Waste of time

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Purely Joyful Movie!

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Crooked politician Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) decides to go legit by riding the coattails of a respected reform candidate, Ralph Henry. Madvig is taken by Henry's daughter, Janet (Veronica Lake), but so too is Madvig's right-hand man, Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd). Beaumont would do anything for Madvig including suppressing his feelings for Janet. Throw in the murder of Janet's brother, Madvig as suspect #1, a powerful hood Madvig double crosses, a DA who's on-the-take, a series of poison pen letters, and a brute named Jeff (William Bendix), and you've got the makings of a classic noir/mystery.The Glass Key is the kind of movie I can watch over and over. There's always something new and fresh to pick-up on. The plot may not be as convoluted as something like The Big Sleep, but there are more than enough twists and turns to keep things interesting. The final twist at the end when the murder is revealed is very nicely handled. The cast in The Glass Key is very strong. Ladd and Lake's on-screen chemistry is once again on full display. Their subtle glances during their first meeting is brilliantly played. I wish they would have made a dozen more movies together. Donleavy, Joseph Calleia, and Bonita Granville are all in fine form. Bendix is an actor I've never really cared much for, but here, he's perfect. The perverse pleasure he seems to get from beating the living daylights out of Ladd is a fine piece of acting. The scene with Bendix and Ladd sharing a drink has to be one of the oddest but most compelling I can remember seeing in a long time.Technically, I've got very few complaints. The movie looks like a million bucks. Scenes are drenched in that noirish lighting I enjoy. The film is nicely paced with few dull moments that don't advance the storyline. Stuart Heisler's direction is on-point and, as i indicated, he skillfully handles the final reveal. It''s a very well put together film.I've got a few complaints, but most are minor. If I'm pressed to mention one it would be the final scene. A Hollywood "happily ever after" ending is just not appropriate for the twisted tale that came before.Overall, a very fine film that I'll rate an 8/10.

"The Glass Key" should have served as the model for all subsequent films based on hardboiled crime fiction. Brian Donlevy, Alan Ladd, William Bendix and tiny, delectable Veronica Lake all seem born to play their parts: Ladd, in particular, is perfect as the snappy, no-nonsense Ed Beaumont. Director Stuart Heisler gets the bleak atmosphere down pat. And, most important of all, the script is true to the morally ambiguous vision of Dashiell Hammett (except for that minor but cringe-inducing change to the ending, of course). There are no "good guys" in this tale: some of the characters behave much more reprehensibly than others, but there are only degrees of bad. This is what made Hammett's writing special, and it's why "The Glass Key" stands head and shoulders above many other, better-known examples of film noir like Howard Hawks' wildly inconsistent adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep". (In the scene during which Ladd is held captive and roughed up by Bendix, Akira Kurosawa fans will immediately recognize the inspiration for a pivotal scene in the Japanese master filmmaker's "Yojimbo".)

Good chance to catch Hollywood's greatest blond couple together in one of their best movies. My only question remains which of the two is prettier. Still, Lake wins out in the hair department, maybe for all time. The plot's pretty darn complicated but holds interest to the end, thanks to the expert casting.Those of us who remember Bill Bendix as the lovable Riley in radio & TV's Life of Riley boggle at his role here. As the sadistic thug Jeff, he's about as mean as they come. Actually, I'm surprised that the one particularly brutal beating passed the censors. In my book, it's the movie's most memorable scene. At the same time, it's good to know that Bendix and Ladd were such good friends off screen. Still, it's a rather shocking scene for the time.Sure, neither of the blonds was too good in the acting department. Yet each projected a strong, rather icy, presence that's hard to duplicate. Catch Ladd's mirthless grin more like a mask for his Beaumont character than an actual emotion. He's really very effective as a somewhat ruthless political operative. Then there's Lake who strikes effortlessly sultry poses, but with a cold heart underneath. The two are indeed a perfect match. The story's pretty convoluted, something about political influence entering into a murder mystery. Actually, it's a "buddy" picture as much as anything else, and one that sort of sneaks up on you. However, it's the characters, not the narrative that shines, including a dynamic Donlevy as the political boss and an oily Calleia as a mob kingpin. Together, they make life difficult for headliner Ladd. All in all, Paramount Pictures knew they had a winning two-some on screen, however difficult the screenplay.

"The Glass Key" (1942), directed by Stuart Heisler, stars Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and Brian Donlevy and is the more famous of the two "official" adaptations (the first was made in 1935 with George Raft) of Dashiell Hammett's seminal 1931 novel.The screenplay by Jonathan Latimer is true to the general plot line of the book, if not in spirit: crooked political boss Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) plans to back reform candidate Ralph Henry (Moroni Olsen) for governor after falling in love with Henry's daughter, Janet (Veronica Lake). However, Madvig's right hand man, Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd), believes that it's a bad idea and distrusts Janet's true motives even more so when her brother is found dead and Madvig is the chief suspect.A complete betrayal of its source, the film only works if you completely ignore its origins, and even then, it merely plays as a light-hearted thriller. Brian Donlevy completely overplays his hand, giving the impression of a jocular man-about-town rather than a powerful gangster with political aspirations. Ladd is fine, and along with William Bendix, the only characterisation that stays true to the novel. The scene between Ladd and Bendix after Ladd has had a marathon beating belongs to a much better motion picture than this. Veronica Lake doesn't seem suited to the dark pessimism of the film noir universe and looks like she would be more at home in a comedy or a musical. A missed opportunity then, but it is an improvement on Ladd and Lake's earlier "This Gun for Hire" (1942) to a certain extent.