La chiave di vetro

I actually saw The Blue Dahlia, another film noir starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, and William Bendix, before I saw The Glass Key. While both films are memorable, especially for a fan of the genre like myself, I actually prefer this earlier collaboration. In The Glass Key, Ladd seems more engaged as does Lake. Ladd makes a great protagonist here; he is tough, smart, and determined, essentially the very essence of a self-made man. Lake is the perfect feminine companion for him! An engrossing plot, sharp dialogue, just the right dose of action, perfectly matched heroes and villains, and of course the chemistry between the leads make The Glass Key a classic film noir. See it today!

Alan Ladd warns Brian Dennehy about "The Glass Key" in this 1942 noir also starring Veronica Lake and William Bendix. The glass key refers to a key that breaks in a lock - Ladd here is warning his boss (Brian Donlevy) to watch out for people out to get him. Donlevy is Paul Madvig, who controls a political machine and falls in love with the daughter (Lake) of a wealthy man, Ralph Henry, trying to get the benefit of Madvig's political influence. When Henry's no-good son Taylor is killed, Madvig falls under suspicion. Ladd, as his assistant Ed, works to prove his innocence.

This film is good but hard to follow. It's also cold as ice with nothing to warm it up. Ladd and Lake were one terrific team, but one could never call them warm, especially in this. It's also very violent - you practically cry out in pain when William Bendix, playing yet another whack job, beats Ed to a pulp. When Ed gets away from him, it's by throwing himself out a window - a stunning scene.

"The Glass Key" is a cross between a hard crime drama and a noir, and you couldn't ask for a more perfect actor for the noir genre than Ladd. He gives a focused, relaxed performance, saying his lines in his usual straightforward manner. He's one actor who never had to be tall to be tough or powerful, and one forgets all about his height, especially when seeing him next to tiny, gorgeous Lake. He takes some beating in this but keeps right on going. Donlevy does a good job as a political boss, and Bendix is scary. The one bad note is Granville, as Madvig's sister. She was an energetic actress who, when the director wasn't paying attention, could go way over the top in her dramatic scenes. Evidently the director was distracted.

The film has a Hollywood ending which many people won't like. Although "The Glass Key" is confusing, it's still worth watching to see the two stars at the top of their game.

I really wanted to enjoy this movie a lot more than I did, as I am a big fan of Alan Ladd. However, apart from a couple excellent performances, the film was a big let-down and was not even close to being as good as THIS GUN FOR HIRE or THE BLUE DAHLIA--two other famous Ladd films from the same era. This isn't the fault of Ladd, who as usual did an excellent job playing a tough guy (which is interesting coming from a guy as tiny as Ladd). In addition, William Bendix had an even more impressive role in the film as a sadistic animal who revels in beating people to a pulp. The sheer pleasure he obtains hurting other people is amazing and scary to watch! Now as for the rest of the film, apart from some snappy dialog, the rest of the characters are pretty one-dimensional and unconvincing. The bottom line is that this film had many of the elements of good Film Noir except for a decent script. The movie was often confusing and the ultimate solution to the mystery seemed to come from no where! In fact, it was as if they'd written and written and decided to just tack on an ending generated by a coin flip and call it a day! In the end, this is a watchable but horribly flawed film. You can certainly do better with other Noir or Ladd pictures.

This no-holds-barred dramatisation of the Dashiell Hammett novel contains the writer's familiar elements of tough men and shrewd women, complex plotting and lots of violence. I certainly wasn't expecting to see the absolute pounding Alan Ladd takes at the hands of William Bendix and his crony - top marks to the make-up team for making his battered and bruised face so true-to-life.

To find out exactly how Ladd ends up in the position of being so viciously interrogated by these two hoodlums, you have to go back two or three plot-lines in a typically convoluted Hammett narrative. Ladd is the right hand man of his friend and mentor Brian Dunlevy who's running as governor in a corrupt unidentified American town. The story details take in political intrigue, corruption of the press, the murder of a key witness, blackmail, torture, suicide and perversion of justice, all this in under 90 minutes.

The story certainly bowls you along even if you might occasionally scratch your head as you try to piece together the plot, but like some of the best noir / gangster films of the day, the plot details effectively don't matter. With sharp dialogue, realistic fight-scenes and well-observed political intrigue, this is an ahead-of-its-time thriller which delivers a real punch.

We're made to wait a while for Ladd and Lake's first joint appearance but there's definitely something in the air. William Bendix is great as always as the bloodthirsty henchman, the tiny Lake smoulders impressively and the ever-watchable Dunlevy is effective as the win-at-all-costs politician compromised by events. The direction is fast and fairly furious, watch out in particular for Ladd's dramatic escape through a window right into a table of shocked diners.

I couldn't pretend to follow all the characters sometimes shady alliances and dubious decisions, but as a rip-roaring political movie, this key certainly opened my door.

"Reform" party politicians making unholy alliances in the final days of an election, media manipulators itching to smear a candidate in the morning news, ingrate gambling richboys who screw up everything for everybody. A "dated" film?

If anyone's ahead of the game it's Ladd. Smart, tough--he'll take the blows but not the fall. A shark-eyed quiet little guy with a deep voice. A small mouth with barely an upper lip. A smile not quite a smile--head to head with doll-like Veronica Lake who smiles even more when she doesn't mean it. They are a stare-down match for each other. And that bemused look on their faces tells you they're not just game players.

Then there's scene-stealer William Bendix. When a redneck isn't gettin' any action, he might settle for a good knock-down. Getting good & drunk is foreplay. Bendix romances Ladd. How many times does he call Ladd sweetheart? Bendix can hardly wait to get on with the hard stuff. (Don't forget to check out the contemporary hair.) Watch and wince while Ladd plays co-dependent.

For toppers: Ladd's dinner-crashing moment (via skylight)--inspired. Maybe worth the whole film just to see.

Then there are lines like, "My first wife was a second cook in a third-rate joint on Fourth Street," Lake's jab at the Christian Science Monitor, or "If you're going to be a nitwit, don't go around with a megaphone." Also not to miss: Lillian Randolph at the piano of a hide-out bar singing to Bendix. Looking like he's about to cry---till Ladd walks in.

Densely detailed, paced one step ahead--not for the sleepy.