Key

Here is a unique story. It could have been a science fiction piece. A woman in an apartment, like a piece of furniture.I first saw this concept in the Omega Man with Charleston Heston.Sophia Loren is the piece of furniture. Each sea captian who takes the apartment passes the key on to another captain when he leaves the area. The woman comes with the apartment. WOOOO.So she is there washing dishes when the new "man of the house" shows up, William Holden. The only problem is that every captain who stays there dies at sea. Poor Sophia, how will she stop it?That is all that I will say.I thought it was a unique concept. Again like something from the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits. Well acted. Effective direction.Worth a viewing.It was quite thought provoking.The Maltin review says that she is running around giving her Key to men. It is much more insidious than that, she is a woman trapped, by what we are not sure, lack of self-confidence, in an experential loop...what? I don't think Leonard actually saw the work. That's what I meant by 'off base'.

I have waited a long time to see a proper Cinemascope transfer of this wonderful film. Ignore the Cornerstone/Palladium release. It is 4.3 and that's just not on. This is a splendid transfer, excellent 2.35 Scope, clear B/W picture and good sound. No extras. Oh, And it's a darn fine film too. One of Reed's best with terrific location work, and 3 excellent performences from the leads. The sale of Men's Pyjamas must have soared. Highly recomended (Please see other reviews if you need a plot description).

Great Print, in English, NO EXTRAS, Dose not Include BOTH endings ONLY the one where she leaves on the train. Wonderful Movie, wanted the other ending where they get back together on train, the happy ending.

This is a must for anyone who enjoys rare movies about world war two. It is a little know story of British Navy rescue tugs, that go out to rescue and bring back transport ships wounded by U-boats. All the while being attacked by the U-boats guns. Lots of action and some great acting by a great cast

I do not share the other reviewers giving this mostly five stars. At best it's a "3," and that is stretching things. And here I thought I had found a hidden WWII gem based on all the 5-star reviews. Not so.Trevor Howard, usually great, overplayed and overacted his part to the point of silliness. I thought this helped contribute to the film's failing. And I have always loved Trevor Howard. Not here, folks.The action sequences were very limited to one tugboat and one merchant ship. This gave it a "budget movie" feel. Most of the film was not action-oriented.Sophia Loren was greatly miscast. How does an Italian fit into this story? She doesn't. A British actress would have been much more believable. I also thought she put forth a lousy performance, at times just providing a blank stare when another actress with talent could have brought much more to the part. Yes, I know they tried to write into the story she came from Switzerland, but it still didn't work. Her Italian accent and her whole demeanor and unemotional acting detracted from the movie.The only bright spots were William Holden and Bernard Lee of "M" fame in the Sean Connery James Bond series. They were excellent. But, just like in the greatly overrated Stalag 17, Holden can only carry a film so far. This movie just never got going for me. I'm sure all you die-hard Navy types will lecture me about all the realistic at-sea scenes, but I thought the movie was mostly boring. It was also depressing. The storyline may have worked in the novel, but for a film it makes no sense. Who is this girl hanging around this apartment like a spider? Why should I like her? Why should the tug captains? OK, yes this movie provides an insight into a part of the convoy war I didn't know about - sea rescues of merchants by tugboats. But the story and plot seemed on the whole flimsy to me. I wouldn't buy this one again.Oh, and let me add that this film was made the very next year after Holden's great "Bridge on the River Kwai." Listen carefully to the musical score of "The Key" and you will discover that several parts of the music composed for it have been carefully and cleverly "lifted" from the music composed for Kwai. More insult to injury. And the great director Carol Reed let this happen and put his name to it? Just saying.

It’s almost perfect. The performances, unanswered questions and the camera work are phenomenal.

And poorly written. Maybe the worst film Bill Holden has ever been in. You know when you're cleaning the bathroom and that stuff under the base of the toilet, the stuff that never gets cleaned? The writing in this film is like that. Never thought I'd see the day in which Sophia Loren, Trevor Howard, and William Holden were in a lousy movie....but I did. And this is it.

As the captain of a salvage tug, I think this was great. The footage shot at sea was very realistic. I also thought that the theme was a rather poignant. I am a fan of all the actors playing the key roles and enjoyed their performances. Film critics may have other opinions.