It’s the 70th anniversary of Shane, a western widely considered one of the best of all time–it’s even one of the movies on my scratch-off poster, “100 Essential Films.” However, I’ve never seen it. It’s definitely on my list though. I recently discovered Alan Ladd over the past year or so and I love Jean Arthur. Shane is her last film. Anyway, when I saw this blogathon, and saw that the objective was to discuss anyone associated with Shane, a la Alan Ladd, I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about my favorite Ladd collaboration with frequent co-star, Veronica Lake–The Glass Key.
The Glass Key is based on the 1931 Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name. I haven’t read Hammett’s novel, so I am not going to attempt to compare and contrast the film and book. In the film, Alan Ladd plays Ed Beaumont, the right-hand man for the corrupt politician, Paul Madvig (Brian Donlevy). Madvig is presented as being arrogant and full of bravado, when he really doesn’t have room to do so. He also fancies himself as a ladies’ man and has his eye on Janet Henry (Lake), the daughter of gubernatorial candidate, Ralph Henry (Moroni Olsen). Janet finds Paul repulsive and crass, but she puts up with him for the sake of her father’s political campaign. Paul is very influential and is working tirelessly to get Ralph elected, no matter how sketchy the tactics.
One evening at the Henry estate, Paul is having dinner with Janet, Ralph and her brother Taylor (Richard Denning). Paul and Janet are engaged, despite Janet’s distaste of Paul’s crude manner. Ed shows up at the home because he distrusts Janet and Ralph, thinking that they’re using Paul, and he wants to protect his boss. Janet is instantly attracted to Ed (because duh, Alan Ladd is hot). Ed is also attracted to Janet, but keeps the relationship platonic out of loyalty to his boss. Meanwhile, Paul’s sister, Opal (Bonita Granville), is dating Taylor, despite his constant gambling and drunkenness. Paul is against his sister’s involvement with this ne’er do well and Ralph is exasperated by his son’s behavior as it could negatively impact his political campaign.
Finally, if all this plot weren’t enough, Paul has also angered the local mob, led by Nick Varna (Joseph Calleia) and his henchman, Jeff (William Bendix). Paul informs Nick that he’s trying to clean up the city and will no longer help protect Nick from the police. When Ed overhears Paul’s threat, he is concerned about what type of revenge Nick and his boys will seek against Paul. Meanwhile, Paul catches Opal with Taylor and is incensed. He leaves his and Opal’s apartment in a rage. Later, Taylor’s body is found lying on the side of the road and Paul is the main suspect. Ed then takes it upon himself to investigate Taylor’s death and help exonerate his boss.
I think The Glass Key is a great movie–full of twists and turns. The story definitely didn’t resolve in the way that I thought it would and the answer to the murder mystery isn’t clear at first. There is a shocking brutal scene where Nick Varna has his boys rough up Ed after he refuses to join their gang. William Bendix beats the pulp out of Alan Ladd and the makeup artists did not mess around when it came to making Ladd look like he had his face beaten in. Normally in these movies, the director/studio doesn’t want their attractive lead to look bad, so they’ll have them be beat up and then be seen later with a tiny band-aid above one of their eyes. Not in this movie. Alan Ladd’s face is swollen, bruised and bloodied.
I loved the scene when Ed shows up to the newspaper editor’s home and crashes a party that the local newspaper editor is holding. Ed swiftly reveals that the editor is about to be ruined when news gets out that he has accepted bribes from the mob. With just a few words, Ed deftly ruins a marriage and the man’s wife, Eloise, moves on instantly…with Ed. In a rather bold scene, it is implied that Ed and Eloise have sex on the couch. They are then seen drinking and making out on the couch, all while Eloise’s now-estranged husband watches from the top landing on the stairs. The first time I saw this film, I was actually pretty shocked how salacious and straight-forward this scene is, what with the production code and all. We don’t see Ed and Eloise have sex, but it’s pretty obvious–much more obvious than some other implied sex scenes I’ve seen.
Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake are often held up as one of film noir’s great romantic couples. I’m always surprised in their films how long it takes for them to actually be romantic. The Glass Key has a bit of a “will-they or won’t-they?” type vibe, but ultimately the film resolves in the way that you would want, after so much brutality. Poor Alan Ladd really runs the gamut in this film, from having the snot beat out of him by William Bendix, to having sex with a stranger on the couch. However, I absolutely love this movie. The story is compelling and the cinematography is excellent. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to see a great film noir or great movie in general!
