The Glass Key [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Brian Donlevy, Bonita Granville, Richard Denning, Joseph Calleia, William Bendix, Frances Gifford, Donald MacBride, Margaret Hayes, Moroni Olsen, Eddie Marr, Theodor Sparkuhl, Stuart Heisler, Archie Marshek, Buddy G. DeSylva, Fred Kohlmar, Dashiell Hammett, Jonathan Latimer: Film & TV

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Actors: Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Brian Donlevy, Bonita Granville, Richard Denning
Directors: Stuart Heisler
Writers: Dashiell Hammett, Jonathan Latimer
Producers: Buddy G. DeSylva, Fred Kohlmar
Format: PAL
Language: English
Subtitles: English
Subtitles For The Hearing Impaired: English
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 - 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: PG
Studio: Universal Pictures
DVD Release Date: 12 Feb 2007
Run Time: 82 minutes

Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)

ASIN: B000KHX9II
Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 18,078 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)
- #85 in Film & TV > Classics > Crime

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Product Description

Definitive '40's Ladd/Lake noir, based on Dashiell Hammett book of the same name. Fairly formulaic detective/political drama for the times, said to be the inspiration behind not only Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo' (1961) but also for the Cohen Brothers' 'Miller's Crossing' (1990). Local politician Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) built his little empire by turning a blind eye and granting favors to low class criminals like Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia), but decides to back the anti-mob reform candidate, Ralph Henry, in the governor's race after he gets a look at Henry's daughter Janet (Lake). Things turn ugly when Madvig tries to stop his baby sister (Bonita Granville) from dating Janet's brother Taylor (Richard Denning), a young man with no future and a ton of gambling debts. When Taylor is found murdered, it's up to Madvig's hired muscle Ed Beaumont (Ladd) to prove Madvig's innocence before Varna and his newspaper friends railroad Madvig into the big house as payback for all the trouble he's causing them. Ladd and Lake, incidentally, end up together, if it needs saying!

Product Description

United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2.4 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Mono ), English ( Subtitles ), SPECIAL FEATURES: Black & White, Interactive Menu, SYNOPSIS: 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. Brian Donlevy essays the role of the boss, who is determined to back reform candidate Moroni Olsen, despite Ladd's gut feeling that this move is a mistake. Ladd knows that Donlevy is doing a political about-face merely to get in solid with Olsen's pretty daughter Veronica Lake. It is Ladd who is left to clean up the mess when crime lord Joseph Calleila murders Olsen's wastrel son Richard Denning and pins the rap on Donlevy. As Ladd struggles to clear Donlevy's name, he falls in love with Lake--when he's not being pummeled about by Calleila's psychopathic henchman William Bendix. 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. ...The Glass Key

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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine Forties noir with Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake and Brian Donlevy, and a startling performance by William Bendix 11 July 2007

By C. O. DeRiemer HALL OF FAME TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

Maybe not a great noir, but The Glass Key, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett, is one of the most satisfying crime movies to come out of the Forties. I've watched it several times and undoubtedly will again. Why does it work so well? First, there's a death tied to a whodunit and the solution is well disguised until the very end. Second, there's the milieu...big city crime and politics, corruption and violence. Third, a startlingly unhinged performance by William Bendix. And fourth, and most importantly, there is the relationship between two strong men, both slightly amoral but which is based on friendship and trust.

We're talking about Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy), a big-time gambler and enforcer who has moved into big-time politics, and Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd), his right-hand man. This bond of trust and friendship between the two is one of the movie's major themes. It's the engine that drives the movie. Madvig is a tough, cheerful guy who can use his fists or a threat or use a pay-off to get his way. Surprisingly, he's backing a reform candidate for governor. He's gone so far as to shut down illegal gambling operations, which has made a dangerous enemy of gambler Nick Varna (Joseph Calliea). Even more surprisingly, Madvig has fallen for his candidate's daughter, Janet Henry (Veronica Lake).

Beaumont, on the other hand, is a taciturn hard case. He's no one's fool. He's smarter, or at least shrewder, than Madvig. His loyalty to Madvig is complete but he never hesitates to try to talk sense to Madvig. At one point Madvig is bragging about his entry into high society and respectable politics with his association with the candidate he's backing. "I'm going to society, " he says to Beaumont. "He's practically given me the key to his house." Says Beaumont, "Yeah, a glass key.... Be sure it doesn't break in your hand." Beaumont sees Janet Henry and her family as wealthy, condescending snobs. Why do you stay with Madvig, she asks him with a coy little condescending smile. "I get along very well with Paul because he's on the dead up-and-up. Why don't you try it sometime?" he says and walks out.

Before long Janet's brother, the wastrel son of Madvig's candidate, is found dead and Madvig is the prime suspect. Beaumont doesn't believe this for a minute. He's sure Nick Varna had something to do with it. Soon Beaumont is being used as a punching bag by Jeff (William Bendix), one of Varna's goons. It doesn't take much time, either, for Beaumont and Janet Henry, who has said she'd marry Madvig, to realize there's a strong attraction between them that's starting to show. Beaumont, however, is determined to respect Madvig's feelings. By the time we reach the end of the movie, there have been plenty of beatings, deaths and corruption. The person responsible for the brother's death has been discovered. It's a clever surprise. Of course, in an Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake movie, there's also a happy ending.

William Bendix was a big, beefy actor who more often than not played good guys. When he played a bad guy, he was something to see. Jeff is just this short of a psycho, but short on the other side of the line. "Meet the swellest guy I ever skinned a knuckle on," he says, draping an arm across Beaumont's shoulder. He enjoys dishing out beatings. The most startling scenes in the movie center on Jeff. In the first, Ed Beaumont is being held captive. He's going to be beaten until he gives the low-down on all of Madvig's less savory activities. He won't talk, so Jeff beats him within an inch of his life. It's an almost sadomasochistic scene. Ladd's face, with some realistic make-up, looks like hamburger...and Jeff isn't through. The other scene has Jeff losing control when a major character gives him one too many orders. "Now you see what we gotta do," Jeff says, "we gotta give him the works." As Beaumont leans against the door in the background and watches, we see the sweating, shaking face of Jeff as he strangles the guy. We don't see the victim, only the victim's kicking legs. Which is worse, Jeff killing the man or Beaumont watching with a slight smile?

This was Alan Ladd's follow-up film to This Gun for Hire. He was never a great actor; he said so himself. But he had whatever it takes to be a star and this movie secured his star status. Veronica Lake leaves me with mixed feelings. In The Glass Key she is so carefully coifed, dressed and made-up that, with her tiny stature, she looks like a kind of odd porcelain doll. Although Ladd and Lake never much cared for each other, they made an intriguing couple on the screen. And what of Brian Donlevy? Sure, he was a stolid actor, very straight forward. Yet, for me, he always combined a kind of honest, nice-guy quality with a streak of solid bad-guy potential. "Reliable," I guess is what people would call him, yet I can't think of anyone who could have done a better job as Sergeant Markoff in Beau Geste. Donlevy had top billing for The Glass Key.

For those who like old songs as well as old movies, there's a nice instrumental version of "I Remember You," music by Victor Schertzinger and lyrics by Johnny Mercer, used as background in a scene. "I Don't Want to Walk Without You, Baby," with music by Jule Styne and lyrics by Frank Loesser, is sung by an uncredited Lillian Randolph in a dive while Jeff glowers and downs a couple of scotches. Read more ›

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Dashiell Hammett's novel gets a watered down, slow moving treatment 1 Jan 2011

By The CinemaScope Cat TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

A coarse and corrupt political boss (Brian Donlevy) falls in love with the daughter (Veronica Lake) of a wealthy politician (Moroni Olsen) and proceeds to woo the daughter and back the politician against the advice of his right hand henchman (Alan Ladd). When the politician's son (Richard Denning) turns up dead, Donlevy becomes the chief suspect. The second film version of the Dashiell Hammett novel (the first was filmed in 1935 with George Raft in Ladd's part) and sluggishly directed by Stuart Heisler. It clocks in at a brief 81 minutes but is seems like a full two hours. The political corruption is toned down from the original Hammett novel and the film plays out like a conventional film noir. Ladd is pretty good and his chemistry with the expressionless Lake remains solid but the acting honors, such as they are, belong to the roughly hewn Donlevy. With William Bendix as a sadistic thug, Dane Clark, Bonita Granville, Joseph Calleia, Frances Gifford, Donald MacBride and in a small but scene stealing part, Margaret Hayes (BLACKBOARD JUNGLE) as a nymphomaniac who seduces Ladd and drives her husband to suicide.

The Universal DVD from Great Britain is a decent if unexceptional transfer.

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars William 'Billy' Benedict a bad guy? Never, well maybe 9 April 2010

By bernie VINE™ VOICE

Format:DVD

They mention "the glass Key" at the beginning of the film as the key to a position. A warning says, "It is a glass key, be sure it does not break off in your hand."

This movie was supposed to be the one that made it for both Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd. They are also together in the film "This Gun for Hire." I did not read the book but Dash-it-all Hammett is usually a lot darker and his characters are usually a lot sleazier. The only really dark scene was probably the encounter between Ed Beaumont and Jeff. The mystery was good. The who-done-it and why lasted up to the end.

What ever happened to William Bendix the bartender in "Boys' Night Out" (1962) and "Life of Riley (1953)"? I always thought of him as a good guy. Boy, this shatters my image of him.

I Married a Witch ~ Veronica Lake

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Spooky... 13 Sep 2011

By J. Rottweiller Swinburne

Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase

Made in 1942, "The Glass Key" was the second film version of a Dashiell Hammett novel (the first, made in 1935, featured George Raft). Generally filed under "Noir, Film", it nevertheless bids fair to being one of the oddest, spookiest films ever to find shelter under that particular heading.
On the face of it, "The Glass Key" is a standard noir. It deals with the efforts of Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) to leave his sleazy, two-fisted past behind and break into legitimate big-time politics by backing Ralph Henry (played by Moroni Olsen) for Governor. Madvig also falls for Henry's daughter Janet (Veronica lake). This liaison is frowned upon by Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd), Madvig's minder. Beaumont and Janet have an instant and strong mutual attraction. But Beaumont doesn't trust her, feeling that she is using Madvig to further her father's political career. Further, Henry's son Taylor (Richard Benning) is a gambling addict whose constant demands for money to finance his habit is threatening to bring the family name into disrepute.
That is a simplified version of what is an unusually complex plot, even for a noir. However, what really stand out are three things; the Lighting, and the performances of Ladd and Bendix.

The Lighting? Well, we all know that the term "Noir" refers more to the moral tone of a film than to its cinematic presentation, though the moody shadow-effects typical of the genre go hand-in-hand with, and are symbolic of, the dark tone of the films' subject-matter. But this film is practically neon-lit all the way through. There are no deep shadows anywhere in it, just bright lights everywhere, so sometimes you wonder if you haven't you've slipped into one of the "Thin Man" films, or maybe a Claudette Colbert comedy.

Then there is Alan Ladd's performance.... Usually more wooden than the Armada (there was a joke that Ladd had only two expressions, hat on and hat off), here he puts a sinister twist on his usual dendrological immobility. When Janet Henry (Lake) heaves into view and Ladd sees her for the first time, his face becomes a mask of lust. His lips part in a sort of rictus, like a Gerry Anderson puppet, and his half-open eyes swivel lecherously to the side. The rest of him stays completely still, so that he looks for all the world like a ventriloquist's dummy. The effect is eery beyond belief, the more so as the whole thing happens in that bare, unblinking light without a shadow in sight. He reminded me of the evil dummy in "Dead of Night", with all its concomitant spookiness.

But when it comes to Spooky, William Bendix (Jeff) makes Beaumont look like the boy next door. When he rides shotgun with his boss he is a heavy in the traditional mould, but when alone he has the sort of wondrous innocence of a Candide adrift in a world he doesn't understand. Though he keeps Beaumont prisoner and beats him to a pulp during the course of trying to get him to betray Madvig, he treats Beaumont with an unsettling cameraderie that has strongly homo-erotic undertones. He keeps patting him, putting his arm around him and calling him "my Baby" and "The swellest guy I ever skinned a knuckle on", treating him with a wide-eyed tenderness as if this is the closest he can get to expressing friendship or affection. Bendix could play either good guys (who are usually a bit simple) or heavies, but here he breaks the mould completely, going into really dark territory and making the hair on the back of your neck stand on end.

The rest of the cast are variable. Calleia (Varna) is an acceptable if pedestrian villain. Lake, usually good value for money, here seems very stiff and unconvincing; she and Ladd have zero chemistry and you can't believe in their mutual attraction for a moment. Donald McBride, a dodgy D.A., does his usual effective shtick as the weak and corrupt official who lives life on the verge of hysteria. And Jeff's sidekick Rusty (Eddie Marr), who cooks for the pair of them while they are keeping Beaumont prisoner, has one really good line that can easily be missed. When asked by Jeff where he learnt to cook, he replies "My first wife was second cook in a third-class joint on fourth avenue".

So, all in all a distinctly odd, and very unsettling, little noir which deserves to be better known, and which could probably sit in a little category all of its own. Read more ›

The Glass Key [DVD]

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