Released: 1953

Dir.: Maxwell Shane

The Glass Wall is a hard-to-find film. I have it in my collection as part of Columbia Pictures Bad Girls of Film Noir Collection Vol. 1, which unfortunately is now also hard to come by, at least in Canada anyway. I found a couple of uploads to YouTube, but the quality was sketchy, and I hesitate to recommend streaming services I don’t recognize. However, The Glass Wall is well worth keeping your eyes peeled for, whether it be on TCM, DVD or a familiar streaming service.

Imagine if you will, surviving in concentration camps for seven years, escaping from Auschwitz, then helping an American paratrooper hide from enemy forces, thus aiding Allied forces that will give you special status should you decide to immigrate to the U.S. later on. The war ends, all your family is dead, and you find yourself trapped in an unstable Europe, recovering from the ravages of war and in the political grip of a building cold war, with no place to go, no one to trust.

In desperation you stowaway on a ship bound for New York City, the United States, the land of opportunity and freedom, only to be discovered before the ship drops anchor. You face Immigration Authorities, tell them your story, who are less than sympathetic because you have no documentation except for a vague description of a former paratrooper named Tom, a clarinet player with a band that plays the nightclubs of Times Square. Nothing doing, the authorities say, the ship is heading back to Trieste tomorrow morning, and you’ll be on it. Just find Tom, I’ll help you, you plead. Nice try, but no dice, you could have saved the entire 101^st Airborne, but unless you have tangible proof you’re going back from where you came. Sucks to be you.

This is the conundrum that faces Hungarian Peter Kuban (Vittorio Gassman), as he jumps ship on an odyssey to find his friend Tom (Jerry Paris) somewhere in the nightclubs of Times Square. Along the way he meets up with Maggie (Gloria Grahame), a down on her luck gal who’s being chased by the cops for stealing a coat, and about to be kicked out onto the street by her unsympathetic landlady and her bully of a son. With Peter’s wartime survival skills, and Maggie’s street-smarts they make a great team.

The Glass Wall is a small film released in 1953 and was quickly forgotten. However, its story resonates. Peter is a man who has survived humanities worst, is treated like a criminal by the country he seeks refuge and freedom, and still has the ability for compassion and a desire to help people who have suffered far less than he has. All the while seeking justice and understanding for himself of the country that doesn’t trust him simply because he doesn’t have the proper documents. The law is the law.

Agreed laws are necessary but would it have been asking too much to assign a single immigration officer to check out Peter’s story. Apparently not, Inspector Bailey (Douglas Spencer), the guy in charge is so unmoved and bound by the law that that sort of thing can’t even be considered, even though one of his own officers seems to think there is some truth to Peter’s story. With no Tom, why even bother. Bureaucracy is frustrating and infuriating.

Inspector Bailey’s initial unwillingness to investigate leads Peter from one desperate act after another, culminating at the newly opened United Nations Building, the glass wall of the title, where he pleads to an empty committee room for justice.

For a little film, The Glass Wall packs a wallop, even if at times it seems a little contrived. I was sympathetic to Peter’s plight right from the start, he is extremely likeable and Vittorio Gassman’s performance is completely believable. Powerful and sympathetic, an underdog in a system that should be helping him. At least giving him the benefit of a doubt. Yes, he should be detained, until a proper investigation can be conducted, but sent directly back to where he came from? That’s pretty harsh, especially when there’s possibly special circumstances involved.

This film deserves to be seen more, it’s kind of an odd addition to a Bad Girls of Film Noir compilation. But hey, Gloria Grahame is in it, the ultimate film noir bad girl, even though she’s not entirely playing a bad girl in this one. The Glass Wall is film noir, for sure, but it is so much more. I hope more people have an opportunity to see it.