Review of The Glass Web

This movie must be the least suspenseful murder "mystery" of all time. From the moment the blonde tramp is murdered, it is obvious that Edward G. Robinson must have done it, since she had led him on and then humiliated him, plus he was on the scene. The other boyfriend, John Forsythe (handy if you need a tailor's dummy, but not for much else), was not in her apartment at the time. You might think that suspense will be created by whether Robinson is caught, or whether he will try to entrap Forsythe. Nope. The script and direction are limp, and the characters are as well. The story following the murder is ridiculous, as no network and no defense lawyer would permit the televising of a play in which the man who has been indicted is shown committing the murder. There is probably also a law forbidding such blatantly prejudicial pre-trial publicity.

In its blandness, the movie exemplifies the worst of the Fifties. My favorite detail of this puritanical period was Forsythe, spending a weekend with the blonde, and not only wearing pajamas but pajamas into which his wife had sewn his name tag.