''The Key'' is a 1934 American

Pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

film directed by

Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed cla ...

. It was re-issued as ''High Peril'' (pre-release title ''Sue of Fury'') in 1960. The story, concerning a love triangle, is set during the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

Plot

Captain Bill Tennant (

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters cr ...

) is a British officer stationed in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

in 1920. Tennant had a month long tryst with Norah, the wife of his friend, British intelligence officer Captain Andrew Kerr, three years ago before Norah and Andy met. Tennant's first assignment is to capture a notorious

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gr ...

member, Peadar Conlan. His first attempt is a failure, and Kerr is ordered to relieve Tennant overnight. Norah is frightened by his assignment and begs her husband not to go. After Kerr leaves, we see a flashback to when Tennant and Norah were involved, several years before. Kerr leads the search for Conlan. He finds and captures him. When he arrives home, very late, Norah is still up and still dressed. Tennant is also there and insists “We've got to tell him.” Norah says that is for her to do, sends Tennant away. and tells her husband “Yes.” She reminds her husband that he has always known that there had been someone else. That someone was Tennant, and the passion she thought long past has flared up at this meeting. Kerr rushes out, despite her pleadings that he'll be killed; he says that might solve both their problems. Tennant sees him leave and intercepts a distraught Norah to ask where Kerr is headed; Bill promises to find him. Conlan is sentenced to hang by the British military. Shortly after, Kerr is spotted and followed to a pub where he is ambushed and abducted by men and women waiting in the alley. When Tennant arrives at the military post the next morning, he finds Norah waiting there for news of her husband. She tells him that a part of her went out the door with Kerr. Her love for Tennant was a romantic dream: He's "just three years too late.” A messenger arrives from Sinn Féin. He claims to be a peacemaker, and tells the general that Kerr will be released if Conlan is. But the general tells him Conlan will be hanged at 6:00 a.m. the next morning. Norah begs the general to comply, but the general refuses. Tennant follows the Sinn Féin representative and tries to bargain for Kerr's life, but is told nothing will do except the release of Conlan. He returns to HQ and, against orders, goes into the general's office, breaks into his desk, and forges a release for Conlan. At 3 am, outside the prison, a crowd of people are on their knees praying . Kerr's captors set him free. The next morning, the town celebrates Conlan's release and the British mount a manhunt for Conlan. Tennant's forgery is discovered, and Kerr is distressed to find his friend has committed career suicide to free him. Outside HQ, Tennant tells Kerr that Norah has been in love with a glamorous memory but that seeing Tennant again killed all the romance for her and caused her to realize she really loves her husband. Tennant presents himself to the general, knowing that he will serve at least three years in jail. Under arrest, Tennant is driven away through the cheering crowds while the Kerrs look on.

Cast

as Capt. Bill Tennant *

Edna Best Edna Clara Best (3 March 1900 – 18 September 1974) was a British actress. Early life Born in Hove, Sussex, England, she was educated in Brighton and later studied dramatic acting under Miss Kate Rorke who was the first professor of Drama a ...

as Norah Kerr * Colin Clive as Capt. Andrew Kerr *

Hobart Cavanaugh Hobart Cavanaugh (September 22, 1886 – April 26, 1950 ) was an American character actor in films and on stage. Biography He was born in Virginia City, Nevada on September 22, 1886. Cavanaugh attended the University of California. He worked in ...

as Homer, Tennant's aide *

Halliwell Hobbes Herbert Halliwell Hobbes (16 November 187720 February 1962) was an English actor. Early years The future actor was the son of William Albert Hobbes (1841-1909), a Warwickshire solicitor, and his wife, Marion Hobbes, née Dennis, (1838-1925). ...

as General C.O. Furlong *

Donald Crisp Donald William Crisp (27 July 188225 May 1974) was an English film actor as well as an early producer, director and screenwriter. His career lasted from the early silent film era into the 1960s. He won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor ...

as Peadar Conlan * J.M. Kerrigan as O'Duffy *

Henry O'Neill Henry O'Neill (August 10, 1891 – May 18, 1961) was an American film actor known for playing gray-haired fathers, lawyers, and similarly dignified roles during the 1930s and 1940s. Early years He was born in Orange, New Jersey. Caree ...

as Dan * Phil Regan as Irishman killed by Capt. Kerr *

Arthur Treacher Arthur Veary Treacher (, 23 July 1894 – 14 December 1975) was an English film and stage actor active from the 1920s to the 1960s, and known for playing English types, especially butler and manservant roles, such as the P.G. Wodehouse valet c ...

as Lt. Merriman, Furlong's aide *

Maxine Doyle Maxine Doyle (January 1, 1915 — May 7, 1973) was an American film actress who appeared in almost 40 films between 1933 and 1946. Today's audiences may know Maxine Doyle from her appearance in the Leon Errol musical short '' Service with a Smi ...

as Pauline O'Connor *

Arthur Aylesworth Arthur Preston Aylesworth (August 12, 1883 – June 26, 1946) was an American stage and film actor. Early years Aylesworth was born in Apponaug, Rhode Island, to a military family; his father and his grandfather graduated from the United ...

as Kirby *

Gertrude Short Carmen Gertrude Short (April 6, 1902 – July 31, 1968) was an American film actress of the silent and early sound era. She appeared in more than 130 films between 1912 and 1945. Biography Carmen Gertrude Short was born in Cincinnati, ...

as Evie, a barmaid *

Anne Shirley Anne Shirley is a fictional character introduced in the 1908 novel ''Anne of Green Gables'' by L. M. Montgomery. Shirley is featured throughout the classic book series, which revolve around her life and family in 19th and 20th-century Prince Ed ...

as Flower Girl (as Dawn O'Day)

Background

One of the writers of the film script was Captain Jocelyn Lee Hardy, a decorated veteran of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

who had made repeated escapes from German prisoner of war camps. After the Great War Hardy served as a military intelligence officer attached to the

Auxiliary Division The Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary (ADRIC), generally known as the Auxiliaries or Auxies, was a paramilitary unit of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) during the Irish War of Independence. It was founded in July 1920 by Major ...

of the

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

during the

. He specialised in interrogating IRA prisoners and survived several attempts on his life by the

Irish Republican Army The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is a name used by various paramilitary organisations in Ireland throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Organisations by this name have been dedicated to irredentism through Irish republicanism, the belief th ...

.Cairo Gang website
cairogang.com; accessed September 13, 2015.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Key (1934 Film), The 1934 films 1934 drama films American black-and-white films 1930s English-language films Films directed by Michael Curtiz Films set in the 1920s Films set in Dublin (city) Films set in Ireland Irish War of Independence films Warner Bros. films American drama films 1930s American films