The Glass Web ** (1953, Edward G Robinson, John Forsythe, Marcia Henderson, Kathleen Hughes, Richard Denning, Hugh Sanders, Jean Willes) – Classic Movie Review 11,393

‘Blonde, Beautiful… and Born to Be Murdered!’ Kathleen Hughes stars with Edward G Robinson in The Glass Web (1953).

Director Jack Arnold’s 1953 3D black and white film noir crime thriller The Glass Web stars Edward G Robinson, John Forsythe, Marcia Henderson, Kathleen Hughes, Richard Denning, Hugh Sanders, and Jean Willes.

Robinson stars as Henry Hayes, a top reality TV crime-show researcher, who murders blackmailing actress Paula Ranier (Kathleen Hughes), with whom he has had an affair, and lets the show’s naïve writer Don Newell (John Forsythe), who is married to Louise Newell (Marcia Henderson), take the blame.

It is then decided to make the case the subject of the next show, as Crime of the Week.

Robinson works hard and makes an incisive impression, keeping the movie in orbit, but Robert Blees and Leonard Lee’s script, based on the 1952 novel Spin the Glass Web by Max Simon Ehrlich, lacks much suspense and the direction is sloppy. However, the 50s TV background details provide a lot of atmosphere and charm.

It is filmed in 3D, which means that there are plenty of mikes, booms and cameras thrust in the viewer’s face.

Also in the cast are Eve McVeagh, Harry Tyler, John Hiestand, Clark Howat, Bob Nelson, John Verros, Helen Wallace, Benny Rubin, Kathleen Freeman, Paul Dubov, Lance Fuller, Beverly Garland, Tom Greenway, Bert Halsey, Herbert Lytton, Jack Kelly, and Alice Kelly.

It is the second of Arnold’s Universal-International’s 3D films after It Came from Outer Space (1953). It was tested in 2D and 3D, but audiences preferred the 2D version and the 3D version was rarely shown, though a print survives.

The 3D print was screened in Hollywood 50 years after the film’s production, on 17 September 2003 at 3D Film Expo at the Egyptian Theatre with Kathleen Hughes in attendance.

Kathleen Hughes was born as Elizabeth Margaret von Gerkan on 14 November 1928 in Hollywood. Hughes was signed to a seven-year contract with 20th Century Fox and made 14 films for them. She appeared in five films for Universal, including It Came From Outer Space. In 1953 she also appeared with Rock Hudson in The Golden Blade.

Robinson’s character is an art collector as was Robinson. In the year the movie was released, 40 paintings from Robinson’s collection were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art. And in the movie, several of them hang in his character’s living room, including a Cézanne, which the character couldn’t possibly have afforded.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,393

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