Glass Key, the

The book is toned down but for the most part its satire of politics is allowed to remain intact. Most of what gets eliminated are subplots and partying which, though interesting, do not add to the story much. The movie is much leaner but less complex than the book but it is still faithful to the overall spirit.

Alan Ladd plays a tough guy/toadie to a local politician, Madvig, who has his fingers in a few too many pies. Madvig falls in love with Veronica Lake and burns a few political bridges to win her hand. Lake is the daughter of a senator, one of Madvig's political rivals. All seems to be going well until Lake's no good brother is found dead in a gutter and all fingers point at Madvig. The only person who seems to care about proving him innocent is Ladd. Even Madvig seems determined to get himself convicted. Ladd becomes obsessed with finding out the truth and goes through beaurocratic red tape, underworld sleaze, a torture session and his own feelings for Lake to find out who the real killer was.

Alan Ladd does a great job in the strong-silent role. He is stoic without being cartoonishly so. (The injury makeup is so convincing that you want to flinch for him) Veronica Lake is also good but really isn't given much to do besides show up onscreen in a series of ever more outlandish hats. (I love 40s fashion!) She isn't given any really good scenes until the last third of the movie. The supporting cast is universally good, it includes former Nancy Drew actress Bonita Granville as Madvig's kid sister. (changed from daughter in the book to make up for the relative youth of the actor)

This is a good bit of film history and a very good mystery (you think you have it figured out when it suddenly takes another twist) It is also a chance to see one of the great 40s screen teams in action. A must for classic film noir fans, don't miss it


Fairly good adaption of an excellent book.   April 11, 2001
Mark S. Winger (Wood Dale, IL United States)
I was impressed how this movie stuck very close to the story and dark overtone of the book itself. I highly recommend the book, you will get a sense of Hammett's brilliance as a writer. The movie itself stands fairly well by itself. Alan Ladd plays the dark hero (Ed Beaumont, Ned in the book) and henchman of political magnate Paul Madvig. Madvig is currently busy on promoting his newest senator candidate into power. Madvig's sister however is secretly seeing the candidate's gambling, conniving son behind his back. After an ultimatum by Madvig to his sister, the senator's son is found shortly thereafter dead in the street. Thus the mystery begins. Veronica Lake (who is stunningly beautiful) plays the senator's daughter who Madvig is in love with. Won't go into more detail, but will say that it is well worth your time to both watch the movie and read the book. Crime noir at it's best.


William 'Billy' Benedict a bad guy? Never, well maybe   September 9, 2000
bernie (Arlington, Texas)
What ever happened to William Bendix "Boys' Night Out (1962) ASIN: 6302985293" and "Life of Riley Vol 02 (1953) ASIN: 6304212550"? I always thought of him as a good guy. Boy, this shatters my image of him.

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. 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.