The Green Glove (1952) User Reviews (28)

The Medieval Gauntlet

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 17 October 2008]

The famous Hitchcockian McGuffin that everyone is looking for is a medieval jewel encrusted knight's gauntlet said to have belonged to a warrior saint who defeated the Moors in battle back in the day. The fact that the Moors never got to the French Riviera in and around Monte Carlo is of minor importance. It's an object of veneration and worship to the villagers in that small town that saw battle in the southern invasion of France by Alexander Patch's American army in August of 1944.

Paratrooper Glenn Ford landing in that town finds George MacReady stealing the item during battle. MacReady is a creature of mysterious origins who survives on his wits, resources and whatever he can steal at the moment. To the French he's a spy to the Nazis he's a collaborator which is a nifty arrangement I must say. The Nazis as we know were real big on liberating art treasures from their various conquered countries.

But some allied bombs prevent MacReady from stealing The Green Glove and Ford has it and leaves it with a family in an sealed attache case that belonged MacReady.

After the war, flashing forward seven years, things haven't gone well for Ford in civilian life and he goes back to France with some hope to find that valuable Green Glove and hoping that's his meal ticket. But when he gets there, he finds MacReady as well who's hoping Ford can lead him to The Green Glove.

A few murders later, Ford picking up tour guide Geraldine Brooks to share his fugitive status because MacReady has framed Ford for those murders and it's time for Ford to confront MacReady, The Green Glove and what he really wants from life.

The Green Glove is an independent film released through United Artists that was shot entirely on location in France and Monaco. I'm sure it was a good excuse for a vacation for the English speaking thespians of the film, Ford, Brooks, MacReady, and Cedric Hardwicke who plays the village priest and custodian of The Green Glove who prays for its return.

It would have been nice to have some color, I'm sure part of the reason it was done in black and white was budgetary and part was so that World War II newsreel footage could be incorporated. Still you're talking about some beautiful area of the planet that two years later Alfred Hitchcock would show us in To Catch A Thief. Paramount gave Hitch a much bigger budget than Rudolph Mate had for The Green Glove.

It's not a bad film, in fact it has an exciting chase sequence involving Ford eluding MacReady and his men by taking a rugged mountain trail that is euphemistically called the goat path. Hitchcock couldn't have staged it better. But the cheapness of the production values and a somewhat confused story line prevent The Green Glove from gaining any lasting glory.

Lackluster thriller set in France is no Maltese Falcon

[bmacv · 6/10 · 21 June 2003]

Plenty of points of interest went into The Green Glove – a seasoned cast, locations in France (Paris, the Midi), a dangerous quest for a fabulous artifact. But not much energy was expended on making them interesting. It's easy to lose track of who wants what and who killed whom in this lackluster thriller, and hard to care.

Good cinematographer turned so-so director Rudoph Maté cast one of his favorite subjects, Glenn Ford, as a soldier caught up in the liberation of France. There Ford captures but loses George Macready (his old adversary from Gilda, which Maté photographed). Of vague nationality and dubious loyalties, Macready was trying to abscond with the story's Maltese Falcon – a priceless gauntlet which has reposed in a village church for centuries. Ford takes custody of it but, injured, leaves it behind with the family who rescued him.

When post-war prosperity stateside doesn't catch up with Ford, he returns to France in hopes of retrieving the gauntlet and with it his fortune. From the moment his feet hit French soil (having apparently been under close surveillance for years), Macready's men start following him around; the police grow interested when one of them is found dead in Ford's hotel room. With the effervescent Geraldine Brooks in tow, he sets out by the Blue Train to the Riviera, dodging both the law and Macready's mob. There's an early scene set high up in the Eiffel Tower, and, for the resolution, Maté keeps his camera high, taking us to the sheer precipices of a goat trail and to the bell tower of the burgled church (wanly anticipating Hitchcock in both North by Northwest and Vertigo).

But the film jumps from one thing to another like those mountain goats leaping from crag to crag (fatally losing its footing in one coy, comic scene at a country inn where Ford and Brooks feign being newlyweds with bridal-night jitters). More crucially, the characters stay blandly generic, with no feel for their quirks or insight into their motives (and Sir Cedric Hardwicke is thrown away as a country priest). The Green Glove of the quest is the real McCoy, unlike the Maltese Falcon, which was a fake; in this case, the paste is worth far more than the diamonds.

Better than I expected

[ksneath · 7/10 · 24 March 2009]

Being a fan of Glenn Ford, I sought out this unknown little film on DVD. I was hoping for at least a mediocre wrapping around which to view Ford. The comments here seem to be mostly lackluster and quick to point out detracting qualities of the film.

However, after viewing, I am happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised. It's not an Oscar winner, but it is good entertainment. I enjoyed the scenario in which we see the end of the story playing out at the beginning, and then jump back in time to discover how we arrived at this end, and indeed, the truth of what we have witnessed.

Early in the morning at a little mountain village in France, a priest is startled by the toll of bells coming from the church tower. The bells have not rung for centuries, since the gauntlet (the green glove) of a war hero to whom the church is dedicated had been stolen. They must only ring again when the gauntlet is returned. The priest runs into the church to find the gauntlet still missing. Wondering of the reason for the tolling, he runs up the tower, where he finds the body of a dead man. Proceeding up to the bells themselves, he finds them tolling vigorously but the tower empty. Puzzled and disturbed, the priest proceeds back down the tower, only to find the gauntlet safely in its place! What has happened here... why and how did the bells toll and the gauntlet reappear? Who is the dead man, and why is he dead? Is there a plausible explanation, or was it a mystical occurrence? As we watch the rest of the film, we will find out.

While some have thought that the characters were shallow and uninvolved, I thought that the interaction between Ford and Brooks was entertaining, if not philosophically deep. This is a smart little suspense flick, and the plot provides enough curves and dips that my interest was easily held. I for one enjoyed the character of Geraldine Brooks -- the bubbly, energetic young lady who is attracted to Ford but unaware of the reasons for the events surrounding her. I also enjoyed the little hiatus at the secluded inn, where our protagonists play the parts of newlyweds.

The things that I enjoyed the least while viewing were the print of the film on the DVD itself, and the rather intrusive and cheap score. Of course, the film is not to be blamed for the print (Alpha Video), but the viewing does suffer somewhat, as it is not a studio release. It is watchable, but both video and audio are rather murky. The score, however, I felt was overbearing at times and reminded me of a the dramatic score of a cheap 30's B western.

All-in-all, however, very worth viewing. Particularly if you are a fan of suspense or Glenn Ford, and can bear a less-than-perfect print. Recommended.

A Little Uneven, But Worth Seeing For a Number of Reasons

[Snow Leopard · 12 August 2005]

Though rather uneven some of the time, "The Green Glove" is still worth seeing for a number of reasons. It has a solid cast headed by Glenn Ford, the story has some interesting moments, and most of all the location filming provides some very nice views besides helping considerably with the atmosphere.

The opening sequence works pretty well in tossing out some mysterious details, and the movie then goes back to tell the story from the beginning. Ford's character is not very likable, but it's hard not to identify with him as he faces a series of threats while he tracks down the valuable artifact upon returning to France after the war. It's interesting to see him meet up with an antagonist played by George Macready, with whom Ford was paired in the earlier, much more memorable "Gilda". Macready's distinctive voice and mannerisms make him an interesting adversary.

Geraldine Brooks is likable as the tour guide who helps Ford in his quest, although her character remains largely one-dimensional. Cedric Hardwicke appears as a village priest, but he is unfortunately never given anything significant to do. Jany Holt makes good use of her scenes as the Countess.

The pace is sometimes inconsistent, with a number of slow stretches and a couple of rather jumpy spots. But the story has enough of interest to make you want to see how it all comes out.

The settings and scenery are probably the main strength of the movie, and without them, it would probably have been pretty plain. The scenery of the mountains and villages of southern France creates a very good atmosphere, and the bell-tower setting is also used well. More than anything else, these aspects lift "The Green Glove" from a fair picture to a decent one that is worth seeing despite a few flaws.

Quite enjoyable adventure romance

[funkyfry · 7/10 · 27 October 2008]

I've been trying to locate this film for quite some time, and I wasn't disappointed by it. It's not a movie with a lot of gravity, but taken as just a nice little adventure romance it's quite satisfying. In a somewhat low budget or B film like this, you couldn't hope for a more fascinating hero than Glenn Ford nor a more nefarious and cultured villain than George Macready. I also thought that Geraldine Brooks was very beautiful and had a lot of positive energy, kind of like the early Veronica Lake. She has good chemistry with Ford and some of the back and forth between them is reminiscent of a Howard Hawks or John Farrow type of story. This film's director is Rudolph Mate, best known as the director of "D.O.A." but also a very significant cinematographer with films like Dreyer's "Passion of Joan of Arc", Lang's "Lilliom", William Wyler's "Dodsworth", King Vidor's "Stella Dallas" and other classics in his resume. He gives "The Green Glove" a steady veteran hand at the helm and an overall professional look despite the low budget he apparently had at his disposal. Mate was also the photographer of "Gilda", so perhaps it's not coincidence that two of its primary trio of stars appears in this film also.

"The Green Glove" itself is a famous religious relic that has been stolen (the Priest who guards it is played by Cedric Hardwicke, who is credited above Macready). Ford plays an American soldier who discovers the relic and returns to France years later to try to reclaim it. He meets the lovely tour guide Christine (Brooks) and she gets swept up in the suspense when the police find a dead body in Mike's (Ford) hotel room. They travel to Monte Carlo and try to find the jade-encrusted gauntlet before it can be seized by the shady art dealer Count Rona (Macready).

It's a breezy film with some good action scenes, such as a fight between Ford and Macready's stooges and a climactic chase on perilous cliff tops. In some ways it's the good old fashioned kind of adventure movie that people who enjoy things like "Indiana Jones" and "Romancing the Stone" would appreciate, the older template for those types of movies. Ford is an appropriately ambiguous hero, and although the film is by no real stretch of imagination a "noir", he does have the ruminating and sometimes self-contradictory (or semi-suicidal) behavior that you see in many war veterans in those types of films. In terms of the film's meaning or message, it is obliquely about a veteran's efforts to return to the scene of his trauma and to try to correct some damage that he might have unintentionally taken part in. It's not clear right away however whether Mike wants to return the Green Glove to its sacred resting place or whether he wants to use it to achieve the elusive "American Dream" that he doesn't seem to be able to find at home. That makes him more ambiguous in the beginning, plus he keeps trying to tell his girlfriend that he's going to leave France in 2 days and never return, and it seems like he believes it. This is a man who in the beginning anyway has nothing to lose, and Ford plays these sort of detached and morally aloof characters very well.

Sort of Muddled

[Hitchcoc · 6/10 · 26 October 2006]

This is one of those films that could have been a lot better. Make the gauntlet more interesting. Have it centered in the culture. For heaven's sake. The thing has only been missing for a few years. Create a kind of religious fervor. Then put Glenn Ford and his adversaries on a collision course of some kind. Instead, it's never really clear why all the fuss. Is the bad guy just psychotic or are his intentions purely economical (I suppose they are). Ford finds himself in the middle of an investigation just by showing up. Why has he been targeted so specifically be the police? There is an element of North by Northwest in here, but it just doesn't work. Ford is a pretty boy, but he's not very charismatic. Then there are those endless scenes, running up and down the mountain to get to the church where the gauntlet resides. I also don't know why those bells kept ringing for so long. The love interested is sort of contrived and lacking in real sparks because the dialogue lacks wit and mystery. It's reasonably interesting, but quite an investment of time.

Charles Bennett Borrows From Charles Bennett

[boblipton · 6/10 · 25 May 2021]

In a small mountain village in France, they are not going to ring the church bells until the return of a relic, the Green Glove. Suddenly the bells start to ring, and when they investigate, they find a dead man, and the relic in its old place. We then drop back a few years....

Oh, why bother? It's a typical Hitchcock plot, with the Green Glove the Maguffin which everyone wants, Glenn Ford and Geraldine Brooks the plucky Americans whom we're supposed to root for, and George Macready the bad guy. True, it's not Hitchcock directing, but it is Charles Bennett doing the writing, which is probably why he lifted the pub scene from THE 39 STEPS. It's not plagiarism when you steal from yourself. It's just lazy.

That's not to say this is a bad movie. Director Rudolph Maté, having spent 28 years being a fine cinematographer, always made his movies visually interesting, and the big pursuit up the mountain that leads into the finish is very impressive. It does go on too long, with a slow start, and Ford doesn't impress me in this role. To be honest, he rarely impresses me in any role, but the audiences of the era seemed to like him, so it's obviously just me. Miss Brooks gives it her all, and Macready is creepy, as he could be.

"I desire information regarding the man who lies dead in your room".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 7 April 2011]

Part mystery adventure and part romance, "The Green Glove" is a sometimes uneven tale of an ex-GI returning to France on a suitably dubious mission - to retrieve a jewel encrusted glove that might take the edge off a run of seven years bad luck. Almost sounds like Glenn Ford broke a mirror, or something like that. Ford's character, Michael Blake, is joined mid-way in his mission by an attractive tour guide (Geraldine Brooks), who's immediately caught up in a tale of dead men, Nazi spies and stolen treasure. It always makes me curious why characters in movies are drawn into completely untenable situations, but I guess if they weren't, you wouldn't have a story.

Like most of the other posters for this film, I was struck by the the Hitchcockian elements of the picture, and caught myself thinking of the jeweled glove as that fabled Bogart Falcon. The film suitably keeps one on the fence as to Blake's real intentions regarding the gauntlet, even as he tries to stay a step ahead of his cunning adversary, Nazi collaborator turned fine art dealer, Count Paul Rona (George Macready).

What was unbelievable to me was the chase scene down a virtually sheer rock face known as the goat trail (for good reason), and then back up again for a couple of middle aged guys (Ford,36 and Macready,53) who didn't look like they were in the best of shape to begin with. With all that, Blake still had the stamina to climb up the church tower and make with the bells to set up the mystery that book-ends the story.

Amazingly bland and unexceptional.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 11 June 2013]

I noticed that another reviewer compared this film to "The Maltese Falcon". Well, I would also add to that "The 39 Steps". Yet, although these both are classic films, "The Gauntlet" (also known as "The Green Glove") is far from classic status. While it is reasonably entertaining, it fails to ever rise above mediocrity.

The film begins during WWII. A downed pilot (Glenn Ford) captures a very strange Nazi collaborator (George Macready)--strange because Macready is a multinational and is out for himself and couldn't care less which side wins the war. During this brief meeting with Macready, he learns about some valuable holy relic--some green gauntlet encrusted with jewels. Well, as soon as you can say 'hey,...this reminds me of "Gilda"', Ford loses Macready and the war goes on its merry way.

Several years pass. Ford has been bumming about Europe with no real direction in life. However, he gets the idea someone is following him and he's right--Macready's men are looking for him because they think he has the gauntlet. He doesn't and the gang soon turns out to be very tough--and Ford ends up becoming a wanted man for a murder the gang committed. Along the way, he picks up a lady friend (much like Madeleine Carrol in "The 39 Steps") and they go on a cross country romp leading to where the gauntlet MIGHT be. There, they have some confrontation scene and the film ends.

About the only thing that stood out in this film for me was the structure of the film. It begins at the end and then begins again--showing all the action leading up to the eventual return of the holy relic to the church. Apart from that, it just seemed like a lot of other films all tossed together rather haphazardly. On top of that, Glenn Ford's grouchy guy persona got a bit old. I've seen it many times before and here he just seems like a guy with a toothache. Not a terrible film but one that never quite seemed to work.

rarely shown Glenn Ford

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 3 November 2015]

The story opens with a priest finding a gauntlet and a dead soldier, and he is glad to see that "the famous green glove" has returned.... the rest of the story is the flashback where we see the events leading up to this. Glenn Ford is Mike Blake, American, post war. He makes pals with local french girl "Chris" in Paris, who is a tour guide (Geraldine Brooks). They are questioned by the gendarme when a dead man shows up in Mike's room. Sound quality is TERRIBLE, and the picture quality is just OK, and this was probably made from a public domain copy. Lots of running about, adventures, train rides. People who claim not to speak English, but react violently when they eavesdrop. Traipsing around castles. It's okay.... the story is kind of over the river and through the woods. Dramatic musical score. The acting is fine.... just that the story kind of drags. Turner shows this one about once a year. rare find for Glenn Ford fans. This one, sometimes called "the white road" is also part of the four-pack of Mystery Classics from TreeLine Films, 2004.

Written by Charles Bennett, who worked with Hitchcock on TONS of stuff. was even nominated for an Oscar for Foreign Correspondent. Directed by Rudolph Mate; HE was nominated for FIVE Oscars in the 1940s. didn't win.

Romance and adventure! In small amounts....

[djensen1 · 5/10 · 23 April 2005]

Occasionally charming foreign adventure/romance with Glenn Ford as a down-on-his-luck American returning to post-war France to retrieve the title treasure he found during the war and becoming entangled with cops, bad guys, and tour guide Geraldine Brooks. Lovely Brooks has a wonderful girl-next-door quality, but the 50s priggishness makes the romance tiresome at times.

The whole affair has a nice Hitchcockian feel, altho Hitch would never have been so priggish--with either with the sex or the violence. Director Rudolph Mate was the cinematographer for Hitch on Foreign Correspondent and other A-list directors in the 40s but had already directed several films himself by the time he did The Green Glove, including the classic DOA in 1950, with Edmund O'Brien.

Still, something is missing. Ford remains a cipher thruout; we don't get the feel of desperation that Hitch (or his leading men) was so good at conveying. Ford was a battle-hardened lieutenant in the war, yet it doesn't seem to help him much against the bad guys. Brooks is clingy, yet coy. A European dame, sexier and more independent, might have been a more interesting choice. (This is one of those stories where the leads have to pretend to be married at one point, thereby forcing them to be titillatingly intimate, right? Wrong: Mate blows it by having them demand separate rooms anyway!) The climax is good, if a bit predictable. But the exciting mountain chase down a goat trail feels a bit like a setting in search of a story, since we know from the opening scene that the story doesn't end there. Overall, it's a good A-picture adventure that could have benefited from a bit of B-picture sex and violence.

Maté was a provider of first--class thrillers

[Cristi_Ciopron · 8/10 · 10 August 2008]

TGG,an exquisite thriller, seems to begin like the mighty DOA—with its ending; but, in the end, we find out it does not. It is not a fatalistic noir, and not even much of a mystery, but a strong adventure movie and a suspenseful thriller.

For me, Maté was one of the greatest unsung craftsmen of Hollywood—unfortunately eclipsed by notorious hacks. His films make others' thrillers look like slapdash.

TGG's moments of comedy are absolutely admirable and charming—e.g., the nuptial comedy. And Ford once again proves he was not only a physical actor, but a convincing comedy actor, as well. In his youth, he made a handsome lead. With Maté, the achievements were not sporadic or accidental, but defining. I also believe he was one of the few directors to know how to film a leading man—he did that in DOA, he does it in TGG as well. The music here is by Kosma, and it's delicious. Atmospheric, astutely paced, TGG evolves in an atmosphere of threat and menace, as others post—WW2 stories. In a post—war France, an American ex—soldier searches for a legendary gauntlet.

Maté was among the best that ever worked in Hollywood; his movies are defined by gusto, an unequaled feel for immensely enjoyable films; gusto and neatness, this is his cinema.

wish it had been in color

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 4 March 2013]

The amazing locations are the real stars of "The Gauntlet" from 1952. Rudy Mate directs Glenn Ford, Geraldine Brooks, George MacCready, and Cedric Hardwicke in this film, which takes place during and after World War II.

Filmed in black and white in Monte Carlo and Paris, the scenery is eye-popping, particularly the mountain on which a church stands. It's a shame this movie wasn't in color.

The story concerns Michael Blake (Ford) who captures a Nazi collaborator, who has in his possession a relic from a church - a jewel-encrusted long glove. Michael leaves it with the family who rescued him, due to the fact that he was injured and couldn't bring it back to the states.

Mike's luck after the war isn't good, so he returns to France to retrieve the glove. He has people following him, a dead guy who turns up, and his flirtation with a tour guide (Brooks) causes a problem when her apartment is searched. Then the Nazi collaborator (MacCready) turns up.

Other than the scenery, this isn't much of a movie. The plot isn't skillfully put together and it's convoluted, so it was hard to follow.

For some reason, Sir Cedric Hardwicke is in this film playing a priest and he has absolutely nothing to do. George MacCready is an effective villain. Geraldine Brooks' performance can only be described as frantic. One thing about Glenn Ford - he was never frantic. They make an odd match. Ford to me anyway is always likable, but it was hard to relate to these characters in this disjointed film.

Disappointing.

Slight tale of post-war intrigue

[JohnSeal · 5/10 · 11 July 2002]

The Green Glove is a medieval relic, removed during World War II, that Glenn Ford needs to return to its proper resting place. The story isn't particularly interesting, but a fine cast, highlighted by a thoroughly radiant Geraldine Brooks, makes this one worth a look. The film also benefits from French location work and the finale--a pursuit across, up, and over some incredibly steep terrain--is positively Hitchcockian.

39 Steps meets The Maltese Falcon

[GManfred · 21 June 2009]

Was pleasantly surprised by this one. More exciting than I had expected, it holds your interest throughout save for one instance. The normally bland Glenn Ford was effective and compelling as the returning WWII soldier trying to find the valuable icon in question and George Macready was a convincing 'bad guy'.

The instance in question, during which the picture throws out its anchor, wastes about 15 minutes of screen time as Ford and Geraldine Brooks do a 39 Steps-like turn as a pretend-married couple. Donat and Carroll did it better, but in "The Green Glove" it gave a comedic touch to a film which did not need it.

I thought the scenery and the location shots were spectacular, particularly a chase over a goat path high in the mountains. Director Mate was in his oeuvre here as he was an excellent photographer but an average director. But the scenery and several other shots made me wish I could have seen this one on the big screen.

It's all about a wild glove chase.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 5 August 2016]

From fancy French hotels to the mountains of Monaco, this action packed adventure involves religious symbols of healing, human greed and one man's determination to stop evil from catching up to him no matter what it takes.

There are certain movies where it is plainly obvious from the opening credits who the hero is, and who the villain is. Obviously, Glenn Ford is the good guy, framed for murder simply because he stumbled upon the mystery of the green glove and got stuck with it. Now, it's his goal to get it back to the mountain top church where the bells have stopped ringing because of its theft. By accident, he hooks up with innocent Geraldine Brooks, all the while trying to outwit evil nobleman George MacReady, up to Hus usual sinister tricks, and determined to prevent Ford from completing his mission.

Sometimes good, sometimes bad, Sir Cedric Hardwicke is the picture of nobility here, the vessel through whom the vessel is told. It's an interesting reunion for Ford and MacReady, but sadly, Brooks is no "Gilda".

Some exciting train sequences are followed by the climactic scene on a steep mountain where evil and good come head to head. A bit too complex at times, this is entertaining but sometimes perplexing. Yet, the mystery comes nicely together, giving a satisfying conclusion that truly shows the miracle of the bells and the magic of the glove.

This is not a film noir. Still an entertaining movie, however.

[killedbycobras · 7/10 · 23 November 2020]

There may be some elements of noir here, but really this is just an action movie. It lacks many of the necessary ingredients to be a noir.

Ersatz Hitch Shows Just How Easy It Is

[SatyrIX · 7/10 · 26 August 2009]

Yes, you can even use Glenn Ford as a loser ex-GI coasting on his looks for your lead. I've never seen a film more redolent of Hitchcockery by a non-Hitchcock then this little gem-encrusted reliquary of a film. Even before one thinks of replacing Robert Montgomery with Cary Grant, or (sigh} Jimmy Stewart, there is a morass of Hitchcockean elements to contend with, such as church bell towers, pursuit along craggy precipices, near-misses on trains, hoary local legends turned into modern postwar fables for the protagonist, post-Nazi villains with obsessive art collection issues, a wraparound story design where the film's opening minutes reoccur in the last 10 minutes, and so on. Technically I found the lengthy day-for-night shot during the climactic, treacherous "goat trail pursuit sequence" marred by the distractingly bright fluffy clouds in every background shot: A curious lighting concession since this pursuit was foreshadowed as the culmination of the film as soon as the villain let loose with the lovely local legend of St. Elsevier (or something). Ford can only barely sustain credibility in our 21st C, post-Charlie's Angels world, and there are some painfully dumb portrayals of mental breakdowns and quaint postwar stereotypes carrying on in America's condensed and abridged version of their homeland - nothing that wasn't predominant at the time. But overall, I enjoyed this film more than it sounds, not least because it gives the lie to Hitch's vaunted brilliance.

Rather Lame Film

[Rainey-Dawn · 3/10 · 4 September 2016]

Michael 'Mike' Blake (Ford) was in the war, captured Count Paul Rona (Macready) who got away and hid a green glove belonging to a church. Years later Blake goes back to France to get the glove and make things right again - but he has a lot of trouble doing so and find a love interest along the way, Christine 'Chris' Kenneth (Brooks).

Rather boring story for the most part - it started out boring, picked up for a bit and interesting before it fell back into a majorly lame, boring film again. I was unimpressed with the movie overall.

From what I've read, the film was based on actions that took place during Operation Dragoon - but apparently only the VERY beginning of the film was - the rest of the film was all about a fictional romance and a green glove.

3/10

A Fairly Mundane Crime-Drama

[Uriah43 · 5/10 · 20 April 2020]

This film begins during World War II with a paratrooper by the name of "Michael 'Mike' Blake" (Glenn Ford) parachuting at night into a French village while artillery shells come down all around him. It's then that he captures a man named "Paul Rona" (George Macready) who has in his possession a leather bag containing a sacred religious relic known as "the Green Glove" which was stolen from a nearby monastery. Unfortunately, because of the artillery barrage, Paul manages to escape leaving the sacred relic in the leather bag behind. Not knowing what else to do with it, Mike eventually stumbles upon a house where the residents agree to hide the leather bag until he can somehow return. Needless to say, after the war Mike does indeed return but what he doesn't realize is that there is much more interest in this relic and some of these people will stoop at nothing to have it in their possession. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an okay film which could have been better had it had a bit more depth and realism. Likewise, it also could have used a bit more passion between Mike and his girlfriend "Christine Kenneth" (Geraldine Brooks). Even so, it was good enough for the time spent and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

Watch it at home!

[JohnHowardReid · 8/10 · 23 August 2013]

Despite extensive location lensing on actual French locations, this movie emerges as a somewhat tepid chase thriller when viewed in a theatre. On the Payless DVD, however, it comes across like gang busters. Set against a backdrop of thrilling natural backgrounds, the script rouses the interest right from the start. Admittedly, the green glove itself is not much to get excited over, but what does stir the soul are the rugged mountainous exteriors which are all utilized most effectively for plenty of action thrills by director Rudolph Maté and ace cinematographer Claude Renoir. Admittedly, both photography and direction look dull on a cinema screen, but on the home screen they are both transformed and come across most effectively. True, Glenn Ford has turned in better and far more charismatic portrayals than his somewhat listless, ex-G.I. hero who seems outclassed by both the feminine lead, Geraldine Brooks, and by villainous George Macready. Alas, the unconvincing parish priest, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, poses no threat in the acting stakes. He is also somewhat undone (1) by the fact that he is obviously not French and (2) because the script forces him to play his scenes twice!

You take the high road and I'll take the goat track

[sol1218 · 5/10 · 23 May 2004]

****SPOILERS**** Over-plotted and ridicules movie about a relic green glove that's the object of the films jewelry hunt up and down the mountains hills railroads and goat tracks of central and southern France. In the film Michael Blake, Glen Ford, sees the light in the end, or you can also say beginning, of the movie and returns the valuable glove to the Abbey of St. Elzear where it was lost for seven years during the last days of the Second World War. With that unselfish deed Michael made the Abbey's bells ring again.

Long, even though the film is under 90 minutes, and senseless movie that stretches it's story with a snoozing train ride and a unintentionally hilarious chase up and down the steep and dangerous goat track by the St. Elzear Abbey. At that time Michael is persuade by Count Paul Rona, George Macready, and his hoods to get their hands on the green glove that's in his possession.

The movie ends, like it started, with the bells ringing at the Abbey's bell tower as the green glove was returned to it. In fact the ending was not what you thought it was from what you saw at the beginning of the film. Michael got involved with the green glove when he dropped in on St. Elzear, back in August 1944, as a US paratrooper. After taking Rona, who he caught stealing it, prisoner as a German spy the ceiling suddenly crashed down on him, after being hit by an artillery shell, with Rona fleeing and Michael ending up with the green glove. Michael left it, the glove, with some towns-people who had no idea what was in the satchel that Michael gave them as he took off to the more important grind of fighting and winning the war.

Coming back to Paris after the war was over Michael tries to get things right by having the green glove returned, after he finds those who he gave it to, gets involved in a number of murders which he and his girlfriend and tourist guide Chris, Geraldine Brooks, were framed for by the devious Rona. Rona and his thugs followed Michael to France in order to get the green glove for himself.

Michael also gets beaten up and knocked around with him falling through a glass sky-window. Later he almost drinks himself blind drunk in his effort to return the green glove back to it's rightful owners, the people of St. Elzear .

Michael is reunited with Chris at the end of the movie and even with all the physical endurance and battering around that he went through in the film his hair is still oiled and so neat that not one single strand is left out of place.

Muddled Story, Good Locations

[dougdoepke · 30 July 2011]

Paratrooper (Ford) returns to France after the war to return a valuable glove to its rightful place. But first he has to out-maneuver the bad guys (Macready) with help from girl tour guide (Brooks).

I get the impression Hitchcock saw this romantic adventure and took notes, especially for To Catch a Thief (1955) and North by Northwest (1959). Certainly, the scenarist Charles Bennett was also a Hitch favorite. However, I expect the rotund director would have insisted on a better script than the muddled one here that leaves too many holes, making plot developments hard to follow. As a result, the suspense never really gels until the final thrilling chase up the rocky precipice. Then too, that farcical inn sequence about who sleeps where comes across as more silly than amusing, and also interrupts the narrative by going on much too long.

What the movie does have going for it are the picturesque French locations and a lively Geraldine Brooks in the feminine lead. I hope they paid her double for all the running she had to do. Ditto Ford, for that athletic climb up the slope. I also like the way the story circles back on itself. That way we're hooked by a mysterious beginning that then reveals itself through one long flashback. However, I suspect the movie's showcase adventures would have benefited from Technicolor filming instead of the rather dour b&w. Anyway, it's the kind of material Hitch would soon do to the polished and proverbial "T".

So much potential, but a let down

[michaeldbirt · 4/10 · 23 June 2023]

One star for Glenn Ford and a good cast, and another for it being shot in France in the early post war period before the start of large scale tourism. The Green Glove never really gets going. It's slow. It's ponderous. It takes a long time for anything to happen. And the story of an ancient relic with healing powers (the bejewelled glove) which is stolen from a church, a murder and the hunt for a killer and the glove is messy. A number of night sequences are shot in near blackness which doesnt help. Its very untidy. The music could come from a western.

I gave it four stars , which for a Glenn Ford movie is pretty low, but he does nothing in this. It's a shame. Go watch The Third Man or The Maltese Falcon instead.

A Valuable Relic

[StrictlyConfidential · 5/10 · 14 October 2021]

"The Green Glove" was originally released back in 1952.

Anyway - As the story goes - An American GI travels to France after the end of World War II to try and recover a jewel-encrusted glove that had been pillaged from a country church during the hostilities. His quest leads him to an attractive young tour guide and an unsavory Nazi collaborator whom he had fought during the war.