Two Years Before the Mast

…pair of period action films: Two Years Before the Mast (1946) cast Ladd as the son of a shipping magnate who is forced to work on one of his father’s vessels, and California (1947) starred Ray Milland as an unlikely wagon master, with Barbara Stanwyck at his side. In Easy…

…The Blue Dahlia (1946), and Two Years Before the Mast (1946). Ladd’s humorless presence made him a natural for film noir mysteries, and his athleticism was well suited to westerns and swashbuckling epics. He was frequently cast opposite actress Veronica Lake, whose icy detachment complemented Ladd’s cynicism, and the two…