The Glass Web 3D Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Glass Web 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 29, 2025

Jack Arnold's "The Glass Web" (1963) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics Jason A. Ney, Mike Ballew, and Greg Kintz, and vintage promotional materials. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

"How did I ever get sucked so far I couldn't get out? Why didn't I have Paula Ranier sized up the first time I met her, the way she had me?

The source of all troubles in Jack Arnold’s film The Glass Web is a classic Hollywood player. This player has figured out that in the film and TV industries, but well beyond the reach of their bright lights, too, beauty sells as well as talent, often even better. The player has also figured out how to identify the best buyers for it, like studio executives, producers, established directors and writers.

The name of the player is Paula Ranier (Kathleen Hughes). She is in her late twenties and divorced. She is an actress without enough talent to go far, which is why she has evolved into a brilliant blackmailer. While doing a tiny part in the average TV show “Crime of the Week”, she has seduced veteran research specialist Henry Hayes (Edward G. Robinson) and brilliant writer Don Newell (John Forsyte). In exchange for discreet sex, she has been using the former to get better parts, gifts, and a good time in the city. She has just threatened to expose her relationship with the latter, a married man, if he refuses to pay her a hefty sum of cash.

On the night Ranier is supposed to meet Newell and get paid, Hayes unexpectedly rings her apartment doorbell. Annoyed that Hayes could ruin her plan to get richer, she declares that their mutually beneficial arrangement is over, hoping he will instantly walk away. Newell, who has arrived earlier, overhears their temse quarrel, initially not realizing that Hayes is at her place but then recognizing his voice and choosing to avoid him. When he later enters the apartment, he discovers her cold body on the floor.

In the days ahead, the police apprehend Ranier’s former husband, but Newell soon realizes that Hayes has put in motion a brilliant plan to frame him as her killer. Hayes has also described it on paper and pitched it to the producer of “Crime of the Week”, who, encouraged by the healthy competition between him and Newell, has promised his good friend Lt. Mike Stevens (Hugh Sanders) that the TV show’s finale will be a special one.

While a fine film with a good cast, The Glass Web is a small film that is difficult to compare to its many famous relatives. Indeed, it does not take long to realize that Arnold was given a modest budget and asked to do The Glass Web as quickly and efficiently as possible, and that he met all expectations. The leads do well under his direction, the drama is decent, and the visuals are fine. In other words, there is nothing in The Glass Web to be unhappy about, other than the fact that it rehashes familiar material a much smaller and less attractive cast could have handled just as nicely.

The Glass Web can be seen in 3D and 2D. (Both options are available on Kino Lorber’s Blu-ray release). While easy to describe as handsome, the 3D version is unlikely to impress 3D aficionados expecting visual brilliance offered to them in as many original ways as possible. The opening and a couple of other sequences have some decent 3D visuals, but all of them combined are not the type of material that can be used to expand the 3D fan base.

The Glass Web 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Glass Web arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

Recently restored by the 3-D Film Archive, The Glass Web can be viewed in 2D and 3D. If you choose to view it in 3D, you can use one of the two 3D options on Blu-ray. A pair of 3D glasses is provided for the anaglyphic option. The anaglyphic option is the one I spent some time with, but ultimately decided to view the film in 2D.

The Glass Web looks a tad softer than I would have preferred, but the overall quality of its visuals is good. Depth and clarity are the two areas with the most obvious fluctuations, but they are small and ultimately insignificant. Why are they insignificant? Because grain exposure is not optimal, so these fluctuations blend rather well into the slightly softer visuals. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections.The grayscale boasts good, healthy blacks, and equally satisfying grays and whites. In a few darker areas, select darker nuances could have been more convincing, but I did not see anything concerning. Image stability is good.

The 3D version looks healthier and a tad more convincing. But this is an optical illusion because virtually all of the source limitations are far more difficult to identify on it. The 3D conversion is good, but this is not the type of material that can be used to expand the 3D fan base. There are various other older 3D films that are now available on Blu-ray that have much more exciting visual content. My score is 3.75/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Glass Web 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless track is very healthy. I had the volume of my system turned up quite a bit and all exchanges were exceptionally easy to follow. There is plenty of music, but it is of the kind that does not produce any excitement. It just feels like mandatory ornamentation. The upper register is very healthy. I noticed a bit of thinning in a couple of places, but this hardly surprising considering that The Glass Web comes from the early 1950s.

The Glass Web 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage 2D trailer for The Glass Web. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

• TV Spot - presented here is a vintage 2D TV spot for The Glass Web. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Jason A. Ney, Mike Ballew, and Greg Kintz. The bulk of the comments address Universal's decision to make The Glass Web a 3D production and hand it to Jack Arnold, the film's narrative construction, characters and casting choices, its visuals and stylistic identities, and its recent 2D/3D restoration.

• Cover - a reversible cover with vintage poster art for The Glass Web.

The Glass Web 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kathleen Hughes is a good seductress and blackmailer, so the material preceding her murder raises expectations quite high. However, the material that comes after it feels underwritten. The entire murder setup where Edward G. Robinson and John Forsythe are supposed to shine could not have been any more transparent. The social messaging that is channeled through it is quite trivial as well. So, considering the talent that was gathered for it, The Glass Web should have been a much bigger, much more impressive film. Kino Lorber's release presents a new 2D/3D restoration of The Glass Web, recently completed by the 3-D Archive. RECOMMENDED.