Rent The Glass Key (1942)

Good Film Noir - The Glass Key review by LE

You can see why Kurosawa said it was an influence for Yojimbo. A man playing off two criminal factions against each other - although for a different motivation. There are also very similar plot points to the Japanese film. Can't quite work out what the 'Glass Key' is referring to as a title but I like that sort of ambiguity. Ladd is such a strange leading man, but that strangeness gives the film a distinctive quality. Lots of homoerotic undertones. I'd never heard of Stuart Heisler but he has created a pleasingly strange genre picture here. Worth seeing. Unfortunately the commentary by Barry Forshaw is comically poor. He makes a few factual errors which is bad enough but doesn't even attempt to refer to what's happening on screen at all. After 30 years you'd think people would now know what the purpose of a dvd commentary is and not just use it for a rambling monologue. Commentate on the film we're watching. The production company shouldn't really have let it go out tbh. Fortunately there is a brilliant video essay by Alastair Phillips to make up for it. Very interesting perspective which enhanced my appreciation of the film.

a smack of gangsterism - The Glass Key review by Cato

Not as good as I expected, in that I was hoping for a little more in the way of acting from Alan Ladd, or perhaps the character he was playing. The part was of a bodyguard to Brian Donleavy, but the reasons for that set up were not really spelt out enough for non political types like me. It all smacked of gangsterism, although I suppose times were rougher then. Anyway, for all the beatings up from the great William Bendix in this his first film, it wasn't a hit for me.

Ladd, Lake and Lines that Cut Deep - The Glass Key review by griggs

You can hear The Glass Key’s influence before you see it. The dialogue snaps like a mousetrap—short, sharp and always a little too clever for the room. There is a certain pleasure in watching characters talk circles around each other while the plot moves like a chess game played with knuckle dusters.

Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake bring the cool, thought he heat mostly comes from the supporting players and a script that never wastes a line. It’s easy to spot traces of this film in later noirs and political thrillers—the crooked alliances, the weary loyalty, the sense that everyone’s bluffing.

Still, it doesn’t quite have the weight or tension of the genre’s heavy hitters. The mystery resolves a little too neatly, and the pacing occasionally stalls between punches. But it’s a brisk, talky gem that earns its place in the noir toolkit—less a masterpiece, more a blueprint with flair.