The Green Glove

Here's a good example of a film with first rate potential which was made by journeymen artists. Most of the actors do good jobs, and a few are very good. Glenn Ford as Michael Blake plays a standard action hero but he does it with charm. George Macready as Count Paul Rona always makes a smooth villain. Some of the smaller parts are well handled; Cedric Hardwicke as Father Goron, Gaby Andre as Rona's mistress, Jany Holt as the Countess. The film was shot in Paris, the south of France and Monte Carlo and it's pleasant to view the towns and the scenery. The script, unfortunately, depends far too often on coincidence and luck. The music is predictable. Cliches are used as shorthand. There is one long sequence where the two unmarried leads find themselves having to stay at a country inn where there is only one room. The coy innuendo is tiresome; the situation is as old as the hills and has been done far better by others. And while Blake is supposed to be down on his luck, he seems to have no problem paying his hotel, food, bar and train bills. By the end of the movie, when there is a rousing climb up a rocky, steep mountain and a shootout in the belfry of an old stone church, it's hard to really care much because so much of the movie has been predictable. Also a factor is that The Green Glove fell into the public domain. It's watchable, but not much better than that. A better DVD transfer might have helped because of the importance of the locations. There are no extras.

Michael Blake (Ford) has come to France to locate the jeweled gauntlet of St. Elizaire, the green glove, a holy relic that was stolen from a small church during World War II. Blake had encountered the relic and the thief, Count Paul Rona (Macready), when he landed during a parachute jump near a chateau in 1944. Rona lost the glove. Blake thinks if he can find the relic and sell it, it'll put him back on his feet. But Rona, now an unscrupulous art dealer in Paris, is still after the gauntlet. He plans to track Blake, then take the relic. In the meantime, Blake has met a young woman, Chris Kenneth (Geraldine Brooks), working as a tour guide. It's instant love, and off they go together from Paris to the ruins of the chateau. Eventually, the bad guys get theirs, the church gets back the glove, Blake finds himself by doing the right thing, and he and Chris embrace as the camera pans across the scenery.

If the price is right and you like old adventure movies, you might consider this...but only if the price is right.

A saint's stolen glove, a holy relic, touches believer's lives but belongs back in its resting place in the church. A gem encrusted antiquity, its earthly value contrasts with its healing force . To return it or cash in is a temptation to overcome.

Glenn Ford is an American in France after the war trying to foil George MacCready's attempt to possess the glove and its power. The chase over the rugged landscape of southern France is on, by foot, car and train. A haunting musical score with an unforgettably nostalgic theme along with forthright black and white photography make this film one of my personal favorites.

Simple faith is pitted against sophisticated cunning in a beautifully done film. I saw the movie when I was 9 and I'm now 60. It still moves me the same way it did back in 1952.

"This one" refers to the [supposedly] remastered DVD edition of A2zcds. I just bought it and IT IS AWFUL! Ditto for the soundtrack. The picture quality is equal to that of a bad video. Dark and murky and full of "moth holes".[Large white spots, commonly referred to as snow]. For the first 40 minutes or so, it was hard to figure out what was going on, or who was who, as the picture was so bad that one just couldn't see, never mind make out details. On top of that, lovely Geraldine Brooks was very unfavourable photographed and Glenn Ford looked as though he hadn't slept for days. [Which may not be that far from the truth --]. During the lengthy chase scene up the mountain side at the end, it is so dark that you just have to guess what's going on. And naturally, one thinks it is night time. But no, suddenly we're in broad daylight. Or maybe the moon came up real bright or something. But by that time you don't care anymore, since the whole thing is a mess anyway. Aside from the technical flaws, the scrip leaves a lot to be desired also. It is all over the place and utterly confusing.
Should you still want to buy this DVD, there are 3 photographs on the back of the box the disc comes in. In one photo one can just barely make out who's on it. The other two are just black, or nearly so. That will give you a pretty good idea of what the movie is like.
Well, you win some, you lose some. And this one is a dead loss. A waste of time and money.

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