Review of The Glass Key (1942) by John T — 29 Aug 2013

This is truly a classic Hollywood film noir. The plot is harder to follow than most, but this is nonetheless a high standard movie. It has all the elements expected in a film noir: an intricate crime-based plot, a fast pace, menacing shadows, and an assortment of interesting characters who interact with each other in unpredictable ways. It is a fairly standard example of the genre, with a few particularly good moments.

Brian Donlevy plays is a corrupt political boss who decides to break with his past by joining with reform-minded candidate Ralph Henry, angering some of his former cronies and confusing loyal assistant played by Alan Ladd. He expresses confidence in his new future, saying that the upright Henry has "given me the key to his house", but Beaumont remarks that "it's a glass key - be careful it doesn't break off". When Henry's wayward son turns up murdered, each character is plunged into dangerous situations.

What holds interest is not the convoluted plot full of red herrings, but the performances of the three leads--Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. This was the second teaming of Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd and they clicked as well as they did in This Gun For Hire.

This is also a very violent film for the 1940s. Everyone takes some hard physical stunts. Lake's shot to the jaw when she encounters Donlevy turned out to be a real one. (Dane Clark (in an unbilled early role) gets shoved through a plate glass window by Donlevy and into a pool. And Alan Ladd takes a brutal beating from William Bendix that is painful brutally realistic. Ladd's "escape out of a broken window has him falling off an awning and crashing through the ceiling where a family is having dinner.

The Glass Key will certainly be of interest to any film noir fan, and should be fast-paced enough to make it interesting to other viewers as well.