It has been nearly a decade since the last 3D TV was manufactured. In that same period, we have seen a remarkable decline in sales of movies on physical media. Between these two facts, it seems odd distributors like Kino Lorber keep making 3D blu-rays, but God bless ‘em for continuing to do so. As I never had such a television, I can’t watch many of those discs, but some discs by companies like Kino and Vinegar Syndrome have had anaglyphic versions which can be watched on a normal TV with those red and blue glasses.
Such is the case with 1953’s The Glass Web. Given this picture is in black and white, I thought there would be fewer issues than I experienced with color films in the format. After all, elements in the image skewing too far towards red or blue in color could be interpreted as distance through the glasses. I’ll concede watching Web this way worked better than watching other anaglyphic films, yet it still wasn’t entirely a success.
It is strange that this picture was ever in 3D, as this is a rather somber noir. Everything concerns the murder of an actress played by Kathleen Hughes. There are any number of suspects, all men with whom she had been involved. Ex-husband John Verros has just been released from prison, and he isn’t happy Hughes has moved on. And she moved on with both Edward G. Robison and John Forsythe, both of whom work on a true-crime show.
Hughes was in a small role in an episode of that show, when she played a murder victim. She manipulated Forsythe into getting that gig and has been having an affair with the married man since then. Forsythe tries to call things off, but she blackmails him by keeping his pajama bottoms which have his name on a tag sewn into the waistband by his wife (Marcia Henderson). Something is almost endearingly nerdish about this guy wearing pajamas, and with this name on them. Henderson even hands him the damning article of clothing as proof and he doesn’t even take the opportunity to run off with it. I thought she had removed the name tag and put it in safe keeping but, no, we will later see the article of clothing is intact.
That happens when Forsythe discovers Hughes has been murdered. Then he rips off the tag and leaves the pants, something I found jaw-droppingly daft. Still, there is some decent suspense as he tries to flee the crime scene, but people keep spilling out of a party in the apartment next door. One of the partygoers even goes to Hughes’s apartment to complain about a record that has been playing endlessly. With perfect timing, Hughes’s cat, which had been chewing on the player’s electrical cord, has managed to yank it out of the wall. It had done this in an earlier scene, too. I kept worrying the cat was going to get electrocuted.
The last person we saw with Hughes when she was alive was Robinson. He had come to confront her about her flings she is obviously having with at least one other man, though he doesn’t realize she has been preoccupied with coworker Forsythe. In this last time we see her and Robinson together, she laughs in his face for being a sad, old man. I can’t imagine I would react well to that, but we don’t see the outcome of this.
It would be wrong to say more about the plot beyond those points, so I will shift my focus to the odd television show within the movie. The very first scene has a man and Hughes out in the desert, where he kills her. The viewer is deceived into thinking this is the film proper, but a slow pull-out reveals microphone, TV cameras and other technical equipment in the periphery. It is a solid opening, and a good effect, especially in 3-D.
That said, I was confused for most of the remaining runtime as to exactly why the picture was shot in this format. It seems to be an afterthought, with lots of crossfades and rack focus moves which are some of the worst things one can do in 3-D. But what is truly sad is a quick succession of three moments in the middle of the runtime that are only there to exploit the technology. They are so gratuitous as to be embarrassing. Odd bit of trivia, but Hughes had actually been employed by Universal for camera tests when they were trying to determine if the technology was right for them.
Studios were interested in this novelty because it was something which couldn’t be replicated by television, the main threat to movies at that time. It is odd then to see everything in this film concern the minutia of a TV production. There are particular digs aimed at the necessity of shows having a sponsor, and the extent to which those benefactors needed to be appeased. The weirdest element of this film may be the reenactment of Hughes’s death as one of the series’ episodes, with a different actress playing Hughes. Given we also saw Hughes on the show earlier playing a different woman who had been killed in a real-life incident, this results in an odd sensation akin to deja vu.
The performances are solid across the board, though none of the roles have much depth to them. Hughes’s character has the most complexity, even if the only two notes she moves between are seductress and shrew. Henderson, in comparison, has no nuances, and she is rather too accepting of the affair her husband has been having. Forsythe frets and sweats to the extent required of his role. Robinson effortlessly commands the screen each time he’s in frame. I found it interesting his character tries to educate Hughes about art, as the actor was a collector of fine art in real life.
Really, the performance I found most interesting in The Glass Web is Kathleen Freeman, in a very small part as Hughes’s housekeeper. When she arrives to clean the apartment the morning after the death of her client, she finds Robinson talking to a detective at the crime scene, with the former saying of Hughes’s ability as an actress: “Most of her talent went in other directions.” Freeman counters this with, “So she did know a lot of men, who are you to knock her? She was the nicest, most generous tenant I ever worked for. Of course, I know the only thing men are going to say about her.” The camera doesn’t follow her as she goes to get a beer from the fridge. Given this movie uses a gimmick for little discernable reason, it surprises me they didn’t use the opportunity to thrill to a cleaning woman kicking back a cold one in the splendor of 3-D.
Dir: Jack Arnold
Starring Edward G. Robinson, John Forsythe, Kathleen Hughes, Marica Henderson
Watched on Kino Lorber blu-ray