A deceptive war drama which is really a fantastical love story in the vein of Billy Wilder's LOve in the Afternoon. William Holden plays the lead, and what character does he play but a reluctant dogged, selfish seeming individual who resists authority and wears cynicism on his face, mien and posture like a pair of brown well-trodden in sandals. No one did better and he does it excellently yet again. America is yet to enter WWII but Holden is sent to join the Britisn Navy and commandeer tug boats who make rescue missions for other vessels but carry no ammunitions to defend themselves. Thus when called up, the men know they are goners, thus they are known as suicide missions. Sophia who might just be the best foreign actress completely nails her part as the unkempt woman who has lost her will to live when the war took the lives of her family leaving her alone in the world. Therefore, she becomes a kept woman in an apartment, where the key of the title is passed by men who see themselves as goners on a suicide mission to the next fellow who takes up residence till he gets his own suicide call. The scenes are gritty and the ocean scenes realistic in the style of the French new wave. Trevor Howard is fantastic as the man who breaks Holden in and their camaraderie anchors the movie. The score is strange and the way director Reed paces and uses shadows, you think it might turn into a horror movie anytime soon but he is really planting the seeds of love in our heads. Based on a novel by Jan de hartog a Tony winning playwright, the adaptation is fantastic, true and not preachy. As Holden does everything to stay alive and Loren does everything not to, the question of why do we live that everyone asks is tested. The last fifteen minutes and breaks, copies and redounds the rules of this to and ending that is well deserved and earned. Mr. carol Reed , thank you for the effort. Thsi movie which underperformed in the US was a smash hit overseas, a tradition that would become part of Sophia's career. Sophia who at this point had not shown any real proclivity for drama walks like a shining gem and shows why she is one of the few foreign actresses to be nominated more than once for the Oscar in a foreign language performance. Well done!
