A Major Disappointment

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

"The Key Hole" is one of those "If you've seen one, you've seen them all" type films, though it's certainly not bad. Francis plays Ann Brooks, married to a wealthy man (Henry Kolker). She was married before, to Maurice (Monroe Owsley) who never got the divorce he promised her and is now blackmailing her because of it. She works out a scheme with her sister-in-law Portia (Helen Ware) to lure him out of the country, and then Portia would use her influence to have his visa taken away.As part of the plan, Ann heads for Havana by ship, with Maurice following. Her suspicious husband has hired a detective, Neil Davis (George Brent) to try and seduce her, and along with Brent comes his spy, Hank Wales (Allen Jenkins). Wales meets Dot (Glenda Farrell), and these two provide the film's humor.Well, you can guess what happens.Kay Francis wears many fabulous gowns. I used to think the kind of lifestyle her character lived was just in the movies until I saw a 1930s Vogue magazine. What a formal time that was, with people dressing to the nines for lunch and to do any kind of traveling. Almost all the ads in Vogue were for trips on ocean liners. We've come a long way, and I'm not sure that's a good thing.Anyway, the film is predictable, but Francis is good, as are Jenkins and Farrell. Brent is very smooth and charming.Kay Francis made these films by the truckload, and I have to admit I watch them when they appear on TCM. She really epitomizes that early '30s era for me - an era that has not one vestige of it visible today.

OK... I've been more or less watching Kay Francis films and am I the only one who noticed George Brent always ends up being the boyfriend?? Well the basic plot of this thing is Kay's first husband is blackmailing her.Her current husband thinks she's cheating or something. And the P.I. falls in love with her. I'm an old movie fan but people fall in love as easy as I can scramble an egg This formula of the long suffering Kay wears on me thin. Yeah she's pretty but I'm being to understand why no one remembers her. Youknow at first I liked her movies. But after what feels like I'm watching the same movie it gets on my nerves. And I used to like George Brent, but the more I see him the duller he gets. I did like the side story with the "vallet" and the con artist but besides that it was OK. What I didn't get why didn't Kay just tell her husband the truth instead of this dumb plot .I guess if she did she wouldn't have a chance to fall for George Brent I gave it 6 for the clothes and that it moved fast.

I happened to see this and three other Kay Francis films recently when they were shown on TCM. And, surprisingly, all four films were about adultery and three of them had Kay playing a horrid skank! So, when I saw her appear on the screen, I just KNEW the film was about adultery and you knew the characters would be rich folks!!! Now there at least was a twist to the whole adultery aspect of the film that makes this film a little different. While she is suspected of being an adultress, she is in fact an innocent woman! This sort of type-casting with so many similar plots must have been what killed Ms. Francis' career--that and the more restrictive and less sleazy style of films that were mandated by the new Production Code in 1934.As mentioned above, Kay is THOUGHT to be having an affair, so her rich husband hires a suave private investigator (George Brent) to try to prove her unfaithfulness. Brent is a bit sleazy because he is apparently willing, if all else fails, to create an incriminating situation even if it is untrue--just so the husband will have something he can use against his wife in court. Brent, as always, is great in this film--very believable and suave. Unfortunately, he is inexplicably saddled with a pointless and distracting sidekick (Allan Jenkins). While I usually like Jenkins in films, he was just inappropriate here, as the film was a romance and his stupid act just detracted from the plot. In a lighter film (such as those of Cagney), he would have been fine.Aside from Jenkins, the rest of the film was excellent up until the end. It was just wonderful seeing Brent trying to win Francis' heart--the scenes were just magical. Unfortunately, the final resolution of this dilemma just came out of nowhere and made absolutely no sense. It's a shame, because with a better ending and no Jenkins, the film would have merited an 8.

Peeping through THE KEYHOLE we find an unhappy wife who sails to Cuba to shake off a blackmailing former lover, not knowing that her millionaire husband has sent a handsome detective to compromise her...This elaborately plotted little picture is a very fine example of the kind of film Warner Bros. produced so effortlessly in the 1930's. Frothy, a bit silly & fun, it boasts entertaining performances and good production values. Depression audiences sat through scores of movies just like this, generally well made, but with interchangeable plots & stars.Kay Francis & George Brent handle the romantic situations very nicely. Sophisticated & charming, they keep their stock characters from ever becoming dull. The humor is supplied by brassy blonde Glenda Farrell as a gold digging shill & dumb-as-dirt detective Allen Jenkins.Henry Kolker as the suspicious husband, Helen Ware as his elderly, sympathetic sister, and Monroe Owsley as the oily Lothario, all add to the fun in their supporting roles. Especially enjoyable is little Ferdinand Gottschalk, appearing in only one scene as a comically flirtatious old banker.Movie mavens will recognize sour-faced Clarence Wilson as the head of the detective agency.