FILMOGRAPHY: MOVIE LISTINGS

Just Another Film Noir?

I really didn't get into this 'film noir' like I did with the rest of Lake's work. As ever she was radiant and sparkles even within the sombre tone black and white style of this breed of cinema. I don't know if it was my mood but the storyline failed to grip me like 'This Gun for Hire' and Ladd's role felt like just anyone could have filled it.

That said this move does sit well with the other noirs and is a hell of a lot better than average. The whole pace and flow of the film seemed to be dragging at first before reaching a rather good middle ground and fading slightly again towards the end. What ever else might be said Lake steals the show again and is worth watching for her performance alone.

A dynamic and captivating film noir masterpiece.

I really enjoyed this film. It is a worthy successor to "This Gun For Hire" in quality. This film adaptation of the Dashiel Hammett novel is very intriguing with many fine performances. It is frank in its depiction of political scheming and power in those days. Brian Donlevy is perfect in the role of political strongman Paul Madvig. His performance is accentuated by the subtle and convincing effort by Alan Ladd as Madvig's friend and political number two man Ed Beaumont. Joseph Calleia, who would later appear in the Rita Hayworth classic "Gilda", makes a fine appearance in this film as Madvig's corrupt nemesis Nick Varna. William Bendix is truly frightening as his sadistic thug, and I liked his performance in this film even more than the one he gave in "The Blue Dahlia".

Then of course there is Veronica Lake as Janet Henry - sister of the murdered son of gubernatorial candidate Ralph Henry, who Madvig is backing for election. Her performance is outstanding. Her acting abilities are well tested and she comes through beautifully. Veronica is absolutely stunning in this film. The way she intonates her words, the emotions she shows and seeing her eyeing over Alan Ladd almost gave me the shakes and had me asking myself -"how could anyone have been that gorgeous?" This is a very entertaining murder mystery with a surprising ending that will have you in suspense right up to the end.

More noir... but less so

The Glass Key is a strange film. I sometimes love it and others I find it too meandering as if the plot was being added to as it was filmed.

After the Gun for Hire there's a notable lack of spark to the characters and plot as if there's and end goal and now we have to pad our way to it with scenes. It's a shame ass there are good performances and some interesting characters who could have been developed more.

For me Lake does a fairly routine job with nothing to get her teeth into. It feels like a movie thrown together just to get Ladd and Lake's name on the same noir-ish billing and that's about it.