The Glass Key (1942)

October 14, 1942, release date

Directed by Stuart Heisler

Screenplay by Jonathan Latimer

Based on the novel The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett

Music by Victor Young

Edited by Archie Marshek

Cinematography by Theodor Sparkuhl

Brian Donlevy as Paul Madvig

Veronica Lake as Janet Henry

Alan Ladd as Ed Beaumont

Bonita Granville as Opal “Snip” Madvig

Richard Denning as Taylor Henry

Moroni Olsen as Ralph Henry

Joseph Calleia as Nick Varna

William Bendix as Jeff

Donald MacBride as District Attorney Farr

Margaret Hayes as Eloise Matthews

Eddie Marr as Rusty

Arthur Loft as Clyde Matthews

George Meader as Claude Tuttle

Frances Gifford as the nurse

Dane Clark as Sloss (uncredited)

Distributed by Paramount Pictures

The main character in The Glass Key, Ed Beaumont, is a political operative and not a detective, although he often acts like a detective in his job working for Paul Madvig. Beaumont’s job is to keep an eye on trouble and then keep Madvig out of it. Madvig needs a clean reputation, or at least the appearance of one, to continue his political campaign. Beaumont is a busy man: The film has plenty of dirty politics and corruption—and one murder investigation. And before too long, he’s busy trying to keep himself out of trouble, too.

The Glass Key is one of three films noir starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. Two were released in 1942 and one in 1946:

◊ This Gun for Hire (May 13, 1942). Click here for my blog post about this film.

◊ The Glass Key (October 14, 1942)

◊ The Blue Dahlia (April 19, 1946)

Paul Madvig’s sister Opal, nicknamed Snip, is in love with Taylor Henry, a ne’er-do-well who gambles and relies on his father’s money and reputation to keep out of trouble. His penchant for gambling means that he is in debt to Nick Varna, the local shyster who doesn’t take kindly to other people defaulting on their debts and thus depriving him of his money. Paul Madvig falls for Janet Henry, Taylor’s sister. Madvig thinks this is very convenient: He wants Janet’s blessing for both his love life and his political career.

• Madvig: “He’s [Ralph Henry] practically giving me the key to his house.”

• Ed Beaumont: “Yeah, a glass key. Be careful it doesn’t break off in your hand.”

• Madvig: “Don’t worry. It won’t.”

Madvig is completely confident in his political and romantic connections to the Henry family. Ed Beaumont is much more cautious. He worries about the consequences of linking one’s political and romantic fortunes so closely, but Madvig is undeterred.

Ralph Henry wields a great deal of influence around town, and Janet Henry agrees to an engagement with Madvig. But the plot takes a nasty turn when her brother Taylor Henry is found dead and everyone has trouble accounting for their whereabouts. From this point onward, the plot becomes intricate and complicated. The Glass Key is another example of a film noir where viewers really need to pay attention to all the details and visual clues and keep track of names.

(This blog post about The Glass Key contains most of the spoilers.)

Paul Madvig is the prime suspect in Taylor Henry’s murder, and most of the film’s narrative involves Ed Beaumont trying to discern the truth. Someone is sending anonymous notes to various characters implicating Madvig, and all of them read the same: “If Paul Madvig didn’t kill Taylor Henry, then how did his best friend [Ed Beaumont] happen to find the body?”

Then there is the witness, Sloss. He is hiding in New York City thanks to Paul Varna, who is anxious to see Paul Madvig lose his campaign bid so he doesn’t have to fulfil his promises to clean up the city, and thus clean up Varna’s lucrative and often-illegal operations. Sloss has a story to tell about Paul Madvig and Taylor Henry, and Varna wants to make sure that Sloss gets the chance to tell it.

Nick Varna also knows that Ed Beaumont gave money to Opal Madvig so that Taylor Henry could pay off his gambling debts to Varna. Varna tells Beaumont that he still has some of Taylor’s IOUs when Beaumont visits him after Taylor’s murder. Varna bribes Beaumont to help him convict Madvig of murder:

• Nick Varna: “You know Sloss?”

• Ed Beaumont: “Yeah, I know him. Paul tossed him out of the league’s [Voters League] downtown headquarters last week.”

• Varna: “That’s where he made a mistake. Sloss came to me spouting. He saw Paul and Taylor arguing on the street that night. He was only a couple blocks away.”

• Beaumont: “That’s good. But you know Sloss won’t stand up.”

• Varna: “He won’t have to. I’ve got his affidavit.”

Beaumont has already accepted Varna’s money at this point, and he takes the affidavit to read it. But instead of working with Varna, he tears up the affidavit and tosses the pieces into the fire in the fireplace. He then throws Varna’s money back at him.

Varna’s two henchmen, Jeff and Rusty, hold Ed Beaumont prisoner because Varna now has to put another plan into action: He wants Beaumont to give a statement to Clyde Matthews, the newspaper editor of The Daily Observer. If bribery won’t work to gain Beaumont’s cooperation, Varna is more than happy to resort to violence. And Jeff and Rusty are more than happy to keep Beaumont in a constant state of bloodiness and pain.

William Bendix is fantastic as Jeff, especially in the scene where he kills Varna. He’s in extreme close-up, and viewers see only his face as he chokes Varna with his bare hands. Beaumont witnesses the murder and says, “Better get a doctor in case Varna is not dead.”

Jeff says, “Better get an undertaker in case he is.”

This Gun for Hire made Alan Ladd a star in 1942 and showcased the on-screen chemistry between him and Veronica Lake, even though he was not her romantic interest in that film. There is chemistry between their characters in The Glass Key, too. Janet Henry may have accepted Paul Madvig’s marriage proposal, but she doesn’t feel any affection for him. My favorite scene between Janet Henry and Ed Beaumont is the final one in the film. Both of them are so preoccupied with each other that they don’t notice Paul Madvig, who is at the door of the room in which they are talking. Paul Madvig gets the last laugh, though: He gets his diamond ring back from Janet Henry, and then the camera follows him out the door with the ring firmly in his possession.