Review of The Glass Key (1942) by Allan C — 12 Jun 2015
Probably my favorite pairing of Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd in this Dashiell Hammett adaptation. Brian Donlevy plays a local crime boss and Ladd is his right hand man. In order to help Donlevy when he's accused of murder, Ladd act like he's switching sides and turns his old friend against him, whiles playing both sides against each other.
What's kind of fun about watching this film now is seeing it's influence on other subsequent classic films. Akira Kurosawa said this film was a major inspiration for "Yojimbo" (which consequentially was remade by Sergio Leone as "A Fistful of Dollars" and by Walter Hill in "Last Man Standing).
You can also see a clear influence of this story on the Coen Brother's masterpiece "Miller's Crossing," although in that comparison Donlevy pales in comparison to Albert Finney's crime boss.
Veronica Lake plays the love interest and William Bendix give a memorable performance as a particularly nasty and sadistic heavy.
This review of The Glass Key (1942) was written by Allan C on 12 Jun 2015.
The Glass Key has generally received positive reviews.
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