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The Glass Key

Critics reviews, audience reviews, cast & crew.

Stuart Heisler

Brian Donlevy

Paul Madvig

Ed Beaumont

Veronica Lake

Janet Henry

Bonita Granville

Opal "Snip" Madvig

Richard Denning

Taylor Henry

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The Glass Key (1942)

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My Review of ‘The Glass Key’ (1942)

This movie, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett tells the story of a political fixer and social media manager marketing manager helpful assistant named Ed Beaumont (played by Alan Ladd). Ed provides his services to a really bad person total thug shady politico named Paul Madvig. Madvig, in turn, falls in love with a political reformer’s daughter. The reformer is gubernatorial candidate Ralph Henry and the daughter is named Janet (played by none other than Veronica Lake, of course).

Well, hello there! 🙂

Yeah. Get ready for many layers of conflict.

You see, along with a lovely daughter, good guy Ralph Henry has a good-for-nothing son named Taylor. And Taylor ends up dead—as in murdered—in the gutter right outside the Henry residence. So we’re presented with the mystery of who killed him.

But it gets even more interesting. Because Madvig loves Janet the Mysterious Blonde (and the daughter of his political opposite), he cozies up a bit to Janet’s daddy Henry. Ed believes the whole thing is much too cozy, so he tries to warn Henry that Madvig is pure evil thoroughly not nice not exactly a boy scout. Eventually, Madvig gets wise to Ed’s backroom dealings ambivalent feelings about him. As a result, Madvig has his goons assistants deliver a savage beatdown to Ed that lands him in the hospital.

Ow! (Image via MovieActors.com )

At the same time, for reasons of her own, Janet drops by to see Ed now and then. I can’t recall exactly when she started doing this. Surely, it had to be at around ten minutes into the film. Needless to say, Ed starts to develop feelings, which … well, it’s Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. What do you think?

I just happened to be in the neighborhood.

What follows is a scenario typical of Dashiell Hammett’s storytelling style. Our protagonist (that’s Ed, in case you fell asleep reading this I didn’t make that clear) finds himself smack in the middle of a quandary or three—how to handle Madvig, while sparing Henry from political disaster. All while trading the occasional bon mot with Janet, who as I mentioned, likes to pop round now and then and, occasionally, accuse her dad of murder.

You see, there are these peculiar letters that keep showing up around town. They basically point the finger of guilt at Papa Henry.

Via via TMDB .

First, I should say that I read this book well before I saw the movie for the first time. The screenwriter Jonathan Latimer did a bang-up job adapting this for the screen. In fact, he made it much easier to keep the various storylines and characters straight than the story’s own deservedly-esteemed author did .

Second, I can’t think of another film noir leading man who can deliver a punch or a kick with the quickness and authority of Alan Ladd. (Okay, maybe Bogie. But Ladd does it with this matter-of-fact look. The most non-expressive expression ever.)

Third, Bogie may have been kicked in the face in The Maltese Falcon , but you never saw the bruises. In this movie, Ed displays bruises aplenty.

The ending (without revealing spoilers) resolves the issues in semi-noir fashion. Let’s just say certain people must pay the price for their sins and others live happily ever after , unless they broke up after the movie ended due to political differences .

Five stars! As if I could give it fewer! 🙂

And here’s a trailer!

BTW, if you’d like to see still photos from the first cinematic adaptation of this book, just click here . Feast your eyes on George Raft, Claire Dodd, and Edward Arnold in 1935!

Directed by Stuart Heisler Produced by Fred Kohlmar and Buddy G. DeSylva (uncredited) Screenplay by Jonathan Latimer (based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett)

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7 responses to my review of ‘the glass key’ (1942).

Your review was fun to read! Thank you1

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Agreed. This review is a lot of fun. Debbi’s writing has so much wonderful personality, wouldn’t you say?

Like Liked by 1 person

Oh, thank you, Ruth! I keep meaning to get to that Western with Ruth Roman. Is it The Far Country ? So many movies, so little time. Ack! 🙂

Oh yes, it is The Far Country. Ruth Roman is quite glam, given the Klondike setting.

Then I simply must make the time for it! 🙂

I perfectly agree!

Thank you! *blushing* 🙂

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' The Glass Key,' a Remake of the Murder Mystery Story by Dashiell Hammett, Appears at the Criterion

• Oct. 15, 1942

An absorbing puzzle in murder when it was first made in 1935, "The Glass Key," the new remake of the Dashiell Hammett thriller, still has some of the fascination of the original, despite its unevenness. The motivations of Mr. Hammett's original characters are sometimes more than a little askew, but his sleight of hand is so expert that one only occasionally realizes one is being cheated; his characters speak in a terse, telegraphic style that blends well with violence. Unfortunately for the new film at the Criterion, it sags under the endless complexity of Mr. Hammett's plot. All too often it paralyzes the adaptor by the necessity for exposition, and at those points the sleight of hand fails and the characters become no more than puppets in a bizarre pattern.The whole plot is strung on a rather long bow. An easy-going ward heeler swings his vote to a reform politician and cleans out a nest of gamblers because he finds the reform candidate's daughter winsome, Soon after, the playboy son of the reformer is slain, and the ward heeler finds himself under suspicion. The ward boss's loyal lieutenant begins some devious research. He is nearly killed in a mauling by the gambling-ring henchmen, pursues wisps of clues to a fantastic meeting in a publisher's country home and finally, through a maze of strange relationships and oddly motivated conduct, he pounces on the real murderer.As the ward heeler's pal who wrenches the truth out of bits and pieces of clues, Alan Ladd is again the cold, monosyllabic toughie he was in "This Gun for Hire." His performance, almost more than anything else, gives "The Glass Key" its frequent suspense. As the ward-heeler, Brian Donlevy, that excellent actor, is providing a blurred carbon copy of his similar portrait in "The Great McGinty." As the sadistic mauler William Bendix does his best by an overwrought role, and Miss Veronica Lake is still little more than a sullen voice and a head of yellow hair. Nevertheless and despite its faults, "The Glass Key" still kindles some of the excitements of a tough-spoken story.

THE GLASS KEY, screen play by Jonathan Latimer; based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett; directed by Stuart Heisler for Paramount.Paul Madvig . . . . . Brian DonlevyJanet Henry . . . . . Veronica LakeEd Beaumont . . . . . Alan LaddOpal Madvig . . . . . Bonita GranvilleShadow O'Rory . . . . . Joseph CalleiaTaylor Henry . . . . . Richard DenningMr. Henry . . . . . Moroni OlsenJeff . . . . . William BendixEloise Matthews . . . . . Margaret HayesClyde Matthews . . . . . Arthur LoftTuttle . . . . . George MeaderRusty . . . . . Eddie MarrNurse . . . . . Frances GiffordLynch . . . . . Joe McGuinnGroggins . . . . . Frank HagneyFisher . . . . . Joseph King

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The Glass Key

Editor's ranking, average user rating, your watchlist, cast + crew.

The second pairing of Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, Stuart Heisler’s The Glass Key is an extraordinary example of early film noir with the added benefit of Paramount’s sophisticated style and high production values: take note of the extravagant sets from the highest levels of society (the rococo dining room “nook” in the Henry household) to the lowest (the scummy bar and upper chamber where thug Jeff blows his top). Based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett and released one year following perhaps the most famous adaptation of his work, John Huston’s The Maltese Falcon (1941), the film boasts a dense but brilliantly woven mystery plot, enthusiastic and career-best performances by many cast members, and a near perfect admixture of action, intrigue and pathos. Ladd plays Ed Beaumont, wing man and best friend to criminal political operative Paul Madvig (Donlevy) who is supporting the election of reform mayoral candidate Ralph Henry (Moroni Olsen) mainly because he’s head over heels for his daughter Janet (Veronica Lake). When Henry’s gambling addicted son Taylor (Richard Denning), who had been secretly dating Madvig’s sister Opal (Bonita Granville), is suddenly murdered, everyone seems to have something either to hide or to expose, including rival mob boss Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia) and the newspaper publisher (Arthur Loft) who’s on his payroll. Donlevy crackles as the lovably goofy, smitten gangster whose friendship bond with Beaumont is beautifully and naturally drawn, and William Bendix roars as the crude, sadistic, aggrieved heavy Jeff who beats Beaumont to a bloody pulp every chance he gets; the sequence of Beaumont’s kidnapping and ultimate escape is one continuous thrill. Rainstorms pound, revelations abound, and the seductive chemistry between Ladd and Lake is something special to behold.

By Michael Bayer

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The Glass Key

Time out says, release details.

• Duration: 85 mins

Cast and crew

• Director: Stuart Heisler
• Screenwriter: Jonathan Latimer
• Brian Donlevy
• Veronica Lake
• Joseph Calleia
• William Bendix
• Bonita Granville
• Richard Denning

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The glass key.

Directed by Stuart Heisler

The Tougher They Are—The Harder They Fall

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

Brian Donlevy Veronica Lake Alan Ladd Bonita Granville Richard Denning Joseph Calleia William Bendix Frances Gifford Donald MacBride Margaret Hayes Moroni Olsen Eddie Marr Arthur Loft George Meader William Benedict Dane Clark Tom Fadden Bess Flowers Chuck Hamilton James Millican Bert Moorhouse Lillian Randolph Norma Varden Brooks Benedict Conrad Binyon Frank Bruno Kenneth Chryst Edmund Cobb Maurice Costello Show All… George Cowl John W. De Noria Vernon Dent Frank Elliott J.C. Fowler Jack Gardner Kit Guard Frank Hagney Louis Jean Heydt Arthur Stuart Hull Joe King Paul Le Pere Theodore Lorch Jack Luden Wilbur Mack Joe McGuinn Edmund Mortimer Jack Mulhall Spec O'Donnell Broderick O'Farrell Tom O'Grady Pat O'Malley Stanley Price Cyril Ring Francis Sayles Jack Shea Bruce Sidney Brick Sullivan Charles Sullivan George Turner William Wagner Fred Walburn Laraine Day

Director Director

Stuart Heisler

Producer Producer

Fred Kohlmar

Writer Writer

Jonathan Latimer

Original Writer Original Writer

Dashiell Hammett

Editor Editor

Archie Marshek

Cinematography Cinematography

Theodor Sparkuhl

Assistant Director Asst. Director

Arthur S. Black Jr.

Executive Producer Exec. Producer

Buddy G. DeSylva

Art Direction Art Direction

Haldane Douglas Hans Dreier

Composers Composers

Victor Young Walter Scharf

Sound Sound

Hugo Grenzbach Don Johnson

Costume Design Costume Design

Makeup makeup.

Wally Westmore

Paramount Pictures

Releases by Date

Theatrical limited, 08 sep 1942, 02 oct 1942, 07 oct 1942, 14 oct 1942, 23 oct 1942, 07 may 1948, 01 aug 2001, 22 aug 2007, 26 mar 2012, 25 may 2021, releases by country.

• Theatrical limited Toronto
• Theatrical limited Vancouver
• Theatrical U
• Theatrical U Re-Release
• Physical U DVD
• Physical U Blu-Ray
• Theatrical 12

Netherlands

• Physical DVD
• Theatrical limited NR Detroit, Michigan
• Theatrical limited NR New York City, New York
• Theatrical NR

85 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by theriverjordan ★★★½ 21

“The Glass Key” is a rarely told sort of story in noir; depicting the love between a wise guy, and a henchman. 

This one is gonna be a bad romance. 

At least… onscreen, there is a curious preoccupation on the adverse relationship between star Alan Ladd’s leathery political fixer, and William Bendix’s giant ape of a heavy. But in reading about the real life brotherhood between the two formerly blue collar boys-turned-actors - which included them buying homes across from each other - it’s evident that someone on the film was just capitalizing on their particular natural chemistry. 

“The Glass Key’s” story though, couldn’t be better fitted as a vehicle that for a shadowy sort of sentimentality about the simple…

Review by sakana1 ★★★★½ 24

Every time I watch The Glass Key , I probably mention in my review that I think it's the best performance of Brian Donlevy's career. Bluster and energy are present in nearly all of his performances from this era, but careful attention to expression and gesture are far less common, and they're key to the way he both brings Paul Madvig to life and, crucially, keeps him so likable throughout.

All we need to know Madvig, really, are Donlevy's eyes, and his hands: the joy in his eyes when Paul sees Ed; the resignation when he thinks he's lost him; the awkward eagerness when he talks about Janet Henry. His uncontrollable, little boy's fiddling with the box of flowers when he…

Review by One Godfella 侍 ★★★★

People say money is not the key to happiness, but I have always figured if you have enough money, you can have a key made.

If loyalty gets you a lovely wife, why am I still single? I think because I'm not living in a film noir movie.

Review by Rock 1

“My first wife was a second cook at a third rate joint on 4th Street.”

Review by Jesse Snoddon ★★★½ 1

"As a matter of fact I think it would do the state good if somebody would reform you...right out of existence"

Political boss Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) abandons his ties to crime when he falls for Janet (Veronica Lake) in order to impress her and her family, who are active in reformer political circles. This sets off a chain of events as crime boss Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia) retaliates. Paul's friend Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd) finds himself in the middle of a maelstrom when Janet's brother Taylor (Richard Denning) winds up dead and he begins digging to find out who is responsible. 

The first couple acts are a little loose and it takes it's time finding its stride, but things…

Review by Slig001 ★★★★

After a successful teaming in This Gun for Hire, Paramount decided to unite Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake again for The Glass Key. The film is based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett and focuses on political intrigue and murder. It's less action packed than the earlier film but no less interesting. We have an array of well defined characters and a complex plot that features numerous twists and shifting loyalties. The plot hits on many things that are still relevant today - not least the concept of "fake news" - the only difference being that back then it only had a few victims, whereas today everybody is affected. Things have changed a lot since the forties, and this film…

Review by eely 🪷 ★★½ 4

idk what it was about this movie but literally everything that happened went in one ear and out the other and left absolutely zero mark on me. I could not tell you a single one of these character’s names because I just did not care at all. the only thing I know for sure is that veronica lake has incredible hair and was criminally underused. sorry to this man.

Review by DallasFrance ★★★½

According to Richard Layman’s book “Shadow Man: The Life of Dashiell Hammett,” a glass key symbolizes an act that cannot be forgotten. Well, I’m afraid that won’t be the case for this film. The Glass Key, based on Hammett’s novel, is not a bad film, but in the ocean of noirs released in the forties, it sinks from the surface fairly quickly.

Top shelf noirs crackle with tension, sensuousness, and danger, but everything in The Glass Key merely works. Political corruption isn’t explored in depth, classism isn’t explored in depth, and even Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, cast based on their chemistry in This Gun for Hire, only feel vaguely hot for each other.

The flip side of there being a seemingly endless supply of watchable film noirs is that the merely good ones can get lost in the shadows. Paramount kept pairing Ladd and Lane together, though, so they must have still seen something.

Noirvember 2022 Rankings

Review by Blake Bergman "Various Spaghetti" ★★★★½

"The Glass Key" is a 1942 film noir directed by Stuart Heisler. A tight knit noir from the 1940's, "The Glass Key" in story has been a staple of the noir genre in influence. Stuck within the elemental dissolve of political backstabbing, dangerous romances, and gangster personalities, the wonderment of "The Glass Key" sets up the role of the middleman who has to wade through it all. At times he is making it play to the tune of his fancy, but sometimes he gets caught in the whirlwind. Now this 1942 version of the story might be the most direct viewed version of "The Glass Key", but its originality draws back to a 1931 novel written by Dashiell Hammett. As…

Review by theironcupcake ★★★½ 11

"I'm going to society. He's practically given me the key to his house." "Yeah, a glass key. Be sure it doesn't break in your hand."

Several years ago I took a college film studies course in which we watched Kurosawa's Yojimbo. Prior to the screening, the students were tasked with reading Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest, so that after the film we would be able to discuss the striking similarities between the two narratives. (For extra credit, we had the option of memorizing the novel's opening paragraph and rewriting it at the bottom of the weekly quiz. I did it, of course.) It has been a while since that class and even longer since my other encounter with Hammett's literature, The…

Review by Gentry ★★★½

“Meet the swellest guy I ever skinned a knuckle on.”

Brian Donlevy, great laugh (loves slugging). Veronica Lake, great eyebrows (loves slumming). A film in which Alan Ladd cucks a newspaper owner so badly that the offended man commits suicide. Maybe intentionally tries to muddy the motivational waters, but I found it a little too coy with its characters’ reasoning for the bulk of its runtime. Right-hand man Ladd gives this wry smile whenever questioned on important plot matters and it drove me crazy. I could smell Lake’s hair conditioner through the screen. I could taste William Bendix’s balled-up fist.

Review by sakana1 ★★★★ 6

I'm fairly sure that the first time I watched this movie was the first time I ever saw Brian Donlevy, and I still think it's one of his best performances. It's not easy to convincingly portray a murderous gangster who is also loyal and has a huge heart, but he pulls it off with aplomb. After all, despite all of the work done to push Janet Henry to the forefront, Paul and his love for Ed really are at the center of the movie.

I recently reread the book, and am fascinated both by how perfectly cast Donlevy is, and by the fact that Alan Ladd is as perfect for the movie's Ed as he would have been terrible for…

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The Glass Key (1942)

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The Tougher They Are—The Harder They Fall

A crooked politician finds himself being accused of murder by a gangster from whom he refused help during a re-election campaign.

Stuart Heisler

Dashiell Hammett

Jonathan Latimer

Top Billed Cast

Brian Donlevy

Paul Madvig

Veronica Lake

Janet Henry

Ed Beaumont

Bonita Granville

Opal 'Snip' Madvig

Richard Denning

Taylor Henry

Joseph Calleia

William Bendix

Frances Gifford

Donald MacBride

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A review by John Chard

Written by john chard on july 1, 2019.

Hey, Rusty, Little Rubber Ball is back. I told you he liked the way we bounced him around.

The Glass Key is directed by Stuart Heisler and adapted by Jonathan Latimer from a story written by Dashiell Hammett. It stars Brian Donlevy, Alan Ladd, Veronica Lake, Joseph Calleia, William Bendix & Bonita Granville.

It's re-election time and tough guy politician Paul Madvig (Donlevy) falls for reform candidate Ralph Henry's (Moroni Olsen) daughter, Janet (Lake). Subsequently he throws his weighty support behind Ralph Henry's campaign and irks the underworld gangsters, notably Nick Varna (Calleia)... read the rest.

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