The must-sees
1) This Gun for Hire (1942) – where it all began for the Ladd persona, a top example of “patriot noir”
2) The Glass Key (1943) – classic noir, great sense of corruption, with some remarkable scenes (eg Ladd being beaten up by William Bendix, Ladd driving a man to suicide by seducing his wife)
3) The Blue Dahlia (1946) – another superb noir, Raymond Chandler divine script
4) Two Years Before the Mast (1946) – top notch sailing adventure
5) The Great Gatsby (1946) – Ladd spreads his wings
6) Shane (1953) – the classic Western (though have to admit I find it overrated)
7) The Carpetbaggers (1964) – the last film, an entertaining potboiler with Ladd looking poor
8) The Proud Rebel (1958) – Ladd and his son in a sensitive family film
9) Wild Harvest (1947) – Ladd as the toughest wheat harvester you ever saw, plus bromance with Robert Preston
10) Hell on Frisco Bay (1955) – the best of Ladd's work as his own producer, a decent entertaining thriller)
There is a special place in my heart for Calcutta, the film in which I discovered Alan Ladd - third world exotica on the studio backlot.
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