The Key

William Powell is Bill, a British officer who finds an old love in Ireland in "The Key," a 1934 film also starring Edna Best (Norah) and Colin Clive (Andy). A very young Donald Crisp, though his voice identifies him immediately, plays a Sein Fein leader whom the British army seeks to capture. When Bill arrives on the scene, he finds himself living below Andy, a fellow officer and friend, but he doesn't know that the woman he once loved is married to him - and Andy never knew that Bill and Norah were involved. Realizing that their breakup was a mistake, Bill seeks to rekindle the relationship. Norah has continued to love him, and it's stood between her and her husband throughout their marriage.

Full of dry ice and night scenes, this old movie was hard to see at times. The story is very familiar, the film is short; it doesn't have a lot to recommend it. It's atmospheric, although this viewer was not drawn into the story. Powell brings it lots of energy - he's the best thing in it; Best and Clive don't project much and look unhappy throughout.

"The Key" starts off promisingly with atmospheric photography as British troops track down a Sein Fein leader. Apparently Warner Bros thought this wasn't enough, so halfway through the film a love triangle is introduced between William Powell, Edna Best and Colin Clive. All it succeeds in doing is derailing the film into very familiar territory. Seeing Colin Clive making dead bodies with a gun rather than bringing them back to life in a lab sparks some interest but other than that he spends his time looking glum (did he ever smile?). William Powell begins the film with an accent and a "right-ho, pip, pip" clipped speech that vanishes by the third reel and he and Edna Best (in her first U.S. film) have absolutely no chemistry. Director Curtiz does well until the highpoint of the love story where he pulls the camera out the window into the fog and goes into a flashback that looks like it belongs on a 1890 stage. Add to this a criminally underused Donald Crisp and a hokey ending and you have one missed opportunity.

... although I enjoy to some degree just about everything William Powell was ever in. He saves this from being a 4 or 5 star movie for me. Edna Best was a well respected actress of the stage, but she just did not impress on screen. The story is about a British intelligence officer (Colin Clive) and his wife (Edna Best) who is stuck on some old boyfriend (William Powell as another British officer and stuckee). To complicate matters, Powell and Clive are best friends from before either of them knew Edna, and now Clive and Edna are billeted in the apartment just below Powell.

The setting is weird for a Depression era Warner's film. In terrain usually traversed by Paramount or MGM, here is WB in the middle of a period piece romance/drama involving the Irish rebellion and the sinn fein.

The art design and attention to detail is very good here, with the actors even having the - by American standards - rather weird British means of saluting down pat. Michael Curtiz' direction is impressive, and he tries to make the film more interesting with some of his famous genius with the camera, but he just can't save this script or Best's shrill performance or lack of chemistry with either one of the leading men. I would expect the leading men to be more likely to chuck it all and go off together than to have either one of them win Best's final affection or want it in the first place.

Maybe the irony in all of this is that "The Key" was William Powell's final film at Warner Brothers, who was not that happy with the roles he was getting there. And what is the first film he does after arriving at MGM? The equally sappy "Manhattan Melodrama" in which we are expected to believe that Mickey Rooney grows up to be Clark Gable! Oh well, after this rough patch there are much better things ahead in film for William Powell.

Headliner william powell is brit officer Captain Tennant, keeping an eye on ireland ( the same year he began his career as The Thin Man !) and of course, he bumps into his old girl Norah (edna best. the biggest role she had was Liz Robinson, in the 1940 version of Swiss Family Robinson). despite the serious subject matter, Powell keeps it all quite light hearted and fun. as Tennant, he stirs things up and laughs it off. in fact we learn that he seems to get in trouble where ever he goes, but his war heroics get him out of trouble every time. Keep an eye out for the flower girl on the corner.. that's Anne Shirley, who will be oscar nominated as the daughter in Stella Dallas, a couple years later. directed by michael curtiz, who will go on to get the oscar for Casablanca, eight years later.

I thought The Key was excellent. Interesting story, strong dialogue and good performances. To my mind this is one of Michael Curtiz' best films. It's not just a matter of creating atmosphere. In shooting the street scenes and club scenes Curtiz fills the frame with movement. This film really has the feel of life in the city. With the help of cinematographer Ernest Haller and art director Robert Haas, Curtiz makes the tension of the situation palpable. There are some weak moments, but my only real complaint is that William Powell could be stronger. He's fine at the beginning when he's just playing the breezy adventurer. But as we see that the character is more complex, Powell needs to do more to show the conflict within. Instead he keeps it mostly on the surface. On the other hand, a lot of the actors in small roles are marvelous. Over all, this is a really solid movie.