Key Largo (1948)

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

Maxwell Anderson (play)
Richard Brooks (writer) ...

Release Date:

31 July 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

A storm of fear and fury in the sizzling Florida Keys !

Plot:

A man visits his old friend's hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricane approaches, the two end up confronting each other.

Plot Keywords:

Tense | War Veteran | Key West Florida | Girlfriend | Father In Law

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Frank McCloud
Edward G. Robinson	...	Johnny Rocco
Lauren Bacall	...	Nora Temple
Lionel Barrymore	...	James Temple
Claire Trevor	...	Gaye Dawn
Thomas Gomez	...	Richard 'Curly' Hoff
Harry Lewis	...	Edward 'Toots' Bass
John Rodney	...	Deputy Clyde Sawyer
Marc Lawrence	...	Ziggy
Dan Seymour	...	Angel Garcia
Monte Blue	...	Sheriff Ben Wade
William Haade	...	Ralph Feeney

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Sweden:15 | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 (2003) | West Germany:16 (nf) | Australia:G (cable rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #12932)

Filming Locations:

Florida Keys, Florida, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Santana was the name of Humphrey Bogart's yacht, which he purchased from June Allyson and Dick Powell. He loved the Santana so much he named his production company after it.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Mr. Temple says of the oncoming storm that it is unusual to have one this late in the season, and that they usually happen early in the summer. In fact, the Atlantic hurricane season peaks near the end of summer, around September 10. Hurricanes in early summer (June-July) are much less frequent.

Quotes:

Johnny Rocco: You'd give your left arm to nail me wouldn't you? I could see the headlines now, 'Local Deputy Captures Johnny Rocco'. Your picture'd be in all the papers. You might even get to tell on the newsreels how you pulled if off, yeah. Listen hick, I was too much for any big city police force to handle. It took the United States Government to pin a rap on me. And they won't make it stick. You hick, I'll be back pulling strings to get guys elected mayor and governor before you get a ten buck raise.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bullets Over Hollywood (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Moanin' Low

one of the greatest bad guy performances of all time

This is one of the best movies of the 1940's. Directed and co-written, (along with Richard Brooks), by the great John Huston, it explores themes of honor and courage, themes common to many of Huston's films.

Humphrey Bogart once again demonstrates his remarkable versatility as Major Frank Mcloud, decorated war hero, who travels to Key Largo to meet the father and wife of a man in his regiment who was killed in action. Bogart could be equally effective as a good guy or villain and his performance here reveals once more his ability to create complex and conflicted characters. He had one of the greatest movie star personas in film history, but always managed to become whatever character he played. Whether it was an idealistic night club owner hiding behind a cynical facade, or an average guy destroyed by greed while prospecting for gold, you always believed you were watching a real person and not a movie star.

Come to think of it, this could be said of all the major actors in this film. Edward G Robinson was generally type-cast as a bad guy, but could also effectively play more sympathetic characters. Lionel Barrymore's performance as the feisty yet compassionate James Temple, father of the fallen soldier, and proprietor of the Hotel Largo, is in sharp contrast to the stingy and unfeeling Mr Potter of It's A Wonderful Life, and Lauren Bacall's performance as his austere daughter in-law Nora, is a far cry from the seductress she played in To Have And Have Not. Sadly, there aren't too many actors of this caliber still working in movies today.

Robinson creates one of the great villains in movie history. His role as mob giant Johnny Rocco is as disquieting as any monster brought to life by Karloff or Lugosi. Holed up in the Hotel Largo during a fierce hurricane, he and his gang hold Mcloud, the Temples, and a local cop, at gun-point. As tensions increase in this claustrophobic setting, he takes sadistic delight in mocking them. This is a man without a single redeeming quality, and his challenge to the ideals of Mcloud and Temple, is like a confrontation between the forces of light and darkness. For awhile it looks as if darkness will win out and Mcloud seems to be revealed as a coward, but eventually he regains his idealism and courage in a final showdown with the criminal gang.

Claire Trevor won the supporting actress Oscar as Rocco's alcoholic ex-lover Gaye Dawn. Her devotion to him even as he continuously reviles, and humiliates her, borders on the masochistic, but she has her revenge at last in an unexpected move that I wont reveal here.

The scene where Rocco's seeming invincibility begins to crumble, and the tables are turned, is my favorite in the movie: As the hurricane defiantly rages outside and the terrified gangster holds his gun impotently at his side, Mcloud chides him with the line,"Why don't you show it your gun? If it doesn't stop, shoot it."

They really knew how to write dialogue in those days.