The Glass Wall (1953)

(On Cable TV, October 2021) While shown on TCM as part of their film noir showcase, I’m more likely to think of The Glass Wall as an immigration drama with a thriller edge. It begins as a Hungarian refugee is denied entry in New York City—despite being eligible for entry for having helped an American soldier during WW2. His deportation being imminent, he takes a chance and sneaks into the city to find the soldier he helped, hoping he may be able to help him establish his legitimate reason for claiming asylum. It does not go smoothly—a trip to Times Square to find his clarinet-playing friend in jazz clubs is complicated by run-ins with various people and an internal injury. Gloria Grahame plays the woman he befriends along the way. There’s some definite tension in trying to find his friend before the police find him, and the escalating level of despair he manifests. As the film goes on, it also becomes far more earnest about the plight of refugees—all the way to walking inside the then-new United Nations building (the titular Glass Wall) to address an empty room. It’s a bit much, but at the same time it clearly states the objectives of the film. The Glass Wall wraps up as a tight 80-minute thriller with a better-than-average social conscience, with some interesting 1950s NYC scenery along the way.