The Film Noirs of Veronica Lake

A promotional photo
from This Gun for Hire

Veronica Lake was born 100 years ago on this date. Among her best known films today are comedies, such as Sullivan's Travels (1941) and I Married a Witch (1942), but she made other types of films as well. Indeed, among classic movies buffs, Veronica Lake is also remembered for film noirs she made with Alan Ladd. When people think of film noir actresses, Veronica Lake might not be the first name that comes to mind, she starred in a few influential film noirs made during the movement's formative years.

Indeed, the first film she made with Alan Ladd, This Gun for Hire (1942), was the movie that made Alan Ladd a star. The film starred Macdonald Carey as Lt. Michael Crane, a police detective investigating the murder of a blackmailer by paid assassin Philip Raven (Alan Ladd). Veronica Lake played Lt. Crane's girlfriend, stage magician and nightclub singer Ellen Graham. While Veronica Lake and Macdonald Carey were technically the stars of This Gun for Hire, it was arguably Alan Ladd who stole the show. His star power was obvious even before the movie was finished, as was his chemistry with Veronica Lake. It was even before This Gun for Hire was completed that Paramount announced him as the star of The Glass Key.

This Gun for Hire received positive reviews, with Alan Ladd often singled out for praise. It also did well at the box office. Beyond cementing Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake as co-stars in crime films, it would also have an influence on the development of film noir. Released in 1942, it was among the earliest movies that is identifiably noir.

As mentioned above, Alan Ladd was cast in The Glass Key (1942) even before This Gun for Hire as finished. The Glass Key was an adaptation of the Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name. Paramount had already released an adaptation of the novel in 1935 starring George Raft. While that version would prove to be one of George Raft's most successful movies of the Thirties, it was not particularly well received by critics. Regardless, Paramount apparently thought it was the perfect vehicle for Alan Ladd. It probably helped that The Maltese Falcon (1941), also based on a Dashiell Hammett novel, had been a hit for Warner Bros. the previous year.

In The Glass Key Veronica Lake played Janet Henry, the daughter of a candidate for governor (Moroni Olsen). Political boss Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) falls in love with Janet, and for that reason decides to help get her father elected. Alan Ladd played Madvig's right-hand man, Ed Beaumont, who also falls in love with Janet. Janet's brother Taylor (Richard Denning) creates problems for everyone in that he owes gambling debts to gangster Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia), who is already unhappy with Madvig and Henry after being informed by Madvig that he plans to clean up the city.

Oddly enough, in The Glass Key it is Brian Donlevy who gets top billing, followed by Veronica Lake and then Alan Ladd. Like This Gun for Hire before it, however, it is Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd who are the real stars. And like This Gun for Hire, it also received positive reviews.

Despite the success of This Gun for Hire and The Glass Key, it would be a few years before Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd would make another film noir together, although they had cameos in the film adaptation of the popular radio show Duffy's Tavern (1945). Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd's next film noir, The Blue Dahlia, was not released until 1946. Among other things, The Blue Dahlia was the first and only original screenplay written by Raymond Chandler.

The Blue Dahlia starred Alan Ladd as Johnny Morrison, a United States Navy pilot whose discovers his wife is having an affair with Eddie Harwood (Howard Da Silva), owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub. Ultimately, Johnny finds himself accused of murder when his wife Helen (Doris Dowling) winds up dead. Veronica Lake's part in the film is small. She plays Joyce Harwood, the estranged wife of Eddie Harwood, whose path crosses with Johnny Morrison in the film The Blue Dahlia received positive reviews and did well at the box office in the United Kingdom.

It would be two years later that Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake would appear in their final film noir together. Saigon (1948) starred Alan Ladd as Major Larry Briggs, who, with two of his buddies from the war, run afoul of a dangerous criminal. Veronica Lake played Susan Cleaver, the secretary of a war profiteer from who Larry has taken work as a pilot. Saigon did not received particularly good reviews, with critics pointing out the weakness of the movie's story. The film did not do as well at the box office as Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd's previous films, although it was not a bomb by any stretch of the imagination.

Saigon would be the last film Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd made together. This was perhaps in part because Veronica Lake's career would go into decline. Her last few films of the Forties did not match the success of her earlier films. In 1948 Paramount decided not to renew her contract. After leaving Paramount, Veronica Lake would only make four more films in her lifetime.

Veronica Lake only appeared in four film noirs. Indeed, her career was coming to an end even as the film noir movement was reaching its peak in the late Forties. Even so, her earliest film noirs would leave an impact on the movement. This Gun for Hire and The Glass Key laid the blueprint for many film noirs to come, with Alan Ladd playing morally ambiguous characters and Veronica Lake playing the good girl who initially seems bad. The Blue Dahlia remains a beloved film noir, respected for its atmosphere and dialogue. Although she appeared in far fewer film noirs than other actresses, Veronica Lake remains tied to the movement to this day.