Battle of the Blondes: Veronica Lake VS Lana Turner.

I think the battle between these two femme fatales .. Veronica Lake and Lana Turner, maybe their memorable hairstyles.

Veronica Lake (November 14, 1922– July 7, 1973), best known for her role in femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, and her peek-a-boo hairstyle.

This Gun For Hire(1942). Crime/drama/noir, directed by Frank Tuttle and based on the novel A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene. The drama features Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, and Alan Ladd.

Please click here to view This Gun for Hire(1942) review.

The Blue Dahlia(1946). Film noir directed by George Marshall and written by Raymond Chandler. The film marks the third pairing of stars Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.

Three Navy officers, Johnny Morrison, Buzz Wanchek and George Copeland, return to their home in, Hollywood, California. Buzz is suffering from shell shock and has a metal plate in his head, George was released because of his eyesight and Johnny was given leave after his heroic actions.

Johnny soon learns his wife Helen, is having an affair with Eddie Harwood, owner of the Blue Dahlia nightclub. Helen drunk, confesses to Johnny, that their son Dickie, died in a car crash while she was driving drunk. Johnny leaves soon after.

Not knowing who Helen really is, Buzz goes to her apartment for a drink. After Eddie ends the affair, Helen blackmails him into seeing her again. Johnny, meanwhile, is picked up by Joyce Harwood, who is separated from Eddie. Neither shares their name and they spend the night in separate rooms in a Malibu inn.



The next morning, the radio announces that Helen has been murdered and all evidence points to Johnny. Newell, the house detective told police that Johnny had a fight with Helen and also saw Buzz and Eddie, at her apartment. Buzz and George, are later picked up for questioning.

Johnny, checks into a hotel under another name, Corelli, the hotel manager, finds Johnny's picture with Dickie and tries to blackmail him. Johnny beats Corelli up, then discovers that on the back of the photo, that Eddie is really the murder. Corelli, sells the info. on Johnny to a gangster named Leo, who kidnaps him.

Buzz and George go to see Eddie, at the Blue Dahlia, where they meet Joyce. As Joyce picks at a blue dahlia flower, the music playing in the background reminds him of the music he heard at Helen's apartment on that fateful night.

Eddie forces Johnny, to admit that he was involved in the shooting of a bank messenger. Leo tries to kill Johnny, but shoots Eddie instead. Johnny runs to the Blue Dahlia, where he finds the police trying to get Buzz to admit he killed Helen. Johnny tells Joyce, to turn up the music and Buzz remembers leaving Helen alive in her apartment. So who killed Helen?

This is Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake third film of the decade. William Bendix, wise-cracking lines are perfect for this film. This is a good crime story that keeps you guessing.

Lana Turner (February 8, 1921 – June 29, 1995). She became well known as a glamorous femme fatale, for her performance in the film noir, The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946). Her popularity grew and one of her most popular films of the 50s was, The Bad and the Beautiful.

The Postman Always Rings Twice(1946). Drama-film noir based on the 1934 novel of the same name by James M. Cain. This adaptation of the novel is the best known, featuring Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway, Hume Cronyn, Leon Ames, and Audrey Totter.

Please click here to view Postman Always Rings Twice(1943) review.

The Bad and the Beautiful(1952). Melodramatic film that tells the story of a film producer who alienates all around him. It was directed by Vincente Minelli and stars Lana Turner, Kirk Douglas, Walter Pidgeon, Dick Powell, Barry Sullivan, Gloria Grahame and Gilbert Roland.

Great On Screen Couples: Alan Ladd & Veronica Lake

This duo made 4 films together plus one more where they played themselves. Their coming together as on screen partners was at first mainly out of physical necessity: Ladd was just 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) tall and the only actress then on the Paramount lot short enough to pair with him was Lake, who stood just 4 feet 11½ inches (1.51 m). So in their first pairing, This Gun For Hire (1942),which had Lake top billed as a singing magician trying to ferret out some enemy agents and Ladd as a hired killer looking for payback against the spies who double-crossed him. Audiences loved Ladd in this film and when it came time to reunite him and Lake in another film, The Glass Key (1942), he moved up from 4th billing to third. Both films were big hits for Paramaount. And the studio brought them back together for the third time in 1946's masterful film noir classic The Blue Dahlia where Ladd received top billing as his star was on the rise, while Lake's career was stalling. But their chemistry was still apparent as Blue Dahlia remains a film noir favorite. The duo played themselves in all star variety flick, Duffy's Tavern, which really is not fondly remembered as a bright spot for either star. Their fourth and final film was 1948's Saigon, which is widely regarded as the weakest film the pair did. Lake's career pretty much sputtered after the 40's ended while Ladd would go on to star in 30 more films inlcuding probably his most fondly remembered role as the laconic gunfighter Shane. But for three really good films, Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd joined the ranks of great Hollywood on screen couples.

Happy Birthday: Veronica Lake!

Veronica Lake  (November 14, 1922 – July 7, 1973) was an accomplished aviatrix, she took up flying in 1946 and in 1948 flew her small plane from Los Angeles to New York. Please click on Veronica Lake's picture located on the side bar to read her bio.

Veronica Lake .

In the early 1940s, film actress Veronica Lake, changed her peekaboo hairstyle, to encourage women working in war industry factories, to wear a more practical hairstyles.

Veronica Lake, was best known for her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd, during the 1940s. A stray strand of her blond hair during a publicity photo shoot led to her famous hairstyle.

Please click to view Saz Awesome movie review at the "Cafe".
Hollywood's Tribute to the Angels of Bataan - Cry Havoc and So Proudly We Hail(1943).

FLIGHT OVER DUE (1952).

Flight Overdue. Aired: March 28 1952. An internationally famous woman pilot is secretly recruited for a flight over the Pacific against her husband's wishes. Years after she disappears, her heartbroken husband is informed of her true mission and her ultimate fate.

Veronica Lake, gave a wonderful performance as Paula. Although... you may have a hard time recognizing her. It seems to me this TV episode is loosely based on Amelia Earhart story. Veronica even looks like Amelia. But ...I can not find any information saying that my believes are true.
FLIGHT OVER DUE (1952)

VERONICA LAKE

Veronica Lake, breakthrough film was, I Wanted Wings (1941), Lake played the second female lead and stole all the scenes she performed in. This was followed by, Hold Back the Dawn. She had starring role in, Sullivan's Travels, This Gun for Hire, I Married a Witch, The Glass Key, and So Proudly We Hail!.

She became best known for onscreen pairings with actor Alan Ladd. The couple were teamed together because Ladd, was 5 feet 5 inches tall and she was the only actress short enough to pair with him at 4 feet 11½ inches.

Although popular with the public, Lake had a difficult personality and had the reputation for being hard to work with. In the film, Star Spangled Rhythm, Lake took part in a song about her hair style, "A Sweater, A Sarong and a Peekaboo Bang", performed with Paulette Goddard and Dorothy Lamour. Lake's career began to fade with her role as Nazi spy in, The Hour Before the Dawn(1944). Paramount cast Lake, in mostly forgotten films, with the exception of, The Blue Dahlia (1946), in which she again co-starred with Ladd.


From the film , Now You See It Now you Dont(1942), thriller.

FUN FACT:

Veronica lake and Alan Ladd, made 7 movies together: The Blue Dahlia (1946), Duffy's Tavern (1945), The Glass Key (1942), Saigon (1948), Star Spangled Rhythm (1942), This Gun for Hire (1942) and Variety Girl (1947). In Variety Girl (1947), Star Spangled Rhythm (1942) and Duffy's Tavern (1945) they appear as themselves.

THIS GUN FOR HIRE (1942)

This Gun for Hire (1942). Crime drama/film noir. Director: Frank Tuttle. Based on the novel A Gun for Sale by Graham Greene. Cast: Veronica Lake, Robert Preston, Laird Cregar, Alan Ladd and Yvonne De Carlo.

In San Francisco, during World War II, Philip Raven, a hired killer, awakens from his late morning nap, to carry out a job to murder Albert Baker, a chemist in possession of a formula for poison gas, which he is using to blackmail the company. Raven, completes his job on Baker and his secretary and is paid by Willard Gates, an executive for Nitrochemical and an nightclub owner. Gates, had the money registered and claims that Raven stole the $20,000 from Nitrochemical.

Los Angeles police lieutenant Michael Crane, is assigned to the case. As luck would have it, Gates hires Michael's fiancee, Ellen Graham, to work at his Neptune Club, in Los Angeles. Both men are unaware that Ellen, is working undercover, for Senator Burnett, to find out Gates's involvement with the poison gas.

Raven, realizing that Gates, has double-crossed him, follows him onto the train to Los Angeles. Ellen, shares her seat on the train to Los Angeles with Raven. Looking, in her purse, she finds that he has stolen five dollars. In the morning, Gates, sees Raven and Ellen, asleep on the same seat and suspects that they are in it together. He contacts the Los Angeles police, who search for Raven. Raven, takes Ellen hostage and looses the police. Later, he plans to shoot her in a condemned building. Michael, tries to track Raven, while wondering if his girlfriend has been kidnapped or is a willing accomplice. Yvonne De Carlo, also has a small role.

I thought the film had wonderful casting, this maybe my favorite Ladd performance. Lake and Ladd have awesome on screen chemistry and you get the feeling that if the circumstances had been different they would be together.. Fun, to to see a young Yvonne De Carlo. Warning* there are some intense scenes.

GUN FOR HIRE MOVIE TRAILER.

Pamela Blake (August 6, 1915 – October 6, 2009). Her film career lasted for fifteen years, with her starring mostly in B-movies. Her first film role was uncredited, playing a bit part in the 1934 film, Eight Girls on a Boat. In 1938 she starred in the western, The Utah Trail with Tex Ritter.

In 1939 she starred in five films, a crime drama, a mystery, and one a western, where she starred with John Wayne, in the 1939 film, Wyoming Outlaw.. In total, she had roles in fifty four films. In 1946 she starred in Chick Carter, Detective. Her last role was in 1954, in the film, The Adventures of the Texas Kid: Border Ambush.

I MARRIED A WITCH (1942)

I MARRIED A WITCH, is a charming comedy. Romantic settings and two wonderful performers. Fredric March, and Veronica Lake, playing against their usual characters, makes this a very entertaining movie. Author Thorne Smith, wrote about a beautiful playful witch instead of the ugly witches that we grew up reading about.. Much like the TV series "Bewitched".

The movie begins with Veronica Lake, who along with her father, is burnt at the stake on charges of witchcraft. Before her death she places a curse on the descendants of the man responsible for the burning.

The movie quickly moves to the present where we see political candidate for the State Senate Jonathan Wooley, fully involved in his wedding to Estelle, daughter of big shot J.B. Masterson. During a storm, both Jennifer, and her evil father Daniel, are freed from their imprisonment inside the tree that grew on the spot where they died. Jennifer's goal is to find Jonathan and make life a complete misery for him. She does everything she can to sabotage Jonathan's wedding which includes a huge wind storm that destroys the event. Then she pretends to "die by gunshot", which will set Jonathan up on a murder charge.

Earlier she made a love potion that would cause Jonathan to fall in love with her. Jonathan now accidentally uses it on Jennifer and she finds herself madly in love with him. Fed up with Estelle and her father planning his every move, Jonathan begins to realize that the problems that Jennifer has brought into his life has actually has saved him. When Jennifer's father sees what is happening he decides to take matters into his own hands. Unfortunately, for him his plan backfires and he and ends up in the bottle where he will stay for all eternity. What does the future hold for the bewitched couple?



I thought Veronica Lake was very good and proved herself to be wonderful in a comedy and capable of far more than just hiding behind her famous hairstyle. Her chemistry with Fredric March is magical."I Married a Witch", is a fun movie..

Fun Facts:

Joel McCrea was initially cast as the lead, but declined the role because he didn't want to work again with Veronica Lake, his co-star in Sullivan's Travels (1941).

Veronica Lake and Fredric did not like one another, due in part to some disparaging remarks March made about her. During filming, Lake delighted in playing pranks on March, such as hiding a 40-pound weight under her costume when March had to carry her in his arms.