Key Largo (1948)

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart

'Key Largo' is a film noir made in 1948, directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor. It was adapted from the stage play by Maxwell Anderson which ran on Broadway from 1939-40. The movie did well at the box-office and was critically well received also. Claire Trevor won the Best Supporting Actress for her performance as the alcoholic gangster's moll, Gaye Dawn.

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The movie was the second pairing of John Huston and Humphrey Bogart in 1948, after 'The Treasure of Sierra Madre'. Both films are wonderful examples of director and actor working together at their aristic peak.

The plot of the movie concerns a gang of hoods who have taken over a Key Largo hotel. (Key Largo is the largest of the remote coral islands in the Florida Keys.) Bogart, plays Frank McCloud who comes along to visit the father of a war time pal and of course, immediately gets involved in the action. Tempers begin to boil over within the confined space of the old building - linked only by a causeway to the mainland - and the conflict within the hotel is mirrored and accentuated by the late summer hurricane violence outside.

The storyline, is similar to other Bogart movies such as 'The Desperate Hours' and 'The Petrified Forest' in each of which he plays a gangster holding people hostage, but the strenth of this movie lies in its brilliant casting. Bogart is on the side of the law for a change, and is typically laconic and brave as he confronts the leader of the gang, Johnny Rocco, a brutal villain played impeccably by Edward G. Robinson. This is the last movie in which Bogart and Robinson appeared together after doing so several times during the 1930's.

Lauren Bacall appears as the widow of Bogart's war time pal and with her husky voice and attitude is an excellent match for Bogie's simple, heroic character with whom, naturally, she falls in love.

The veteran, and naturally wheelchair bound, Lionel Barrymore is completely believable as Temple, the hotel proprietor. Claire Trevor cleverly does not overplay Gaye Dawn, the moll who is finally pushed too far by Rocco.

John Huston was an excellent director and also a clever adapter of other people's materials, as he clearly shows in 'Key Largo'. He had an uncanny way of getting the right people in the right jobs for his projects. Karl Freund's black and white cinematography and the haunting music provided by Max Steiner wonderfully project the build up of tension between the main characters against the backdrop of the impending storm which seems to threaten the hotel both literally and figuratively. Warner Bros. insisted that the movie be filmed on the studio sound stage and not on location tok keep costs down, but Karl Freund's expressive use of the camera negates any impression of staginess.

'Key Largo' is dramatic and full of suspense with great acting from a great cast. A good story well told.