The Big Clock / This Gun For Hire

Zavvi - The Home of Pop CultureIcons Of The Silver Screen' turns towards the seemy side on life with a pair of film noir classics!The Big Clock (1948)Anticipating a much-needed vacation from Earl Janoth (Charles Laughton), his abusive boss, magazine editor George Stroud (Ray Milland) finally reaches a breaking point when Janoth insists he skip his honeymoon and go out of town on assignment. Stroud resigns and finds solace over multiple drinks with his boss' unhappy mistress, Pauline York (Rita Johnson), at a local bar. Together they come up with a half-inebriated plot to embarrass Janoth but the plan takes an unexpected turn toward murder.This Gun for Hire (1942)Sadistic killer-for-hire Raven (Alan Ladd) becomes enraged when his latest job is paid off in marked bills. Vowing to track down his double-crossing boss, nightclub executive Gates (Laird Cregar), Raven sits beside Gates' lovely new employee, Ellen (Veronica Lake), on a train out of town. Although Ellen is engaged to marry the police lieutenant (Robert Preston) who's hunting down Raven, she decides to try and set the misguided hit man straight as he hides from the cops and plots his revenge.