Fantastic!

Blistering performances.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This story takes place in the political world of re-election and it's full of complications as to who is allying themselves to whom. One thing is certain and that is that politician Brian Donlevy (Madvig) and gangster Joseph Calleia (Nick) are on opposite sides. When Richard Denning (Taylor) is murdered, the plot to undermine Donley takes off. But it's not an easy story to follow. People's relationships needed to be clearer from the start. Goodness knows what Alan Ladd (Ed) is there for.I've never been an Alan Ladd fan. His popularity totally baffles me. He has just never convinced me as a tough guy. Rather like Elisha Cooke Jr. In this film, he hangs around Donlevy as his best friend, obeying Donlevy's every request. A bit like his bitch. Actually, very much his bitch. He goes adoringly out of his way to please Donlevy, taking some serious beatings which I assume fulfils his homosexual need for male physical contact. He can't get anything sexually out of Donlevy so he turns to the homosexual physicality that William Bendix (Jeff) seems to enjoy indulging himself in. Ladd and Bendix share this latent homosexuality. Or should I say blatant homosexuality. Ladd also has a really creepy smile and shouldn't be allowed to emote on screen.A further point about Ladd is his inability to act. His bland monotone is delivered as if he is a depressive or possibly autistic. You're not going to have a barrel of laughs with this guy. In fact, in real life, there is debate as to whether or not he committed suicide. I think he did.I was slightly disappointed with this film but I guess it depends on whether or not you like Alan Ladd. The funniest moment comes after Bendix has possibly gone too far with one of his beatings and Alan Ladd tells a waiter "You better get an ambulance in case he's alive" to which Bendix replies "You better get an undertaker in case he isn't" Very funny – best bit of the film.

Crooked political boss Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy) tries to clean up his act when he falls for Janet Henry (Veronica Lake), the daughter of a reformist politician. When Janet's brother is killed, all signs point to Paul having done it. So his right-hand man Ed Beaumont (Alan Ladd), who also has a thing for Janet (and vice-versa), must figure out who committed the crime to save his friend from a murder rap.The second pairing of Ladd and Lake is also the second film adaptation of the Dashiell Hammett novel The Glass Key. They have great chemistry, of course, but Ladd and Donlevy's bromance almost overshadows it. This is one of Ladd's best roles. Lake is sexy and fun. Whenever I see a Veronica Lake movie from this period I'm always anxious to see another. It's a shame she was so difficult to work with that her time in the spotlight was so brief. Brian Donlevy is very good in this playing a character not too far removed from his classic Preston Sturges movies. Really good supporting cast includes Bonita Granville, Joseph Calleia, Richard Denning, Donald MacBride, and even Dane Clark in a small part. William Bendix is a scene stealer as a sadistic bruiser that works for Calleia. Some say the ending is abrupt and the story confusing. Can't say that I agree with that. I thought the story was easy to follow and the resolution to the mystery made sense. This is an enjoyable film noir with lots of snappy patter and good characters. Also some solid stunt work and a first-rate makeup job on a battered Alan Ladd. Obviously a must-see for fans of Ladd, Lake, and Hammett but I think most people who like 1940s film noir and crime pictures will like it.

A witty and complex script combined with a Ladd/Lake teaming, and a homosexual psychotic are the ingredients in this early seedling of Film-noir. There are interesting scenes of darkness but the complete Noir sensibility was still a few years away.This is a political story full of the corruption that has become standard in our thinking of Politics, with a murder mystery and a love triangle just in case you find your attention wandering. After all it is from a Dashiell Hammett novel (his favorite) and the complexities both confound and challenge the presentation.There is one unforgettable scene where William Bendix lays a beating on Alan Ladd that is remarkable in its staging, makeup and brutality. There are some testy romantic confrontations and some hard boiled dialog that keeps things humming. A well liked film that has a smooth pace and is definitely marred by some of the conventions of the time while breaking a few along the way. This is Film-Noir but not in the purest sense and if you're looking for the real deal (in the most definite) this is not it.

"The Glass Key" should have served as the model for all subsequent films based on hardboiled crime fiction. Brian Donlevy, Alan Ladd, William Bendix and tiny, delectable Veronica Lake all seem born to play their parts: Ladd, in particular, is perfect as the snappy, no-nonsense Ed Beaumont. Director Stuart Heisler gets the bleak atmosphere down pat. And, most important of all, the script is true to the morally ambiguous vision of Dashiell Hammett (except for that minor but cringe-inducing change to the ending, of course). There are no "good guys" in this tale: some of the characters behave much more reprehensibly than others, but there are only degrees of bad. This is what made Hammett's writing special, and it's why "The Glass Key" stands head and shoulders above many other, better-known examples of film noir like Howard Hawks' wildly inconsistent adaptation of Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep". (In the scene during which Ladd is held captive and roughed up by Bendix, Akira Kurosawa fans will immediately recognize the inspiration for a pivotal scene in the Japanese master filmmaker's "Yojimbo".)