Matthew B
The Glass Key is perhaps the most cynical of the films made from Dashiell Hammett's novels, or perhaps it is not. It does at least contain one affectionate friendship, which is more than can be said for The Maltese Falcon. Nonetheless this is a story in which there is no comforting detective or private eye seeking to capture a murderer. Rather it is a seedy underworld in which everyone is a criminal, or at least an uncritical relative of one.
We see little action by police officers, and they play no significant part in capturing any of the rogues in the film. There is a D.A. in the movie, but District Attorney Farr (Donald MacBride) is in the pocket of the shady mobster Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy). When he seeks to act against Madvig, it is in the mistaken belief that Madvig is finished, and it is safer for him to do so.
There are no crusading newspaper journalists or editors out to expose corruption. Instead we have Clyde Matthews (Arthur Loft), the proprietor of the Observer newspaper, a failing institution bought out by rival mobsters, and intended to be used to incriminate a rival.
As for the political process, the candidate for election as governor is being promoted by Paul Madvig, described at the beginning of the movie as "the biggest crook in the state". Notably the candidate, Ralph Henry (Moroni Olsen), is running against the Reform candidate, hardly a good sign.
Madvig is helping Henry to clean up the criminals in town, but this means putting the squeeze on other gangsters such as Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia), who previously paid protection money to Madvig. Madvig is warned by his right-hand man and best friend, Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd) that his attempt to crack down on Varna is a bad mistake, and indeed it does cause Nick to scheme to undermine Madvig.
It seems that in this town, even trying to fight crime is an error of judgement, and one that can only be carried out by other criminals when it serves their better interest. Nobody wishes to clear up the corruption or cleanse the town of mobsters. What we have instead is a fight between two gangsters as to who will control the town in the future.
It will be noted at this point that Alan Ladd is playing one of the criminals, and he is our movie's ‘hero'. The protagonist is not a private eye who has some desire to seek justice. He is not on the side of legal justice at all. He is the friend and employee of a gangster who is playing politics.This reflects something about the moral world of The Glass Key. In a world where nobody is clean, we are invited to identify instead with a shady political boss's friend because he is fighting to save that boss out of genuine love for him.
The plot of The Glass Key is convoluted like many film noirs, and it may take a few watches to grasp many of the finer points. However storyline is not too important in the stories of Hammett and Chandler. What matters is the feel of an individual scene, and that is true of The Glass Key, where the dialogue keeps the movie interesting.
While Heisler is hardly one of the great auteurs, he keeps the film moving at a decent pace, and does not get in the way of Hammett's great storytelling abilities. The Glass Key is said to have been the inspiration for Yojimbo, Akira Kurosawa's cynical samurai movie. For fans of film noir, The Glass Key is a must-see film, an important contribution to that canon.
I wrote a blog article expressing a longer appreciation of The Glass Key if you would like to read more: https://themoviescreenscene.wordpress.com/2020/03/19/the-glass-key-1942/
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
08/24/23
Full Review
acsdoug D
If you're a fan of 1940s noir you should check this one out. Ladd and Lake sizzle in a good, albeit a tad confusing, story. Is it possible that this film became the germ of the idea behind the Coen brothers' classic Miller's Crossing? The plots don't match, but Donlevy and Ladd's characters reminded me of Finney and Byrne's characters in the later film.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
08/15/23
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Steve D
Not their best together but still strong. Wish Ladd and Lake had more screen-time together.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
05/26/23
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matthew d
Intriguing mystery foiled by strange acting and convoluted writing.
Stuart Heisler's crime drama film noir The Glass Key (1942) is so strangely complicated in ways I cannot even imagine how everyone just allowed the movie to be released like this, honestly. Heisler's direction is stylish like any dark and moody film noir, but The Glass Key is very convoluted narratively as it blends politics, crime, romance, murder, investigation, comedy, and many other ideas all smashed into one 85 minute picture. It doesn't help that Archie Marshek's quick cuts as editor leave out the details of how our hero comes to his deductions as he just jumps straight to revealing secrets and twists that leave you cold as you never knew who half the characters were in the first place.
Dashiell Hammett and Jonathan Latimer's writing has wit and interesting subject matter; however, the protagonist doing everything with grey morals all for his horrible mob boss friend isn't very sympathetic. It's hard to root for anyone as all the characters have questionable or unbelievable motivations. There's no reason for the love triangle since all 3 has no reason to like one another anyways. Thin motivations, complex structure, with clues that come to conclusions too quickly makes The Glass Key feel anticlimactic.
Theodor Sparkuhl's black and white cinematography looks nice with the dreary lighting of a hard edge city and brutal nihilism is around every corner. The close-ups say much more than the cluttered wide shots with too many characters or little focus to the scene. Victor Young's score is excellent, but gets you emotional, whereas the relationships don't actually feel romantic. The music can only do so much. Edith Head comes up with her usual gorgeous dresses for Veronica Lake all in white or black dresses with a classic femme fatale appearance. Wally Westmore's make-up looks very striking this time around for Lake's peek-a-boo hairstyle and ethereal beauty.
Veronica Lake always captivates me whenever she's on screen. Her character is fascinating trying to solve a murder mystery on her own, while toxic men chase after her love. The Glass Key's greatest strength is Lake's dazzling performance with an endearing and enigmatic femme fatale heroine in her own right. The Glass Key's biggest mistake is only having a few choice minutes with Veronica Lake as the focus and instead using Alan Ladd's goofy hero as the lead. His awkward smile at everything is very odd. He's not as cool as he was in This Gun for Hire with Lake. Brian Donlevy is an odd and not intimidating choice as a fearsome crime lord. He's just sleazy and not very likable. I wish Veronica Lake were the focal point as her side might have made more sense.
Overall, The Glass Key is a cool film noir, but will have you puzzled as to what is happening and why.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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s r
One noir that was better than average, but still not a well told story. I still enjoyed Lake and Ladd. Saw it on TCM.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
One of the best Noir Films made
The chemistry between Ladd and Lake is truly amazing, and it's no wonder they made more films together.
Ladds portrayal of a deeply twisted killer is first rate, and Veronica Lake make a ting look all too easy.
Great Film Noir selection for anyone wanting to see what it's all about.
After you have watched this film, watch the Blue Dahlia, more great performances!
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/07/23
Full Review
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