This "Key" Is Hard To Fit, But It Does If You Persist
Added 2/14/2009
This is one of a handful of films I kept giving chances to like and finally did on the third viewing. Maybe I expected too much on the first viewing, when I first began to appreciate film noir and had become a fan of Veronica Lake. In The Glass Key, though, Lake didn't have her usual snappy dialog, and that was one of the disappointments, along with too-confusing a storyline.
By the third viewing, I guess I finally understood what was going on in this Dashielle Hammet story. Hammet's stories weren't always the easiest to understand.
Even with knowing what to expect, William Bendix in this film still is so brutal in here he almost makes me uncomfortable. Well, he DOES make me uncomfortable. He plays one of the meanest, sadistic thugs I have ever seen on film and one of his punches literally knocked out Alan Ladd when they were filming this.
Brian Donlevy is perhaps the best character in here as the slightly-corrupt politician. It's an okay Ladd-Lake film but nothing special. If you're a collector of film noir, then you should have it, but don't expect the zip in here that the other Ladd-Lake noirs possessed. Speaking of that, it's a pity and an outrage this, and another Ladd/Lake/Bendix movie - The Blue Dahlia - are still not out on DVD as of early 2009.
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Where's the DVD for this film noir classic?
Added 8/7/2008
This is one of my favorite films, and has the classic on-screen pairing of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.
And it's not available on DVD???
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Veronica!
Added 3/21/2008
I think this is by far Lake's most enchanting appearance (although she's also very good in This Gun For Hire). Yowza! The chemistry with Ladd is magic. William Bendix is marvelous. Hoping for it to be on DVD some day...
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VERONICA LAKE DESERVES DVD.....
Added 12/3/2007
WHEN OH WHEN ARE WE GOING TO BE MADE HAPPY WITH VERONICA LAKE ON DVD. THERE ARE SO MANY BAD GIFT SETS OUT THERE AND NOT ONE FOR THIS ALLURING BEAUTY. PLEASE LETS GET A BEST OF VERONICA LAKE AT LEAST!!! IF THATS NOT POSSIBLE THEN PLEASE RELEASE AS MANY OF HER MOVIES AS POSSIBLE.
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"The Glass Key (1942) ... Alan Ladd ... Paramount Pictures Film Noir"
Added 3/21/2007
Paramount Pictures present "THE GLASS KEY" (1942) (85 mins/B&W) (Dolby digitally remastered) --- Starring Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Brian Donlevy, William Bendix, Joseph Calleia & Bonita Granville --- Directed by Stuart Heisler released in October 23, 1942, our story line and film, In this Dasheill Hammett tale, Ladd stars as Ed Beaumont, the right-hand man to Paul Madvig (Donlevy), the head of the local voter's league. Madvig built his little empire by turning a blind eye and granting favors to low class criminals like Nick Varna (Calleia), but decides to back the 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 (Granville) from dating Janet's brother Taylor (Denning), a young man with no future and a ton of gambling debts. When Taylor is found murdered, it's up to Ed to prove Madvig's innocence before Nick and his newspaper friends railroad Madvig into the big house as payback for all the trouble he's causing them ... Ed has his hands full trying to save Paul's future from the malicious machinations of his enemies, the circling curiosity of the police and the furtive attacks by his sister and Janet, proclaiming Paul's guilt to anyone who will listen --- Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake made 7 films together, "The Blue Dahlia" (1946), "Duffy's Tavern" (1945), "The Glass Key" (1942), "Saigon" (1948), "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942), "This Gun for Hire" (1942) and "Variety Girl" (1947). "In Variety Girl" (1947), "Star Spangled Rhythm" (1942) and "Duffy's Tavern" (1945) they appear as themselves.
Under Stuart Heisler (Director), Fred Kohlmar (Producer), Dashiell Hammett (Book Author), Jonathan Latimer (.Screenwriter), Theodor Sparkuhl (Cinematographer), Victor Young (Composer (Music Score),Archie Marshek (Editor), Haldane Douglas (Art Director), Hans Dreier (Art Director) - - - - the cast includes Alan Ladd (Ed Beaumont), Veronica Lake (Janet Henry), Brian Donlevy (Paul Madvig), Bonita Granville (Opal Madvig), William Bendix (Jeff), Richard Denning (Taylor Henry), Joseph Calleia (Nick Vama), Frances Gifford (Nurse), Donald MacBride (Farr), Maggie Hayes (Eloise Matthews), Moroni Olsen (Ralph Henry), Eddie Marr (Rusty), Arthur Loft (Clyde Matthews), George Meader (Claude Tuttle) - - - - - Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe Hollywood crime dramas that set their protagonists in a world perceived as inherently corrupt and unsympathetic...Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as stretching from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...Film noir of this era is associated with a low-key black-and-white visual style that has roots in German Expressionist cinematography, while many of the prototypical stories and much of the attitude of classic noir derive from the hard-boiled school of crime fiction that emerged in the United States during the Depression...the term film noir (French for "black film"), first applied to Hollywood movies by French critic Nino Frank in 1946, was unknown to most of the American filmmakers and actors while they were creating the classic film noirs..the canon of film noir was defined in retrospect by film historians and critics; many of those involved in the making of film noir later professed to be unaware at the time of having created a distinctive type of film ... featuring top performances from the '40s and '50s with outstanding drama and screenplays, along with a wonderful cast and supporting actors to bring it all together ... another winner from the vaults of almost forgotten film noir gems
SPECIAL FEATURES BIOS:
1. Alan Walbridge Ladd
Date of Birth: 3 September 1913 - Hot Springs, Arkansas
Date of Death: 29 January 1964 - Palm Springs, California
2. Veronica Lake (aka: Constance Frances Marie Ockelman)
Date of Birth: 14 November 1919 - Brooklyn, New York
Date of Death: 7 July 1973 - Burlington, Vermont
3 Brian Donlevy (aka: Waldo Brian Donlevy)
Date of Birth: 9 February 1901 - Cleveland, Ohio
Date of Death: 5 April 1972 - Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California
4. William Bendix
Date of Birth: 14 January 1906 - New York, New York
Date of Death: 14 December 1964 - Los Angeles, California
5. Stuart Heisler (Director)
Date of Birth: 5 December 1896 - Los Angeles, California
Date of Death: 21 August 1979 - San Diego, California
Hats off and thanks to Les Adams (collector/guideslines for character identification), Chuck Anderson (Webmaster: The Old Corral/B-Westerns.Com), Boyd Magers (Western Clippings), Bobby J. Copeland (author of "Trail Talk"), Rhonda Lemons (Empire Publishing Inc), Bob Nareau (author of "The Real Bob Steele") and Trevor Scott (Down Under Com) as they have rekindled my interest once again for Film Noir, B-Westerns and Serials --- looking forward to more high quality releases from the vintage serial era of the '20s, '30s & '40s and B-Westerns ... order your copy now from Amazon where there are plenty of copies available on VHS, stay tuned once again for top notch action mixed with deadly adventure --- if you enjoyed this title, why not check out VCI Entertainment where they are experts in releasing B-Westerns and Serials --- all my heroes have been cowboys!
Total Time: 85 min on DVD ~ Universal Home Video ~ (3/01/1992)
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Don't Cross Your Hired Gunman
Added 11/9/2009
THIS GUN FOR HIRE(1942)---Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Laird Cregar, Robert Preston, Tully Marshall.
Ladd's first major role and his first pairing with Veronica Lake. Ladd is the "gun for hire" who is out for revenge after being double-crossed by Cregar. This film is often cited as one of the "great" film noirs---it's good, it's noir, but I don't know that I would call it "great---be that as it may, it definitely belongs in any respectable noir collection.
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LADD'S ITCHY FINGER'S ON THE TRIGGER
Added 9/9/2009
Great title and Ladd at his best in a dark drama of love and hate, life and death.
Underrated director Frank Tuttle directs Alan Ladd and Veronica lake (and her amazing hair) in what is now considered a classic film noir.
Set in San Francisco during World War II, Philip Raven (Ladd) is a cold-blooded hired killer. He's hired to murder a chemist in possession of Nitrochemical Corporation's formula for poison gas, which he is using to blackmail the Los Angeles-based company. Raven kills Baker and his secretary after retrieving the formula, and is paid $20,000 by Willard Gates, an executive for Nitrochemical. But Gates registers the numbers on the bills with the police and claims Raven robbed Nitrochemical. The story explodes in a desperate double hunt for survival and revenge. Best seen without further knowledge of the plot. Trust me please.
They rarely make them like this anymore. Too bad.
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THIS GUN FOR HIRE
Added 4/10/2009
GOOD EXAMPLE OF FORTIES FILM NOIR. GOOD CHANCE TO SEE ALAN LADD AND VERONICA LAKE IN ACTION. FAIRLY GOOD STORY. RECOMMENDED FOR FOLKS WHO ENJOY EARLY FILM NOIR DETECTIVE STORIES. I GIVE IT A B-.
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