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Sunday, September 11th, 2022 1:34 AM

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Action film(s) where clever man escapes captivity

I am trying to remember which action film(s) these two scenes occur in. These may be two separate films, but more likely they are the same film, which is why I am posting them together. The film(s) were most likely released in the 1950s or 1960s, but could be earlier or later than that. Both scenes are likely from an action film, but each scene also has comedic elements, so this may be a comedy-action film.

Scene 1: A man is being held captive in an apartment by two thugs who work for an organized crime boss. The apartment has multiple rooms. The thugs leave the captive man alone in one of the rooms for extended amounts of time. The captive man either smuggles in or finds some metal that he sharpens. He hides the sharp tool in a couch cushion or mattress. In a later scene, the two thugs are cooking in the kitchen and arguing over their cooking methods or skills. While they are distracted with the cooking, the captive man makes his escape. Instead of using the sharp tool as a weapon directly against the thugs, he uses it to slice up a mattress (or cushions), and then he uses the stuffing from the mattress or cushion to start a fire. The thugs eventually smell the smoke and come in to investigate. The captive man uses the distraction from the fire to escape from the apartment via a fire escape.

Scene 2: The protagonist is a man who was previously held captive. In this scene, he is taken captive all over again, this time starting in a seedy hotel bar. A brute thug and the protagonist recognize and acknowledge each other in the bar, like "not you again!" The thug takes the man and locks him in a basement hotel room underneath the bar. The room is sparsely furnished with a table and chairs. The protagonist takes a seat in one of the chairs. The thug leaves and comes back, locking the protagonist in the room. Somehow the protagonist manages to order room service from the bar. A bartender or waiter comes down to the room to take the room service order, at the same time the thug is also there. The protagonist manages to confuse both the waiter and the thug, and capitalizes on the confusion by hitting the thug over the head with the chair. Eventually the protagonist kills the thug and escapes.

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2 years ago

I figured it out! 

The film I was thinking of (for both scenes) is The Glass Key (1942).

This trailer shows both scenes back to back, starting at 0:41: https://www.imdb.com/video/vi420462873/

p.s. And I guess this isn't an action film after all (based on IMDb's definition of action films). Rather, it is a crime/noir film.

(edited)