The Glass Key (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Glass Key (1942 version)

Directed by	Stuart Heisler
Produced by	Buddy G. DeSylva (uncredited executive producer)
Written by	Dashiell Hammett (novel) Jonathan Latimer
Starring	Brian Donlevy Veronica Lake Alan Ladd Bonita Granville Richard Denning Joseph Calleia William Bendix
Music by	Victor Young
Cinematography	Theodor Sparkuhl (director of photography)
Editing by	Archie Marshek
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	October 14, 1942
Running time	85 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Glass Key is the name of two film adaptations of the classic suspense novel The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett. The first was released in 1935 with George Raft, Edward Arnold and Claire Dodd, and directed by Frank Tuttle. The movie inspired the Coen Brothers film Miller's Crossing in characters, situation and dialog, although not in plot or emphasis. The remake appeared seven years later with Alan Ladd in Raft's role, and is currently more well known; the decision to film a second version so soon was probably a response to the runaway success of the remake of the 1931 pre-Code version of Hammett's The Maltese Falcon the previous year.

[edit] Cast of 1935 Version

George Raft as Ed Beaumont
Edward Arnold as Paul Madvig
Claire Dodd as Janet Henry
Guinn "Big Boy" Williams as Jeff
Ray Milland as Taylor Henry

[edit] Cast of 1942 Version

Brian Donlevy as Paul Madvig
Veronica Lake as Janet Henry
Alan Ladd as Ed Beaumont
Richard Denning as Taylor Henry
William Bendix as Jeff

[edit] Critical reaction to the 1942 version

Reviews of the 1942 film today are mixed. One internet review at Crazy4Cinema.com comments "The story is intelligently written and an interesting look at local politics, but as a mystery or romance – there’s never any doubt Ladd and Lake will end up together – it’s less than satisfying." Ozus' World movie review states "The film is mostly done for entertainment purposes, as it lightly skips over the corrupt political process as merely background for the unlikely love story developing between the engaging Lake and the deadpan Ladd. The film had many undeveloped film noir themes used by other films. Howard Hawks's much superior The Big Sleep borrowed freely from The Glass Key."