Alan Walbridge Ladd (1913-64) was was famous for his emotionless demeanor and short stature. In most of his films he played either a hero or a bad guy with a conscience. In one of his earliest screen appearances - though only in shadow - he played a reporter in CITIZEN KANE. The film that made him a star in the '40s is the noir classic THIS GUN FOR HIRE, in which he played a conflicted hit man opposite Veronica Lake (who was even shorter than he). But perhaps he's best remembered for the title role as a conflicted gunfighter in the classic 1953 noir western SHANE.
Many of these actors achieved stardom because of their start in film noir; others, despite it. In any case, at one time or another, sometimes many times, they played cops and robbers, hoodlums and toadies, doomed anti-heroes and femme fatales in one of filmdom’s richest genres. And all of us fans of film noir are richer for that. A tip of the fedora to them all.
ALAN LADD
Alan Walbridge Ladd (1913-64) was was famous for his emotionless demeanor and short stature. In most of his films he played either a hero or a bad guy with a conscience. In one of his earliest screen appearances - though only in shadow - he played a reporter in CITIZEN KANE. The film that made him a star in the '40s is the noir classic THIS GUN FOR HIRE, in which he played a conflicted hit man opposite Veronica Lake (who was even shorter than he). But perhaps he's best remembered for the title role as a conflicted gunfighter in the classic 1953 noir western SHANE.
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