Books

An unusually large selection of original publicity stills with striking character studies for The Glass Key (1935), the film adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's 1931 novel, written by Kathryn Scola, Kubec Glasmon, and Harry Ruskin and directed by Frank Tuttle. George Raft, who famously portrayed gangsters in films such as Scarface (1932) and Each Dawn I Die (1939), figures prominently in many of the stills, and there are several striking character studies of him alone. Other actors in the film include Rosalind Culli, Edward Arnold, Ray Milland, Claire Dodd, and Charles Richman. This film was the earliest adaptation of Hammett's novel, which would later inspire Orson Welles's radio play by the same name (first airing 10 March 1939 as part of The Campbell Playhouse series) and the Glass Key award for Scandinavian crime literature. The trophy for the award, founded in 1992 and still running today, consists of an actual glass key. Together, 28 original 8 x 10 inch black and white glossy publicity stills, with the cutline text at the lower margins and image registration numbers. Housed in black cloth magnetic folder. A few cutlines closely cropped, small creasing to a few corners, small and faint stains to margins of three stills, images unaffected, pencil annotation to recto of no. 1044/48, short internal tear to no. 1044/62, long crease to lower right corner of no. 1044/46. A very good set indeed in unusually attractive condition.

The Glass Key is a novel by Dashiell Hammett, originally published in 1931. This work is a classic of the hard-boiled detective fiction genre and is noted for its gritty portrayal of corruption and political influence.