I really wanted to enjoy this movie a lot more than I did, as I am a big fan of Alan Ladd. However, apart from a couple excellent performances, the film was a big let-down and was not even close to being as good as THIS GUN FOR HIRE or THE BLUE DAHLIA--two other famous Ladd films from the same era. This isn't the fault of Ladd, who as usual did an excellent job playing a tough guy (which is interesting coming from a guy as tiny as Ladd). In addition, William Bendix had an even more impressive role in the film as a sadistic animal who revels in beating people to a pulp. The sheer pleasure he obtains hurting other people is amazing and scary to watch! Now as for the rest of the film, apart from some snappy dialog, the rest of the characters are pretty one-dimensional and unconvincing. The bottom line is that this film had many of the elements of good Film Noir except for a decent script. The movie was often confusing and the ultimate solution to the mystery seemed to come from no where! In fact, it was as if they'd written and written and decided to just tack on an ending generated by a coin flip and call it a day! In the end, this is a watchable but horribly flawed film. You can certainly do better with other Noir or Ladd pictures.

Film noir has always fascinated me and love many of them, most film noirs seen have rarely been less than solid and it takes a lot for me to dislike one or call them misfires. 'The Glass Key's' other main interest is that it was the second of four films to see Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake together, the first being 'This Gun for Hire' (Ladd's film debut too) and the last being 'Saigon'. In all those films, they were just great as a partnership and one does wish that they were in more films.

'The Glass Key' has an awful lot to recommend and is well worth watching (three of Ladd and Lake's films are, being somewhat let down by 'Saigon'),but do have a preference for 'The Blue Dahlia' and especially 'This Gun for Hire' as far as Ladd and Lake's films go. Don't quite consider it a film noir classic, of which there are many that fit that distinction, though its shortcomings are far outweighed by the many good, and even excellent, things about it.

As others have said, 'The Glass Key's' story tends to be convoluted to the point of being difficult to follow and sometimes it feels like it tries to cram in too much.

Clearer character motivations would have helped it, because they are murky and leave more questions than answers, and likewise with some parts slowing down and the film being a touch longer.

However, 'The Glass Key' is a very well made film. The editing is always tight and the photography is stylish and moody. The latter being helped by some highly atmospheric photography with a shadowy, noir-ish mood being perfectly evoked. The score, courtesy of Victor Young, has class and looms ominously, while Stuart Heisler's direction is assured.

Script has plenty of snap, is concise and has the right amount of edge. The story may be muddled and over-stuffed but also has many compelling elements, enough surprises so that it doesn't become predictable and its fair share of suspense. It's also surprisingly brutal, especially when Ladd gets beaten. The acting is good, with a steely Ladd and sultry Lake sizzling in chemistry together. Supported more than solidly by menacing Brian Donlevy and especially sometimes deceptively charming but more frighteningly sadistic William Bendix, in a different role to that of 'The Blue Dahlia'.

In summary, well done film and worth catching. 7/10

This no-holds-barred dramatisation of the Dashiell Hammett novel contains the writer's familiar elements of tough men and shrewd women, complex plotting and lots of violence. I certainly wasn't expecting to see the absolute pounding Alan Ladd takes at the hands of William Bendix and his crony - top marks to the make-up team for making his battered and bruised face so true-to-life.

To find out exactly how Ladd ends up in the position of being so viciously interrogated by these two hoodlums, you have to go back two or three plot-lines in a typically convoluted Hammett narrative. Ladd is the right hand man of his friend and mentor Brian Dunlevy who's running as governor in a corrupt unidentified American town. The story details take in political intrigue, corruption of the press, the murder of a key witness, blackmail, torture, suicide and perversion of justice, all this in under 90 minutes.

The story certainly bowls you along even if you might occasionally scratch your head as you try to piece together the plot, but like some of the best noir / gangster films of the day, the plot details effectively don't matter. With sharp dialogue, realistic fight-scenes and well-observed political intrigue, this is an ahead-of-its-time thriller which delivers a real punch.

We're made to wait a while for Ladd and Lake's first joint appearance but there's definitely something in the air. William Bendix is great as always as the bloodthirsty henchman, the tiny Lake smoulders impressively and the ever-watchable Dunlevy is effective as the win-at-all-costs politician compromised by events. The direction is fast and fairly furious, watch out in particular for Ladd's dramatic escape through a window right into a table of shocked diners.

I couldn't pretend to follow all the characters sometimes shady alliances and dubious decisions, but as a rip-roaring political movie, this key certainly opened my door.