The Glass Key (1942 film)
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| The Glass Key | |
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 Lobby card |
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| Directed by | Stuart Heisler |
| Produced by | Buddy G. DeSylva |
| Written by | Story: Dashiell Hammett Screenplay: Jonathan Latimer |
| Starring | Brian Donlevy Veronica Lake Alan Ladd William Bendix |
| Music by | Victor Young |
| Cinematography | Theodor Sparkuhl |
| Editing by | Archie Marshek |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | October 14, 1942 |
| Running time | 85 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
The Glass Key is the second and better known film noir adaptation of the classic suspense novel The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett, released a mere seven years after the first. This version features Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Brian Donlevy, and others.[1]
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[edit] Plot
Paul Madvig (Donlevy) is a political boss, who is determined to back reform candidate Ralph Henry (Moroni Olsen). Ed Beaumont (Ladd) is apprehensive of Madvig's choice an believes the move is a mistake.
Beaumont knows that Madvig is doing a political about-face merely to get in the good graces of Henry's daughter, Janet Henry (Lake). Beaumont cleans up the mess when crime boss Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia) murders Henry's son, Taylor Henry (Richard Denning), and pins the rap on Madvig.
As Beaumont tries to clear Madvig's name, he falls for Janey Henry.
[edit] Cast
- Brian Donlevy as Paul Madvig
- Veronica Lake as Janet Henry
- Alan Ladd as Ed Beaumont
- Richard Denning as Taylor Henry
- Bonita Granville as Opal "Snip" Madvig
- Joseph Calleia as Nick Varna
- William Bendix as Jeff (Varna's henchman)
- Frances Gifford as Nurse
- Donald MacBride as Dist. Atty. Farr
- Margaret Hayes as Eloise Matthews
- Moroni Olsen as Ralph Henry
- Eddie Marr as Rusty (Varna's henchman)
- Arthur Loft as Clyde Matthews
- George Meader as Claude Tuttle
[edit] Critical reaction
Variety magazine gave the film a favorable review, writing, "Parading a murder mystery amidst background of politics, gambling czars, romance and lusty action, this revised version of Dashiell Hammett's novel - originally made in 1935 - is a good picture of its type...Mixed well, the result is an entertaining whodunit with sufficient political and racketeer angles to make it good entertainment for general audiences. Donlevy makes the most of his role of the political leader who fought his way up from the other side of the tracks."[2]
Critic Dennis Schwartz wrote, "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."[3]
Critic Hal Erickson wrote, "Dashiel Hammett's The Glass Key, a tale of big-city political corruption, was first filmed in 1935, with Edward Arnold as a duplicitous political boss and George Raft as his loyal lieutenant. This 1942 remake improves on the original, especially in replacing the stolid Raft with the charismatic Alan Ladd...Far less complex than the Dashiel Hammett original (and far less damning of the American political system), The Glass Key further increased the box-office pull of Paramount's new team of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake."[4]
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
- ^ The Glass Key at the Internet Movie Database.
- ^ Variety. Film review, 1942. Last accessed: April 28, 2008.
- ^ Schwartz, Dennis. Ozus' World Movie Reviews, film review, December 4, 2004. Last accessed: April 28, 2008.
- ^ Erikson, Hal.The Glass Key at Allmovie.
[edit] External links
- The Glass Key at the TCM Movie Database
- The Glass Key at DVD Beaver (includes images).
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