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Characters & Themes

The Key (1958) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Release, runtime and language
1958 · 134 mins · English
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Directed by
Carol Reed
Starring
Michael Caine, William Holden, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee, Oskar Homolka, John Crawford

He knows his life expectancy is as short as a match. In 1941 wartime England, tugboats are pressed into the treacherous “U‑Boat Alley” to haul damaged Allied ships to safety. American David Ross commands a tug and receives a spare key from a fellow crewman—a key to a modest flat and its occupant, a safeguard should anything happen to his friend.

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