The Glass Web (1953)
Directed by Jack Arnold

Film Review

The Glass Web may have been shot as a 3-D film (to capitalise on the most fleeting of cinematic fads) but in every other respect it is lamentably two-dimensional, including a plot that is virtually a complete rip-off of John Farrow's The Big Clock (1948).  Jack Arnold directs the film with no real enthusiasm - and who can blame him?  It's pretty dull fare compared with the sci-fi fantasies Arnold directed (and excelled in) around this time, including It Came from Outer Space (1953) and Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954).  John Forsythe and Kathleen Hughes have an impossible task making their dull, clichéd-to-death characters remotely interesting and it is left to heavyweight Edward G. Robinson to give the film the muscle it needs to have any impact at all.  Shockingly derivative as the film is it still manages to be mildly entertaining, and if you haven't already seen The Big Clock you might almost call it ingenious.

Film Synopsis

Don Newell is the lead writer on a popular television show Crime of the Week, which reconstructs recent criminal incidents as authentically as possible.  When his former mistress Paula threatens to tell his wife about their affair Don has no choice but to give in to her blackmail requests.  Don isn't the only man Paula has her hooks into.  She is also dating Henry Hayes, Don's overly dedicated researcher.  Paula's vitriolic outburst drives Henry to kill her, but her reputation as a good time girl means there is no shortage of murder suspects.  Hoping to incriminate Paula's former partner, Henry persuades his producer to showcase her murder in the next instalment of Crime of the Week.  As he writes the script for the show, Don realises he is setting himself up to be the murderer...