The Key

Carol Reed's "The Key" is a forgotten film, or so it seems. It was a rare occasion when it showed up the other night on TCM. This film presents a different side of WWII that many of us are not aware of. We are given an account of England's way of rescuing ships that have been attacked at sea and the courageous men that commanded those small vessels to bring the damaged ones to safe haven. The film is based on a novel by the Dutch writer Jan de Hartog, with a screen play by Carl Foreman. The film was photographed in white and white by Oswald Morris and has an interesting music score by Malcom Arnold.

The film capitalizes on the rescue operations, which are reproduced in vivid detail by Mr. Reed and his crew. The ocean settings have a poetic look, at times. The story is set before America's entry into the war and we are introduced to David Ross, who is assigned to the rescuing team. Ross happens to know one of the captains in the operation, Chris Ford, who in turn, takes an interest in him and hands him a duplicate of the key to his flat. Little does Ross knows what awaits him there.

Trevor Howard is excellent as Capt. Ford. This actor showed an inner integrity no matter what role he played. Sophia Loren is Stella, the mysterious girl who lives in the flat and seems to bring out emotions from all the men that share the apartment. At the same time, she seems to be a jinx to all the men that she comes in contact with. Ms. Loren gives a subtle performance. William Holden, is also effective as Capt. Ross. Bernard Lee, Oskar Homolka and Kieron Moore do excellent work under Mr. Reed's direction.

"The Key" is an interesting look at the way the war was fought at sea and Mr. Reed makes a compelling account of those days.

This excellent film comes within director Carol Reed's golden period that began with 'Odd Man Out' in 1947 and ended with 'Our Man in Havana' in 1959. Any director, even one in the same class as Reed, requires a good script to interpret and here he has a superlative screenplay by Carl Foreman based upon the novel 'Stella' by Jan de Hartog which deals with the incredible bravery of tug crews whose job it is to rescue damaged ships in a stretch of the Atlantic known as 'U-Boat Alley'.

William Holden and Trevor Howard play tugboat captains and Sophia Loren plays Stella with whom their fates are inextricably linked. She is regarded as a 'jinx' to the ill-fated men who have in their turn been given the key to her apartment. The question is will Holden's character suffer the same fate.....?

Loren gives a beautifully sympathetic and understated performance, one of her finest actually. Holden never disappoints and Howard whose film career owed a great deal to Reed, picked up a BAFTA. Mention must also be made of Oscar Homolka and Bernard Lee. The editing by Bert Bates is exemplary, especially the suspenseful battle sequences, while Malcolm Arnold's score is powerful without being overpowering. Of the two endings that Reed was obliged to shoot the one here is far less happy but far more dramatic.

Sophia Loren shines in a rather somber role as a woman in England who obstinately attaches herself to British naval officers that are involved in some of the most dangerous assignments in the war. Their job is to try to rescue the crews and cargo of ships that have been destroyed by Nazi ships or submarines. Since the Nazis know exactly where the battle took place, they know where the rescue ships are going to be, so the death rate among the rescue teams is very high. The great Trevor Howard gives a wonderfully understated performance, and William Holden also holds his own very well. The film is rather slow, though I prefer to call it casually paced. The wartime atmosphere of southern England is illustrated with good detail, and the action sequences are well-choreographed and suspenseful. It's not a great film, but I prefer it to most of those 'stiff upper lip' wartime melodramas that England and Hollywood produced in the forties.

This film tells the story about Tug Boats being utilized by England during 1941 in order to try and salvage damaged ships which were hit by German U Boats. David Ross, (William Holden) is an American assigned to one of these Tugs which are poorly armed, with guns that do not function when needed. David has not been on a tug in over ten years and meets up with an old chum named Capt. Chris Ford, (Trevor Howard) who shares an apartment with a very attractive gal named Stella, (Sophia Loren) who seems to like Tug Boat Captains as she has had many Captains who have died once she gives them a key to her apartment. The story makes a complete turn when Chris gives David a key to the apartment and that is when the trouble starts to happen. There is plenty of action, drama and romance. Great film with an outstanding story and Sophia Loren looked great at the age of 24 years. WOW

If I were to explain to someone this film's plot in a nutshell, some church lady and maybe others will label this film as some kind of a pinnacle of adultery. In reality any sexual content is needed to add to the hopelessness faced by those who heroically undertook to save the lives of the English, Danish, Swedes, Americans, surviving Nazi attacks on North Sea shipping. You compare the brave men facing extremely high odds of losing their lives in the rescues to the first Marines on the Normandy beaches on June 7, 1944, seen in "The Longest Day", or the B-17 pilots engaged in daylight bombing as portrayed in "12 O' Clock High". This is a war film only slightly just as "Barefoot in the Park" is not a movie about a park. The Key is not listed with all the other WW II movies, because it's less war than a study in how one copes with certain death. Ms Loren is at her best playing the girl who goes with the apartment, Trevor Howard, the British steady in almost every WW II classic is superb. The next holder of the "Key" is Sunset Blvd.'s William Holden, playing the same brooding, sullen, character we are used to. I'm close to adding Mr. Holden to the list of actors playing themselves along with Dean Martin, Burt Reynolds, Gig Young, and many others. However at the end, you are victim of a huge surprise, when a battle battered, nearly drowned, Holden unexpectedly returns to the apartment, to find the next in line already holding court. He breaks with his type casting at that point and you're treated to a great ending. Not wanting to reveal the entire idea behind the key, I'm been very vague, but as I added the characters and the roles they played, I've created more confusion than I intended. Let me try to do a short outline on The Key. A rescue boat captain rents an apartment near the South Hampton docks, which includes the beautiful Sophia Loren. Knowing his life has "the same length as a lit match", he copies the key forcing it on a close friend, so that friend, (also a rescue boat captain) may take over the apartment in the occasion of his death. The process repeats itself three times when Trevor Howard becomes the key holder, and the film picks up here. On the very day the Howard character has set to marry the Ms. Loren character the film becomes a hanky grabber. You may only be able to catch this great movie on TCM, but if you are a fan of Loren, Howard or Holden, DO NOT miss it. You will be touched, saddened, then given a good dose of hope.