The Green Glove

This is one of those films that could have been a lot better. Make the gauntlet more interesting. Have it centered in the culture. For heaven's sake. The thing has only been missing for a few years. Create a kind of religious fervor. Then put Glenn Ford and his adversaries on a collision course of some kind. Instead, it's never really clear why all the fuss. Is the bad guy just psychotic or are his intentions purely economical (I suppose they are). Ford finds himself in the middle of an investigation just by showing up. Why has he been targeted so specifically be the police? There is an element of North by Northwest in here, but it just doesn't work. Ford is a pretty boy, but he's not very charismatic. Then there are those endless scenes, running up and down the mountain to get to the church where the gauntlet resides. I also don't know why those bells kept ringing for so long. The love interested is sort of contrived and lacking in real sparks because the dialogue lacks wit and mystery. It's reasonably interesting, but quite an investment of time.

Being a fan of Glenn Ford, I sought out this unknown little film on DVD. I was hoping for at least a mediocre wrapping around which to view Ford. The comments here seem to be mostly lackluster and quick to point out detracting qualities of the film.

However, after viewing, I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. It's not an Oscar winner, but it is good entertainment. I enjoyed the scenario in which we see the end of the story playing out at the beginning, and then jump back in time to discover how we arrived at this end, and indeed, the truth of what we have witnessed.

Early in the morning at a little mountain village in France, a priest is startled by the toll of bells coming from the church tower. The bells have not rung for centuries, since the gauntlet (the green glove) of a war hero to whom the church is dedicated had been stolen. They must only ring again when the gauntlet is returned. The priest runs into the church to find the gauntlet still missing. Wondering of the reason for the tolling, he runs up the tower, where he finds the body of a dead man. Proceeding up to the bells themselves, he finds them tolling vigorously but the tower empty. Puzzled and disturbed, the priest proceeds back down the tower, only to find the gauntlet safely in its place! What has happened here... why and how did the bells toll and the gauntlet reappear? Who is the dead man, and why is he dead? Is there a plausible explanation, or was it a mystical occurrence? As we watch the rest of the film, we will find out.

While some have thought that the characters were shallow and uninvolved, I thought that the interaction between Ford and Brooks was entertaining, if not philosophically deep. This is a smart little suspense flick, and the plot provides enough curves and dips that my interest was easily held. I for one enjoyed the character of Geraldine Brooks -- the bubbly, energetic young lady who is attracted to Ford but unaware of the reasons for the events surrounding her. I also enjoyed the little hiatus at the secluded inn, where our protagonists play the parts of newlyweds.

The things that I enjoyed the least while viewing were the print of the film on the DVD itself, and the rather intrusive and cheap score. Of course, the film is not to be blamed for the print (Alpha Video), but the viewing does suffer somewhat, as it is not a studio release. It is watchable, but both video and audio are rather murky. The score, however, I felt was overbearing at times and reminded me of a the dramatic score of a cheap 30's B western.

All-in-all, however, very worth viewing. Particularly if you are a fan of suspense or Glenn Ford, and can bear a less-than-perfect print. Recommended.

Though rather uneven some of the time, "The Green Glove" is still worth seeing for a number of reasons. It has a solid cast headed by Glenn Ford, the story has some interesting moments, and most of all the location filming provides some very nice views besides helping considerably with the atmosphere.

The opening sequence works pretty well in tossing out some mysterious details, and the movie then goes back to tell the story from the beginning. Ford's character is not very likable, but it's hard not to identify with him as he faces a series of threats while he tracks down the valuable artifact upon returning to France after the war. It's interesting to see him meet up with an antagonist played by George Macready, with whom Ford was paired in the earlier, much more memorable "Gilda". Macready's distinctive voice and mannerisms make him an interesting adversary.

Geraldine Brooks is likable as the tour guide who helps Ford in his quest, although her character remains largely one-dimensional. Cedric Hardwicke appears as a village priest, but he is unfortunately never given anything significant to do. Jany Holt makes good use of her scenes as the Countess.

The pace is sometimes inconsistent, with a number of slow stretches and a couple of rather jumpy spots. But the story has enough of interest to make you want to see how it all comes out.

The settings and scenery are probably the main strength of the movie, and without them, it would probably have been pretty plain. The scenery of the mountains and villages of southern France creates a very good atmosphere, and the bell-tower setting is also used well. More than anything else, these aspects lift "The Green Glove" from a fair picture to a decent one that is worth seeing despite a few flaws.

I noticed that another reviewer compared this film to "The Maltese Falcon". Well, I would also add to that "The 39 Steps". Yet, although these both are classic films, "The Gauntlet" (also known as "The Green Glove") is far from classic status. While it is reasonably entertaining, it fails to ever rise above mediocrity.

The film begins during WWII. A downed pilot (Glenn Ford) captures a very strange Nazi collaborator (George Macready)--strange because Macready is a multinational and is out for himself and couldn't care less which side wins the war. During this brief meeting with Macready, he learns about some valuable holy relic--some green gauntlet encrusted with jewels. Well, as soon as you can say 'hey,...this reminds me of "Gilda"', Ford loses Macready and the war goes on its merry way.

Several years pass. Ford has been bumming about Europe with no real direction in life. However, he gets the idea someone is following him and he's right--Macready's men are looking for him because they think he has the gauntlet. He doesn't and the gang soon turns out to be very tough--and Ford ends up becoming a wanted man for a murder the gang committed. Along the way, he picks up a lady friend (much like Madeleine Carrol in "The 39 Steps") and they go on a cross country romp leading to where the gauntlet MIGHT be. There, they have some confrontation scene and the film ends.

About the only thing that stood out in this film for me was the structure of the film. It begins at the end and then begins again--showing all the action leading up to the eventual return of the holy relic to the church. Apart from that, it just seemed like a lot of other films all tossed together rather haphazardly. On top of that, Glenn Ford's grouchy guy persona got a bit old. I've seen it many times before and here he just seems like a guy with a toothache. Not a terrible film but one that never quite seemed to work.

The famous Hitchcockian McGuffin that everyone is looking for is a medieval jewel encrusted knight's gauntlet said to have belonged to a warrior saint who defeated the Moors in battle back in the day. The fact that the Moors never got to the French Riviera in and around Monte Carlo is of minor importance. It's an object of veneration and worship to the villagers in that small town that saw battle in the southern invasion of France by Alexander Patch's American army in August of 1944.

Paratrooper Glenn Ford landing in that town finds George MacReady stealing the item during battle. MacReady is a creature of mysterious origins who survives on his wits, resources and whatever he can steal at the moment. To the French he's a spy to the Nazis he's a collaborator which is a nifty arrangement I must say. The Nazis as we know were real big on liberating art treasures from their various conquered countries.

But some allied bombs prevent MacReady from stealing The Green Glove and Ford has it and leaves it with a family in an sealed attache case that belonged MacReady.

After the war, flashing forward seven years, things haven't gone well for Ford in civilian life and he goes back to France with some hope to find that valuable Green Glove and hoping that's his meal ticket. But when he gets there, he finds MacReady as well who's hoping Ford can lead him to The Green Glove.

A few murders later, Ford picking up tour guide Geraldine Brooks to share his fugitive status because MacReady has framed Ford for those murders and it's time for Ford to confront MacReady, The Green Glove and what he really wants from life.

The Green Glove is an independent film released through United Artists that was shot entirely on location in France and Monaco. I'm sure it was a good excuse for a vacation for the English speaking thespians of the film, Ford, Brooks, MacReady, and Cedric Hardwicke who plays the village priest and custodian of The Green Glove who prays for its return.

It would have been nice to have some color, I'm sure part of the reason it was done in black and white was budgetary and part was so that World War II newsreel footage could be incorporated. Still you're talking about some beautiful area of the planet that two years later Alfred Hitchcock would show us in To Catch A Thief. Paramount gave Hitch a much bigger budget than Rudolph Mate had for The Green Glove.

It's not a bad film, in fact it has an exciting chase sequence involving Ford eluding MacReady and his men by taking a rugged mountain trail that is euphemistically called the goat path. Hitchcock couldn't have staged it better. But the cheapness of the production values and a somewhat confused story line prevent The Green Glove from gaining any lasting glory.