- Messages
- 17,181
- Location
- New York City
I never got a Columbo or bumbling vibe off of Robinson's Keyes -- merely that he is whip-smart, as you say, and utterly dedicated to his work. You can't imagine him having a wife and kids, for example (and that lack might be why he takes Walter, MacMurray's character, under his wing).
I've mentioned before that after this film, Robinson got in touch with James M. Cain, the author of the novel, and asked him to write another story -- maybe a novel, maybe a screenplay -- featuring Keyes. Now that would have been something!
Fair point on the bumbling, but I've always felt that Robinson as Keyes intentionally plays down how smart he is / acts like he's not on to something when he is - in a Colombo-like fashion - and that he uses that "innocence" to make people not worried he's on to them and, thus, willing to give him more information than is in their best interest (like Columbo does).
Robinson, clearly, knew he had captured lightening in a bottle with the Keyes' role and was smart to go to Cain. I still need to read "Double Indemnity." I read Cain's "Mildred Pierce" last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.