''The Green Glove'' (aka ''The White Road'') is a 1952 French/American

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companies ...

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

directed by

Rudolph Maté Rudolph Maté (born Rudolf Mayer; 21 January 1898 – 27 October 1964) was a Polish-Hungarian-American cinematographer, film director and film producer who worked as cameraman and cinematographer in Hungary, Austria, Germany, France and the Unite ...

and starring

Glenn Ford Gwyllyn Samuel Newton "Glenn" Ford (May 1, 1916 – August 30, 2006) was a Canadian-American actor who often portrayed ordinary men in unusual circumstances. Ford was most prominent during Classical Hollywood cinema, Hollywood's Golden Age as ...

, Geraldine Brooks, Sir

Cedric Hardwicke Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...

and

George Macready George Peabody Macready Jr. (August 29, 1899 – July 2, 1973) was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains. Early life Macready was born in Providence, Rhode Island on August 29, 1899. He graduated ...

Plot

Church bells begin to ring and the parish priest (Sir Cedric Hardwicke) knows it means only one thing. The 'green glove,' a miraculous gem-studded gauntlet, the churches'

holy relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

, has returned to St. Elizar. The town folk pour into the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

to rejoice. Mike Blake (Glenn Ford) is an American paratrooper who travels to France after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

to try to recover the jewel-encrusted glove that had been stolen from a country church during the war. His quest leads him to a beautiful young tour guide in Paris named Chris (Geraldine Brooks). A man who has been mysteriously following Mike is found dead in Mike's hotel room. The man has a sketch drawing of Mike in his pocket. Mike tells the police he does not know the man and he is innocent. Chris has fallen for Mike and joins him when he did not ask for her help. Count Paul Rona (George Macready) is a Nazi collaborator and art dealer and is searching for the glove to sell it. Mike and the Count had a run-in near the end of the war. A

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

Countess helped Mike escape and as a thank you he left her his valise. Despite being followed by the police and Rona's henchmen, Mike and Chris retrieve the glove in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

. It was in the valise. The countess kisses the glove and her madness is lifted. Mike takes the jeweled gauntlet back to the church as he is pursued by Count Rona. The mountain chase was dark and dangerous. Chris diverts the police inspector. Mike shoots and kills Rona in the bell tower, he rings the bells, and lastly he returns the glove to its rightful place on the altar. The French police clear Mike. Mike and Chris embrace and kiss.

Cast

as Michael 'Mike' Blake * Geraldine Brooks as Christine 'Chris' Kenneth * Sir

as Father Goron *

as Count Paul Rona * Gaby André as Gaby Saunders *

Jany Holt Jany Holt (born Ruxandra Ecaterina Vladescu Olt, 13 May 1909 – 26 October 2005) was a Romanian-born actress, who worked principally in the French cinema. Holt married French actor Marcel Dalio in 1936, divorcing in 1939. In 1940, Holt married ...

as The Countess *

Roger Tréville Roger Tréville (17 November 1902, in Paris – 27 September 2005, in Beaumont-du-Périgord) was a French actor. He was born as Roger Troly; his parents, Georges Tréville (1875–1944) and Fanny Delisle (1881–1969), were also stage and film acto ...

as Police Insp. Faubert *

Georges Tabet Georges Tabet (23 January 1905 – 28 February 1984) was a French Algerian actor, musician and screenwriter.Goble p.141 During the 1930s he appeared frequently alongside Jacques Pills. Selected filmography Actor * '' A Gentleman of the Ring'' (1 ...

as Jacques Piotet * Meg Lemonnier as Madame Piotet *

Paul Bonifas Paul Bonifas (3 June 1902 – 9 November 1975) was a French actor, born in Paris. Career In the 1920s, while working for the French customs service, Bonifas took classes in acting at the Conservatoire de Paris in his spare time. He left wit ...

as Inspector *

Jean Bretonnière Jean Bretonnière (1924–2001) was a French actor and singer.Goble p.36 He was married to the actress Geneviève Kervine. Selected filmography * ''Under the Sky of Paris'' (1951) * ''The Green Glove'' (1952) * ''It Happened in Aden'' (1954) * ' ...

as Singer

Background

The movie was shot mostly on location in southern

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. It was based on actions that took place during

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, th ...

Soundtrack

''L'Amour est parti''
Written by

Joseph Kosma Joseph Kosma (22 October 19057 August 1969) was a Hungarian-French composer. Biography Kosma was born József Kozma in Budapest, where his parents taught stenography and typing. He had a brother, Ákos. A maternal relative was the photographe ...

Lyrics by Henri Bassis
Sung by

Juliette Gréco Juliette Gréco (; 7 February 1927 – 23 September 2020) was a French singer and actress. Her best known songs are "Paris Canaille" (1962, originally sung by Léo Ferré), "La Javanaise" (1963, written by Serge Gainsbourg for Gréco) and "Désh ...

''Romance''
Written by Joseph Kosma
Lyrics by Henri Bassis
Sung by Juliette Gréco

Reception

Critical response

When the film was first released in 1952, film critic

Bosley Crowther Francis Bosley Crowther Jr. (July 13, 1905 – March 7, 1981) was an American journalist, writer, and film critic for ''The New York Times'' for 27 years. His work helped shape the careers of many actors, directors and screenwriters, though his ...

expected a first-rate production given that, the screenplay writer, Charles Bennett, had written films "of a high order" such as ''The 39 Steps''. However, he found ''The Green Glove'' "is not in that echelon, but is merely a standard chase after a medieval, bejewelled gauntlet filched from a rural French church." He continued, "... but the tale spun is minor-league melodrama. Glenn Ford is largely listless as the paratrooper who clashed with a collaborator-art dealer during the war ..." Film critic Dennis Schwartz was disappointed in the film, yet praised the work of Glenn Ford. He wrote, "Rudolph Maté (''

D.O.A. DOA may refer to: * Dead on arrival * Dead or Alive (disambiguation) Film * ''D.O.A.'' (1949 film), a ''film noir'' * ''D.O.A.'' (1988 film), a remake of the 1949 film * '' D.O.A.: A Rite of Passage'' (1980 film), a documentary on the gene ...

''/''

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

''/''Miracle in the Rain'') directs this standard thriller, that has a few twists but bogs down over too many hysterical melodramatic moments and the unbelievability of the characters and story line. It's weakly scripted by Charles Bennett and is based on his novel ... There's a good story here, but too bad it wasn't told convincingly and the featured sudden romance came about so quickly that it was not possible for me to believe it; nor was I able to find the suspense story even close to the way a top-notch director like

Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

would have built up the suspense and made things more exciting (If not convinced then perhaps check out '' The 39 Steps'', directed by Hitchcock and also written by Bennett!). The former cinematographer Maté can't keep things real and all the plot points seem nothing short of schematic. But Glenn Ford is in it, and he's so good in these type of adventure roles that he at least keeps the flawed pic entertaining."

Comic book adaptation

Eastern Color The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 19 ...

Movie Love #15 (June 1952)

References

External links

* * * * * * * (public domain) {{DEFAULTSORT:Green Glove, The 1952 films 1950s thriller drama films American thriller drama films English-language French films French thriller drama films Films directed by Rudolph Maté Film noir Films shot in Monaco Films shot in France Films set in France Films adapted into comics 1952 drama films American black-and-white films Films scored by Joseph Kosma 1950s English-language films 1950s American films 1950s French films