3D comes to film noir in Jack Arnold’s The Glass Web, an entertaining crime drama filmed during the Golden Age of 3D.
The Production: 3.5/5
3D comes to film noir in Jack Arnold’s The Glass Web, an entertaining crime drama filmed during the Golden Age of 3D production. Like The Big Clock or Shadow on the Wall, it’s a tale of a murderer attempting to pin a crime on a not-so-innocent bystander, but with top flight actors and 3D effects threaded throughout the narrative, The Glass Web emerges as one of the better 3D films made during this fabled era.
Ambitious actress and not-so-subtle gold digger Paula Ranier (Kathleen Hughes) is blackmailing Crime of the Week married teleplay writer Don Newell (John Forsythe) for their summer fling while also carrying on a more clandestine affair with the show’s casting agent and researcher Henry Hayes (Edward G. Robinson). She wants $2,500 from Newell to keep quiet and decides to cut Hayes loose, too, when he fails to secure more lucrative work for her, but when Newell finds her dead in her apartment when he arrives to pay her off, he tries to hide his connection to her while Hayes does everything he can to frame Newell for her murder even when Paula’s unsuspecting estranged husband Fred Abbott (John Verros) becomes the police’s fall guy. Desperate to implicate Don, Henry pushes to have Paula’s murder case serve as their show’s season finale so Don will have to write about the woman he was deeply involved with and Henry, a former police consultant, can twist the story with the police department fully engaged in the investigation.
It’s a twisty little screenplay Robert Blees and Leonard Lee have concocted from Max Simon Ehrlich’s novel Spin the Glass Web. Though we don’t actually see Paula’s murder take place, the killer is plainly obvious, and his machinations to drag his co-worker into the morass of the crime are pretty straightforward. The resolution of the mystery is also deftly handled just when things look the direst for Don. Director Jack Arnold uses overhead shots to nice effect, and his familiarity around film sets gives the movie a knowing and familiar ambiance as many scenes take place on live television soundstages of the era. He also works in flashbacks nicely as we get a succinct encapsulation of the Paula-Don summer dalliance and the trap she sets to get money from him. Having already directed the 3D It Came from Outer Space with several other 3D offerings after The Glass Web to come, Jack Arnold weaves his 3D effects masterfully into the storytelling. Yes, there’s the usual gimmicky montage of 3D objects hurling toward to viewer: ladders, water, rocks (and the broken glass from the title sequence), but other effects are subtler including a boom mic which swings out into our faces during a sojourn through the television studio. The man knows his 3D.
Edward G. Robinson gives another of his earnest portrayals of an older man falling victim to a scheming younger woman, and his own ambition to become the show’s writer replacing Don Newell is also paramount in his characterization. John Forsythe is also quite good as the wayward husband trying his best to make amends and also to cover his tracks when things become dark. Kathleen Hughes is the epitome of the conniving starlet cleverly using men who try to use her. Richard Denning is the ebullient show director who tries to keep his crew upbeat and working hard. Hugh Sanders does yeoman work as the police detective, but Marcia Henderson is rather colorless as wronged wife Louise Newell. Much more impressive is Kathleen Freeman as Paula’s maid Mrs. O’Halloran, shockingly going uncredited in the film despite participating in several important scenes. Also uncredited are brief bits by Beverly Garland as a drunken partygoer and Jack Kelly as a TV engineer. It’s also quite amusing to see framed head shots of some Universal up-and-coming stars like Jeff Chandler, Tony Curtis, and Shelley Winters dotting the walls of the TV executive offices.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: 5/5
The picture has been framed at its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and is presented in 1080p resolution using the AVC codec. The restoration by the 3-D Film Archive is an impressive one with excellent sharpness and striking grayscale featuring deep black levels and crisp whites. Shadow detail is outstanding. The movie has been divided into 12 chapters.
The 3D is superb throughout. As stated above, there are several in-your-face outward projections without their becoming overdone. The expanded depth in all of the imagery is a real plus aiding in making Paula’s apartment or the TV studio seem more enormous than they actually are. Director Jack Arnold has also expertly set the scenes with lots of multi-plane imagery giving added interest to watching action play out in multiple dimensions. There is no problem with ghosting on the 3D presentation and surprisingly little on the anaglyph 3D version which is also on the disc, a fine alternative if one wants to get a good approximation of 3D but isn’t fully 3D equipped.
Audio: 5/5
The mono sound mix is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. The 3-D Film Archive has also cleaned up the soundtrack beautifully with dialogue always discernible and mixed professionally with the background score and the multiple sound effects. All instances of hiss, crackle, pops, and flutter have been eliminated.
Special Features: 2.5/5
Audio Commentary: film historian Jason Ney provides a lively and informative commentary on the film offering analysis and film history along the way, abetted by a recorded interview Alan K. Rode had with co-star Kathleen Hughes and with additional background history on 3D and the film’s restoration by Mike Ballew and Greg Kintz. A must listen!
Promotional Ads: TV spot ad (0:23, HD); Theatrical Trailer (2:08, HD)
Anaglyph Version: the Blu-ray disc also offers the film in 3D anaglyph with a pair of anaglyph glasses enclosed in the case. Those not wishing to watch in 3D are also offered a regular 2D viewing option as well.
Overall: 3.5/5
Jack Arnold’s The Glass Web makes a welcome addition to the collection of Golden Age 3D films. It’s a tight little mystery with an excellent cast and is well worth adding to your 3D collection. It’s yet another feather in the cap for the 3-D Film Archive in bringing these forgotten films to movie connoisseurs who cherish them.
Matt has been reviewing films and television professionally since 1974 and has been a member of Home Theater Forum’s reviewing staff since 2007, his reviews now numbering close to three thousand. During those years, he has also been a junior and senior high school English teacher earning numerous entries into Who’s Who Among America’s Educators and spent many years treading the community theater boards as an actor in everything from Agatha Christie mysteries to Stephen Sondheim musicals.
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