characters. Lake’s wardrobe by Edith Head (who designed her costumes in all four of the Lake-Ladd noirs) really is the stand-out element of The Glass Key. And it does provide a slightly more complex character for Lake to get stuck into.

But it was actually Lake and Ladd’s first collaboration in This Gun For Hire which is the best of their four noirs. Considering this was an ‘introducing’ credit for Ladd, who was billed after three other actors, it’s ridiculous how much his intense presence dominates the film. It really is the definition of a star-making role, and the studio knew during filming that they were clearly on to a winner as they lined up The Glass Key for Ladd and Lake before production had even wrapped. Lake plays nightclub singer (and, amusingly, magician) Ellen Graham, and Ladd plays Philip Raven–a gun for hire who is double-crossed by his employer.

From the moment that Ladd falls asleep on Lake’s shoulder on a train from San Francisco to Los Angeles, their fates are intertwined...and sealed. Raven actually comes close to killing Ellen not long after they first meet, as she is a witness to his presence in LA, but he is hesitant even at this early stage. By the time an unconscious Ellen comes around in Raven’s arms in the mansion of Raven’s enemy Will Gates (Laird Cregar), the sexual tension between the two can be cut with a knife. The most memorable section of the film is a twenty-minute section just before the finale, in which Raven goes on the run with Ellen as his hostage. They spend the night in a railway yard, and Raven reveals his tragic backstory to a sympathetic Ellen.

Raven fights against his ruthless killer exterior–wrestling with saving or killing a stray cat, promising Ellen that he won’t kill anymore and then shooting a cop during his escape. Ellen (and Lake’s softly-spoken performance) draws Raven’s vulnerable side out, and he can hardly bear any tenderness she shows him–bandaging his wrist, or kissing him goodbye on the cheek–after which he strokes his face in disbelief and smiles. It’s clear from this sequence of the film alone why This Gun For Hire launched Ladd to stardom–he is mesmerizing as Raven–but it is Lake who brings this performance out of him.

Tragically, both Lake and Ladd succumbed to early alcohol-related deaths, both at the ages of 50. Lake’s career had drastically declined, and between 1950 and her death in 1973, she only appeared in three films. 1997’s LA Confidential, in which Kim Basinger plays a high-class call girl who looks like Veronica Lake, was many people’s introduction to the actress whose heyday was in the 1940s. It certainly led to renewed interest in the killer blonde with one of the most distinctive looks of any classic Hollywood star. Lake was a gifted comedienne, who perhaps excelled even more in the screwball comedy than she did in noirs (like Double Indemnity’s [1944] Barbara Stanwyck), and it’s truly crushing that the second half of her life was so troubled. It’s tough to think of all of the scintillating Lake performances that we missed out on, and somehow, four Lake-Ladd movies doesn’t feel like enough.