Frank (Humphrey Bogart) pays a visit to Mr Temple's (Lionel Barrymore) hotel and finds that it has been exclusively hired out for a week. The guests are a group of gangsters headed by Johnny Rocco (Edward G Robinson) and they have some gangster business to do before making their getaway to Cuba. On an overnight stay, a storm hits the hotel and everyone is under the control of megalomaniac Rocco. When the storm passes, Rocco's gang make their move but they need Frank to skipper their getaway boat.
The problem with this film is that it is a bit too stagey. The cast are all good, especially Claire Trevor in her role as gangster moll "Gaye". She has some good scenes including the sequence where she has to sing for Johnny Rocco before she can have a drink. Rocco's refusal to give her one and dismissal of her as 'rubbish' is a good climax to the scene. But, annoyingly, the scene then goes on to have Frank defy Rocco and give her a drink himself. It's moments like these where we are so predictably given Bogart as a man acting by himself that it gets annoying. We have to have scenes where Bogart spouts his "I'm a man acting alone" crap. Claire Trevor also has a good scene towards the end when she pleads with Rocco to take her with him, and her final words to Frank of "Yeah, good luck" are delivered in a way that has a resonance that seems completely lacking from anything that Lauren Bacall says.
The film has a few daft moments, eg, Rocco's fear of the storm, the story drags in parts and the ending is a bit cheesy but overall it's OK.
The problem with this film is that it is a bit too stagey. The cast are all good, especially Claire Trevor in her role as gangster moll "Gaye". She has some good scenes including the sequence where she has to sing for Johnny Rocco before she can have a drink. Rocco's refusal to give her one and dismissal of her as 'rubbish' is a good climax to the scene. But, annoyingly, the scene then goes on to have Frank defy Rocco and give her a drink himself. It's moments like these where we are so predictably given Bogart as a man acting by himself that it gets annoying. We have to have scenes where Bogart spouts his "I'm a man acting alone" crap. Claire Trevor also has a good scene towards the end when she pleads with Rocco to take her with him, and her final words to Frank of "Yeah, good luck" are delivered in a way that has a resonance that seems completely lacking from anything that Lauren Bacall says.
The film has a few daft moments, eg, Rocco's fear of the storm, the story drags in parts and the ending is a bit cheesy but overall it's OK.