Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Aiden Melton The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Fatma Suarez The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

ianlouisiana 27 when he made "The Glass Key",Mr Morgan was transformed into posh arm - candy despite having quite serious aspirations at the start of his career. He was certainly a handsome devil and played men with an eye for ladies,men of uncertain provenance as often as not,men,in fact very like Johnny O'Flynn,an adventurer/playboy,possibly a public school man with impeccable manners, a military background and somewhere,perhaps,well - hidden,a tragic episode in his past. The sort of chap Dornford Yates wrote about 20years earlier. Or John Buchan maybe. O'Flynn has charm and charisma to spare as he works to catch a gang plotting against the British Scientific Establishment. He smokes heroically,drives an Armstrong - Siddeley and fights like a gentleman.Women are putty in his hands - even some blokes appear to go a bit weak at the knees under his gaze. A few years down the line he played a pimp in "The Shakedown" with rather less conviction but gave it a game go. I suspect he lived near Brighton because the premiere of "The Shakedown" was held at "The Regent" and several scenes of "The Steel Key" were filmed in its environs. I remember him striding imperiously through "Boots" trailing smoke and Old Spice accompanied by sighs from the staff - and not only the girls. Some blokes,I thought,have all the luck.

Paul Evans The Steel Key, a fifties B movie, as many have commented, one which felt like the origins of The Saint.The pacing is pretty good, I've watched several films from this era of late, and one common criticism has to be the slow pace at which everything develops and unfolds, The Steel Key doesn't canter along exactly, but it held my interest to the end.One of the first things you notice is just how fiendishly handsome and charismatic Terence Morgan was, I find it hard to believe he didn't crack Hollywood in his career. You can see why he was good casting as a villain.The brief appearance of Esma Cannon cannot help but bring a smile to the face, always cast in funny roles, you can't help but wait for her to do something amusing.It's quite a fun watch, an interesting plot, good characters, worth a look. 6/10

Leofwine_draca THE STEEL KEY is another low budget British crime film from Tempean Films, directed by Robert S. Baker (of the Berman/Baker) team and with a script by John Gilling. As other reviewers have noted, the plot is very similar to one of the Saint books by Leslie Charteris, albeit with the character names changed. It's no surprise that Berman and Baker would later go on to make THE SAINT TV series in the 1960s.This film offers the rare chance to see movie bad guy Terence Morgan playing the hero for once. Morgan is a playboy-style hero, ever suffering from having the police at his heels, who adopts the identity of a research scientist in order to bring some real crooks to book. The tale is about the hunt for a scientific formula for hardened steel which is a classic MacGuffin in the Hitchcock mould and doesn't really have much in the way of relevance.Basically, THE STEEL KEY consists of characters chasing each other around and attempting to outwit each other. Morgan is excellent and really shines as the likable hero and Joan Rice is a fine choice as the plucky nurse who helps him. Raymond Lovell adds humour as the exasperated detective while there are minor roles for the familiar faces of Sam Kydd, Michael Balfour, Esma Cannon, and Esmond Knight. Dianne Foster has a similar femme fatale character to the one she had in Tempean's THE QUIET WOMAN. Once again the south coast (this time, Newhaven) provides a good backdrop for the action. Watch out for Morgan's stuntman, who has different coloured hair to the actor!

jamesraeburn2003 A decade before they found tremendous success producing cult TV classics like The Saint, Monty Berman and Robert S Baker specialised in making low budget second features like this through their company Tempean Productions. Here we have Terence Morgan - reduced to appearing in b- pics like this after having the distinction of playing Laertes in Olivier's Hamlet - as an adventurer called Johnny O' Flynn who is out to stop enemy agents from stealing a top secret formula for processed hardened steel - The Steel Key of the title - from a kidnapped scientist, Professor Newman (Esmond Knight). The screenplay by John Gilling - a writer-director who would later find fame at Hammer with The Plague Of The Zombies and The Reptile - frustrates somewhat as it becomes difficult to keep up with who's doing what and when. Nevertheless, it is still well above the standard one normally associates with second features and, in many ways, it is a fun prototype of The Saint as Morgan's Johnny O' Flynn is remarkably similar to Simon Templar as an adventurer who sails close to the wind, is always playing hide and seek with the cops who want to put him behind bars but can't pin anything on him and is always on to something for personal profit - O' Flynn wants the formula to sale to the highest bidder - but always finds himself doing the law a favour by catching master criminals. It is efficiently directed by Robert S Baker - who directed some episodes of The Saint himself - who keeps the action moving at a cracking pace and the cast including Morgan, Joan Rice, Esmond Knight and Colin Tapley all offer excellent performances. It is beautifully shot in black and white by Gerald Gibbs and that, combined with some attractive set work, give the picture an appearance of a bigger budget product. One of the joys I get in watching pictures like this is that locations like Newhaven, Seaford and other towns alongside the Sussex coast are often used. In Britain, that part of the world is known as 'God's Waiting Room' and who would believe that sleepy seaside resorts like those were at the centre of intrigue and espionage?