During production, stars Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake were interviewed on set during a live broadcast from Paramount's experimental television station W6XYZ. There were fewer than three hundred television receivers in Los Angeles at the time.
The movie's poster was as #17 of "The 25 Best Movie Posters Ever" by Premiere.
After confronting the cops at the club, Raven takes Ellen hostage and flees. He finds a warehouse to hide in, but they must scale a wall. Raven helps Ellen to climb the wall, but he first warns her to stay on top until he gets there and not to run. She then replies, "Who do you think I am, Whirlaway?" Whirlaway is an American champion thoroughbred horse that won the U.S. Triple Crown in 1941, the year before this movie was released.
This Gun for Hire (1942) is loosely based on "This Gun For Hire" by Graham Greene. Changes from the novel include changing the setting from England to America, and the original theme of revenge and retribution given a political slant since the film was made at the height of World War II and, like most Hollywood films of that time, contained anti-fascist propaganda and patriotic activism.
The headquarters of the fictional Nitro Chemical Company was the now demolished Richfield Tower, located at 555 S. Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles. The beautiful Art Deco, black and gold terracotta clad building, housed the Richfield Oil Company before it merged with the Atlantic Refining Company in 1966, becoming the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO). The building was considered too small after the merger, and the decision to demolish the beloved building was made, despite the protests of Angelenos. It was demolished in 1969, making room for the City National Plaza.
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