SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

mark.waltz Married to a much older man, former dancer Kay Francis finds herself being blackmailed by her amorous former partner and heads off to Havana for a little R&R. She finds herself spending time with the handsome George Brent whom she is unaware is a private detective hired by her husband! The nights of champagne, caviar and dancing make her giddy, but it's obvious that the revelation won't fall well with Francis when she finds out!Amusing pre-code melodrama is more about the clothes, sets and dialog than the plot of which there is very little. Francis and Brent are a perfect pair, and providing comic relief are Allen Jenkins as a detective posing as Brent's valet and Glenda Farrell as an obvious gold digger. Henry Kolker's foolish older tycoon husband is up there with Edward Arnold and Otto Kruger as late middle aged men who got younger women to marry them, remaining pretty much sexless. This is fun for the glitz, but really has little else to offer other than the four leads and the fantasy that only pre-code Hollywood could give.

JLRMovieReviews Get ready for some Kay Francis melodramatic fun! Kay is married to Henry Kolker, but a past suitor shows up to blackmail her with the fact they're still married. She goes to her much older sister-in-law for her advice. She says that, if Kay can get him out of the country, she can make it so that he can't get back into America. Their plan is that Kay asks for a vacation away from her husband for this purpose, but hubbie is jealous and suspicious. He hires an investigator to follow her and report her movements to him. Similar to Doris Day's "Romance on the High Seas," investigator George Brent then tails Kay and in the process falls for her and she him. Provocatively titled "The Keyhole," this film delivers melodrama with humor and Kay and George have always had great screen chemistry. They made many a film together because of it. Their scenes together are seductive and glamorous fun! Glenda Farrell and Allen Jenkins are part of the dependable supporting cast, and Henry Kolker has a great scene near the end of the film. "The Keyhole" is a great example Pre-Code storytelling! Turn the key and come in - and, lock the door!

mukava991 THE KEYHOLE has a clear plot hook, strong characters (you love 'em or hate 'em), non-static cinematography and colorful details that keep you entertained from the first frame. A number of Kay Francis movies had a similar plot structure: wealthy, beautiful, fashionable, sophisticated woman with man problems, usually triangular, but in this case quadrangular. Michael Curtiz keeps this one moving at a fast clip. In this particular plot, Francis's nasty ex-husband (Monroe Owsley) is blackmailing her while her jealous, aging current husband (Walter Kolker) hires a dapper private eye (George Brent) to follow her to make sure she's not seeing another man and of course Brent and Francis fall in love. Allen Jenkins (as Brent's dopey sidekick) and Glenda Farrell (as a crooked golddigger) are on hand as comic counterpoint to the lead players. Francis is charming as usual, exhibiting her trademark "look" - the raven hair swept back to show off her natural widow's peak, the unique eyebrow penciling that curves around her melancholy eyes, and the statuesque grace; and of course her character goes through about 15 costume changes in the 69-minutes of running time (a different drop-dead outfit for every segment of the day). The public inevitably tired of her, which is why she is forgotten today; she was more interested in her salary than in the quality of her roles, as she freely admitted. But when she was in her prime, wow, what a prime. Moving with feline grace in backless satin gowns, she is phantasmal and ravishing, yet still earthy, accessible and even vulnerable. You can't look away. So what if she couldn't pronounce her r's?

Ron Oliver Peeping through THE KEYHOLE we find an unhappy wife who sails to Cuba to shake off a blackmailing former lover, not knowing that her millionaire husband has sent a handsome detective to compromise her...This elaborately plotted little picture is a very fine example of the kind of film Warner Bros. produced so effortlessly in the 1930's. Frothy, a bit silly & fun, it boasts entertaining performances and good production values. Depression audiences sat through scores of movies just like this, generally well made, but with interchangeable plots & stars.Kay Francis & George Brent handle the romantic situations very nicely. Sophisticated & charming, they keep their stock characters from ever becoming dull. The humor is supplied by brassy blonde Glenda Farrell as a gold digging shill & dumb-as-dirt detective Allen Jenkins.Henry Kolker as the suspicious husband, Helen Ware as his elderly, sympathetic sister, and Monroe Owsley as the oily Lothario, all add to the fun in their supporting roles. Especially enjoyable is little Ferdinand Gottschalk, appearing in only one scene as a comically flirtatious old banker.Movie mavens will recognize sour-faced Clarence Wilson as the head of the detective agency.