#2. The Glass Key

Director:Stuart Heisler
Cast:Brian Donlevy, Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd

The Glass Key (1942): A classic murder mystery, based on the the Dashiell Hammet novel and said to be the inspiration for Kurosawa's Yojimbo. When a corrupt politician is accused of murder, his assistant hunts the real killer, avoiding amorous advances from his boss' fiancee and attacks from gangsters along the way. Ladd and Lake make this a better version than the 1935 film of the same name.