Even the casual film fan will likely recognize Veronica Lake from her peek-a-boo hairstyle, made famous in the early part of her career and so popular during WWII, that public service announcements had to be made to discourage factory workers from emulating the style, lest their hair become caught in the machinery. If she were only known for her hair, however, she would have been forgotten. Instead, she crafted a short, but impactful career made notable by 3 Film Noir couplings with Alan Ladd, This Gun for Hire & The Glass Key, in 1942 & The Blue Dahlia in 1946. She had rocketed to superstardom in 1941, at just 20 years old, playing "the Girl" in Preston Sturges' classic comedy Sullivan's Travels, after being signed by Paramount Pictures as a teen ager. Her petite build, she was all of 4' 11", belied a combative spirit & an impressive strong screen personae. Even though she appeared in no more than 20 credited film roles, she made the most of her time on screen.
She & Ladd made the perfect on screen couple, most often credited because of his equally short stature (5'6"), but really because their personalities were also equally balanced. He was stoic & monosyllabic, while she outspoken & aggressive. In This Gun for Hire, for instance, Ladd's hitman named Raven barely utters a complete sentence, preferring to show his disdain for humanity & love for cats through physical action. Lake, meanwhile, is a nightclub performer working undercover for the government, happily in love with a cop. While their scenes together aren't inherently romantic, there is an obvious chemistry between them that was noticed by audiences & executives alike. Their shared time together on the train to Los Angeles & then hiding out in a train yard are the highlight of the film. *(Jean-Pierre Melville's classic Le Samourai '67 is a loose remake of This Gun for Hire, with Alain Delon playing the stoic hitman).
Later in 1942 Paramount re-teamed the pair in The Glass Key, where a crooked politician changes tacts in pursuit of the daughter of a reform candidate. Ladd plays the right hand man for the crooked politician & Lake the daughter of the do-gooder. When her gambling addicted brother is killed it's up to both their characters to solve the crime. Based on a Dashiell Hammett (The Thin Man, The Maltese Falcon) novel, the film is chock full of twists & turns before the killer is revealed.
Finally, 4 years later the 2 teamed up for The Blue Dahlia, in perhaps the best of the 3 films. Ladd stars as a returning Navy Lt. Commander who is accused of killing his philandering wife. The wife's paramour, noted gangster & owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub, is estranged from his wife, played by Lake. Together, and for the first time, there is a romantic spark, but it's muted by the wife's death & the search for killer, which is complicated the suspicion that one of Ladd's Navy buddies may be the killer.
Lake's career was cut short by her aggressive personae on set & drinking problems that continued to get worse once she left Hollywood. She preferred to live life by her own rules, taking stage roles in summer stock & the occasional TV appearance to make ends meet. She famously was known to work in a diner waiting tables, but never apologized for her life choices. She was a strong woman who had vices that made it easy for Hollywood to turn its back on her, but in her autobiography she makes a point of not asking for anyone's pity. Sadly, she died at just 50 years old, but left behind a handful of stunning performances & an impact on Noir in 3 classics of the movement.
She & Ladd made the perfect on screen couple, most often credited because of his equally short stature (5'6"), but really because their personalities were also equally balanced. He was stoic & monosyllabic, while she outspoken & aggressive. In This Gun for Hire, for instance, Ladd's hitman named Raven barely utters a complete sentence, preferring to show his disdain for humanity & love for cats through physical action. Lake, meanwhile, is a nightclub performer working undercover for the government, happily in love with a cop. While their scenes together aren't inherently romantic, there is an obvious chemistry between them that was noticed by audiences & executives alike. Their shared time together on the train to Los Angeles & then hiding out in a train yard are the highlight of the film. *(Jean-Pierre Melville's classic Le Samourai '67 is a loose remake of This Gun for Hire, with Alain Delon playing the stoic hitman).
Later in 1942 Paramount re-teamed the pair in The Glass Key, where a crooked politician changes tacts in pursuit of the daughter of a reform candidate. Ladd plays the right hand man for the crooked politician & Lake the daughter of the do-gooder. When her gambling addicted brother is killed it's up to both their characters to solve the crime. Based on a Dashiell Hammett (The Thin Man, The Maltese Falcon) novel, the film is chock full of twists & turns before the killer is revealed.
Finally, 4 years later the 2 teamed up for The Blue Dahlia, in perhaps the best of the 3 films. Ladd stars as a returning Navy Lt. Commander who is accused of killing his philandering wife. The wife's paramour, noted gangster & owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub, is estranged from his wife, played by Lake. Together, and for the first time, there is a romantic spark, but it's muted by the wife's death & the search for killer, which is complicated the suspicion that one of Ladd's Navy buddies may be the killer.
Lake's career was cut short by her aggressive personae on set & drinking problems that continued to get worse once she left Hollywood. She preferred to live life by her own rules, taking stage roles in summer stock & the occasional TV appearance to make ends meet. She famously was known to work in a diner waiting tables, but never apologized for her life choices. She was a strong woman who had vices that made it easy for Hollywood to turn its back on her, but in her autobiography she makes a point of not asking for anyone's pity. Sadly, she died at just 50 years old, but left behind a handful of stunning performances & an impact on Noir in 3 classics of the movement.
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