LastingAware
The greatest movie ever!
Inclubabu
Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.
Juana
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
SimonJack
"The Key" is one of the last films that William Powell made for Warner Brothers before going to MGM and stardom. This film is set in 1920 Dublin during the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921). As the film shows, the Irish revolutionary period that was nearly a century old had now evolved into open warfare. Powell plays an English captain of some notoriety with women. He has endured in the Army only because of his daring and accomplishments. His most recent assignment was Africa, but now he arrives for duty in Ireland. And here he meets an old friend, and an old flame. Lo, they are wed to each other. There's plenty of drama in this rather dark and sinister film, much of it shot on Hollywood sets made to resemble night time streets and scenes in Ireland. The English are trying to Capture Peadar Conlan (played by Donald Crisp), the leader and inspiration for the Irish underground. Powell's Capt. Bill Tennant is a mix of easygoing good guy and cad. Still, the Powell persona is there. The female in the love triangle is played by Edna Best. She was a prominent actress in England, but one wouldn't think her that talented just from her performance here. She is very wooden throughout the film as Norah Kerr. Her expression seldom changes and she seems to lack emotion except for her pleading for Bill to helps save Andy's life. On the other hand, Colin Clive gave a superb performance as Capt. Andy Kerr. This is a rare film in which the leading man doesn't win the lady in the end. But it's the right ending in this case. The film clearly is a drama, as billed. But it has a few funny lines. Here are my favorites. Capt. Bill Tennant, says to General C.O. Furlong (played by Halliwell Hobbes), "You get the paunch and the promotions. I get the fun and the medals. And we both die and get the same funeral." Capt. Bill Tennant's aide, Homer, has been dozing. Tennant says to the headquarters aide, "You know, in Africa, the tsetse flies used to bite him and go sound to sleep."Capt. Bill Tennant says to Norah Kerr, "It wasn't that I forgot. I simply couldn't mortgage my tomorrows." Homer, Tennant's Aide, says, "When shall I expect you sir?" Capt. Bill Tennant, "Oh, eventually."Capt. Bill Tennant, to Norah Kerr, "I suppose it's only in story books that there's a path back to yesterday."
davidjanuzbrown
I am a William Powell Fan, and this is one of weakest movies of his career. The biggest problem is the casting. Powell as British Captain Bill Tennent? Does not work whatsoever. Maybe Ronald Colman might have pulled it off, but not Powell, who does not even attempt a British Accent. Even worse was Colin Clive was Captain Andy Kerr and Edna Best as his wife Norah Kerr, He is a boring pathetic character and she is ugly to say the least. To be honest the story that takes place in Ireland in 1920 was good, but the casting was wrong. I would love to see this remade with better British Actors then Clive and Best and an authentic Englishman. Maybe Charlie Murphy as Norah might work. 3 stars for the story and setting.
atlasmb
They say timing is everything. It's true in sports. It's true in life. And it's true in love. In The Key, two former lovers meet again and discover if, this time, the timing is right.Set against the backdrop of a hunt for a charismatic leader of the Irish resistance group, Sein Fein, The Key is a schizophrenic mixture of love story and suspense film. I can't say it is successful with either genre.The most interesting action is between the ex-lovers. But the action of the camera comes in a close second. Not always successfully, the camera tracks with and against the action. It feels like the director is trying to be innovative, but it sometimes feels experimental and slightly distracting.The Key is only 71 minutes long, so the pace of the film is brisk, which is fine. I just wish there were more to the story. The ending is a little too neat. Because it wraps up so quickly, there is a lack of emotional depth.For fans of William Powell, The Key is worth a look. Otherwise, it is rather shallow and somewhat mediocre.
brianina
"The Key" starts off promisingly with atmospheric photography as British troops track down a Sein Fein leader. Apparently Warner Bros thought this wasn't enough, so halfway through the film a love triangle is introduced between William Powell, Edna Best and Colin Clive. All it succeeds in doing is derailing the film into very familiar territory. Seeing Colin Clive making dead bodies with a gun rather than bringing them back to life in a lab sparks some interest but other than that he spends his time looking glum (did he ever smile?). William Powell begins the film with an accent and a "right-ho, pip, pip" clipped speech that vanishes by the third reel and he and Edna Best (in her first U.S. film) have absolutely no chemistry. Director Curtiz does well until the highpoint of the love story where he pulls the camera out the window into the fog and goes into a flashback that looks like it belongs on a 1890 stage. Add to this a criminally underused Donald Crisp and a hokey ending and you have one missed opportunity.
