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David Ross (William Holden), a sergeant in the Canadian army, has just arrived in England for his latest assignment---that of commander of a rescue tug in the North Atlantic. Since the tugs are not well-equipped weapon-wise, they are rather defenseless, making each attempted rescue rather like a suicide mission. When David reports for duty, he discovers that his old friend Chris Ford (Trevor Howard) also commands a tug.
Wanting to get reacquainted, the two men retire to Chris's flat---a flat which he shares with a rather odd woman named Stella (Sophia Loren). As Chris explains it, another tugman gave him a key to the flat just before he died, offering Chris the use of the place should anything happen to him. Stella just happened to be part of the deal.
Three men ago, Stella was engaged to be married to the man who owned the flat; the day before their wedding, he was killed in a rescue attempt, and since he had given a key to the apartment to another man---with instructions to use it should anything happen to him---that man moved in and ended up in a relationship with Stella. He, too, was killed in a rescue attempt, which led Chris to take ownership of the key and to get involved with Stella, who by this time, is grief-stricken by all the loss she has known. Just before Chris heads out on a mission which will take his life, he gives the key to David, with the same instructions---take the flat...and look out for Stella.
Although David at first thinks Stella is just a common prostitute, it soon becomes apparent that she has loved the men she's been with and that she is so paralyzed by grief, she doesn't really even know one man from another anymore.
Eventually, David falls in love with Stella, and, loving him in return, she seems to withdraw from her grief for a time; however, before they can be married, David feels that his time is up and, so, passes the key on to another tugman. How everything plays out is the balance of the movie.
The acting in The Key is fantastic! Sophia Loren is completely sensational as Stella, a woman so scarred by loss and hurt that she is barely able to function. Really, her portrayal of such a complex woman was simply amazing. To me, she wasn't her usual beautiful self for most of the movie; however, that would be in keeping with a woman who has "shut down" due to depression. William Holden---in the most gorgeous years of his career---is beyond handsome in the role. I love him in his military uniform, and even when the jacket is off and it's just a white shirt and tie, oh, my, is he beautiful!! Looks aside, though, he was wonderful in his role. He brought such life and charisma to the character he was portraying. I felt every emotion he exuded. Trevor Howard also was really great in his role. And, finally, Carol Reed's unique way of filming tense scenes at a bit of a diagonal made for an interesting way of looking at things.
Interestingly, if you read the TCM synopsis of this film, you will find that there were two endings made. The ending on the version I watched was the one required by the Production Code. Since immoral sexual relationships were not to be rewarded, the original ending (which TCM has in their synopsis) was changed, and the version I saw reflected that change.
This film may be a difficult one to track down. While I do believe it is available on VHS, it is not out on DVD. Additionally, I haven't seen it on the TCM schedule very often---I've been looking for it for about three years now, and this past month was the first time they aired it (that I noticed anyway). However, the film is available in its entirety on YouTube (HERE). It hasn't been there for the three years I've been looking for it, but while I was putting this post together, I discovered that it has recently been uploaded. If you are able to track it down or watch it through YouTube, I'd love to know what you think of it.
Happy viewing!!