AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

VeteranLight I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Lumsdal Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

thomasd4 What a great movie! Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd are at the top of their game in this cool film noir piece. The movie is based on a book by Dashiell Hammett that the Coen brothers used for their **Miller's Crossing**. Lake is as seductive as ever and Ladd would give even Bogart a run for his money in the hardboiled department. And the movie is filled with cool bit players of the time like William Bendix as a thug who likes to "play ball" with Ladd's head and Brian Donlevy as Ladd's crooked, tough as nails boss that Ladd is loyal to a fault with. I wish you'd hear more about these great old film noir classics rather than stumbling upon them haphazardly. If you've never seen Lake and Ladd together, you owe it to yourself to watch this movie.

dougdoepke 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.

jzappa Dashiell Hammett's writing style is by and large acknowledged as being exceedingly beneficial to movie interpretations. It's handsomely evocative of atmosphere and situation and the angle is practically always that of a neutral onlooker, a stand-in for the audience. The Glass Key and Miller's Crossing signify two distinguishing readings of Hammett. The former is a straightforward conversion, the latter takes basics from Red Harvest and then sets them afloat in a plot which reverberates with a virtual mirror image of The Glass Key but also wanders gamely into original ideas.This second and better known adaptation of the classic Hammett novel, released just seven years after the first, focuses more on the political stratagem and one particular murder which functions to throw a dainty milieu of suspicion and caginess into disarray, flaunting a murder mystery accompanied by a backdrop of politics, gambling kingpins, flirtation and almost farcically eager brutality. A vital part of Stuart Heisler's almost Hawksian version is the casting of Ladd as Ed. Hammett wrote about commanding but aloof guys, who demonstrate a stiff and closely controlled style of code and who seldom show feeling or vulnerability. His hard cases were pessimistic, solidly committed to their work, unscrupulous, plucky, and apparently not influenced to feelings. Ladd wears some of these characteristics with his physical look, taut and severe, keeps his actions in check to look cool and unruffled. He punches only one character, though it's just a calculated move instead of a ceremony of bluster. The only actual aggression that Ed makes use of is an unsurprisingly brusque and snappy reply to the aggravation of Richard Denning.The physical stiffness and steadfast temperament of this character is a bit diluted by Ladd's compromises in playing Ed as good-humored and affable. His recuperation from a savage pounding becomes a spell where he, like 007, flirts with nurses. The pressure of Ladd's assumed role, an up-and-coming matinée icon and celebrity, appears to have permeated the portrayal of Ed and modified the Hammett protagonist into something resembling a Hollywood negotiation. On the other hand, Brian Donlevy takes advantage of his character being the political organizer who wrestled his way up from bottom, while Ladd is just his henchman and sounding board. Veronica Lake is the fickle daughter of the gubernatorial nominee who initially makes a play for Donlevy but dithers between him and Ladd, while Joseph Calleia has the gambling house franchise throughout the metropolis. Merged skillfully, the effect is an amusing thriller.The most thrilling, as well as the funniest, and most loaded scene is definitely the epic battering incurred by Ladd in a spell of amusingly forward sado-masochism as William Bendix bashfully pleads for his "little rubber ball" to spring back for more. Filmed and performed with misleading airiness, the scene is key to the film, parading a sensual riptide that plants ongoing suspicions throughout. Tinkering with his customary pokerface as he twists cagily through a labyrinth of political intrigues and underworld traps in the name of his superior, Ladd stays just as ice-covered whether conveying his passion for Lake or his allegiance to Donlevy. The effect is a taunting sexual vagueness, significantly augmented, at least until the excuse finale, by the fact that Hammett's protagonist, here thick-skinned enough to confess a readiness to throw Lake under the bus if required in furtherance of his intentions, has been case-hardened by being abridged into a star mouthpiece for movie-going audiences. But man, love that William Bendix. His entire role is comprised of wanting nothing more than to beat Ladd into a pulp, and is insatiably enjoyable at being a big lug with nothing more on his mind.

st-shot The Glass Key is a rather convoluted, tepid film made on the heels of successful teaming of Veronica Lake and Allan Ladd in This Gun for Hire. While both films are amply dark and sadistic noirs, Key is the more muted and unimaginative, blunting its ambiguity with the lead on the road to reform in the first reel. One time crooked pol Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevey) is making things hot for the criminal element in the town. Once in the mob's pocket he now busts up the gambling joints he used to protect.Falling for a reformer's daughter Janet Henry ( Lake) he throws in with him. Janet though has taken a shine to his right hand man Ed Beaumont (Ladd) which severs his relationship with Paul. When reformer Henry's n'er do well son who is dating and exploiting Paul's sister is murdered the mob hopes to implicate Paul, whether he did it or not. Confusing it is, suspenseful it's not.Lake and Ladd once again match up well but their situation pales in comparison to Hire and implausible moments abound. There are dark enough moments to qualify it as such as William Bendix's cruel thug who enjoys his work displaying an almost homo erotic delight in pummeling Beaumont while Beaumont in turn finds pleasure in watching a hood being strangled in front of his eyes. But with Donlevy's Madvig compromised early and Lake's Janet lacking the killer instinct of fatales that would follow her The Glass Key doesn't unlock much.