The Key

If The Key looks like The Informer you'd definitely be right. Michael Curtiz's film looks a lot like it although John Ford created better atmosphere telling his story in his Oscar winning film. Then again this was a different type of story, a story of the Irish Rebellion told from the British point of view.

William Powell who's served just about everywhere in the British Empire as a career army man is now arrived in Ireland in 1920. He's billeted with an old friend Colin Clive in the same area. But Clive is now married to Edna Best who has history with Powell before she met and married Clive.

The big concern for the army is to get a man named Peadar Conlan who is a kind of composite character between Michael Collins and Eamon DeValera. Get him and the rebellion will be over. He's played by Donald Crisp and Crisp when he's on screen he's stealing the scenes from the stars. So is J.M. Kerrigan who is one shifty character, a bit more polish than the guy he played in The Informer and in The General Died At Dawn, but definitely not one to turn your back on.

The romantic triangle intersects with the politics of the Rebellion in ways not anticipated by the leads. In the end one lead makes a big sacrifice for the other.

The Key was William Powell's last film in his stint with Warner Brothers before moving on to MGM and his years in The Thin Man series with Myrna Loy. According to the Citadel Film series book about him he thought this was one of the better films he did at that studio and I'm inclined to agree.

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.

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.

On my second viewing of "The Key" I found it more enjoyable, appreciating William Powell's performance as the key, if you will, to its appreciation. As Captain Bill Tennant, he is thrust back into the life of the woman he loved and left---Norah Kerr (Edna Best). Now married to Bill's friend and fellow officer, Captain Andy Kerr (Colin Clive), Norah has been haunted by the memory of her love for Bill. Bill is the same man he always was---free of encumbrances, to women or causes.

Filmed against the backdrop of the Irish resistance to British rule, "The Key" is a simple film expertly shot. Director Michael Curtiz keeps the action moving as things heat up between the former paramours and between the political adversaries.

"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.