This movie has all the right ingredients, but falls down if "movie claustrophobia" bothers you. And that's the one real negative here. Almost all of the action takes place in one or two rooms of an old hotel, with occasional brief scenes outside to remind you you're at the Florida Keys and/or that there's a hurricane. Only the first 5 minutes of the film and the last 15 take place outside those couple of rooms at the hotel. As a result, there are times that it seems like an overly-talkative film with less action than you would expect from a team of actors including Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson. I had the same feeling when watching "The Petrified Forest" -- too much like a stage play.
However, once you get past that "movie claustrophobia", there's lots to like here. Overall, the story is a good one. World War II has ended and ex-soldier Humphrey Bogart travels to Key Largo to visit the father (Lionel Barrymore) and wife (Lauren Bacall) of a soldier-friend who was killed in a battle. Barrymore and Bacall own an old hotel on Key Largo, and they unknowingly rented the place to a mobster (Edward G. Robinson) and his thugs who are waiting there for a counterfeit deal to take place. Robinson is an Italian mobster who was thrown out of the country, but hoping to return, and appears to currently be based in Cuba. Robinson is somewhat sadistic, particularly toward Bacall and his alcoholic ex-girlfriend (Claire Trevor). While waiting for the counterfeiters, a hurricane strikes, making things all the more tense. Once the deal goes down, Bogie is forced to sail the thugs back to Cuba. Will they make it, or will Bogie thwart them and return to fall in love with Bacall? This is a strong performance by Humphrey Bogart as a sort of anti-hero who seems to be balancing the need to be wise and not cowardly in dealing with the mobsters. A problem here is that Robinson shots him in the stomach several times in one scene, but the gun misfires or is not loaded. Why? One might say that Edward G. Robinson "eats up the scenery" as mobster Johnny Rocco. Another strong performance...or is it stereotypical of the era? If it is the latter, I'd prefer to blame it on the director, rather than Robinson.
Lauren Bacall doesn't sizzle here...that would have been inappropriate. She's rather docile, and as a result less interesting than in her other film encounters with Bogart. But the role didn't call for sizzling; it called for a grieving wife.
I'm not sure that Lionel Barrymore's character was appropriate, either. With his mouth, I would have expected him to be the first to be killed by Robinson. But again, Barrymore didn't write the script or direct the film, so I'll not blame him. Barrymore made 6 films after this, and was alive for 6 more years, but he looked very unwell and surprisingly fat in this film.
Perhaps the best acting in the picture is by Claire Trevor as the alcoholic Gaye Dawn. The key to her Oscar winning supporting role was that she was careful not to overact her drunkenness, and as a result she gains the sympathy of the viewer here.
Of the supporting actors, Thomas Gomez as one of the thugs is outstanding, giving a different characterization than one might expect; he was an accomplished character actor. The brash young punk role was played by Harry Lewis; I guess he was "okay". Marc Lawrence was somewhat interesting as one of the counterfeiters. Monte Blue is somewhat interesting as the overwhelmed local sheriff. You'll also recognize Jay Silverheels as one of the Indians in an uncredited role; Silverheels later became the much-beloved Tonto in "The Lone Ranger".
The stage-like nature of this film prevents it from becoming a great film, but it's still quite good and definitely worth a watch.
This viewing I watched the new Blu Ray release. While it's a "good" transfer, I'm not sure it was worth the upgrade from DVD. I've seen much better Blu Rays from the same era.
However, once you get past that "movie claustrophobia", there's lots to like here. Overall, the story is a good one. World War II has ended and ex-soldier Humphrey Bogart travels to Key Largo to visit the father (Lionel Barrymore) and wife (Lauren Bacall) of a soldier-friend who was killed in a battle. Barrymore and Bacall own an old hotel on Key Largo, and they unknowingly rented the place to a mobster (Edward G. Robinson) and his thugs who are waiting there for a counterfeit deal to take place. Robinson is an Italian mobster who was thrown out of the country, but hoping to return, and appears to currently be based in Cuba. Robinson is somewhat sadistic, particularly toward Bacall and his alcoholic ex-girlfriend (Claire Trevor). While waiting for the counterfeiters, a hurricane strikes, making things all the more tense. Once the deal goes down, Bogie is forced to sail the thugs back to Cuba. Will they make it, or will Bogie thwart them and return to fall in love with Bacall? This is a strong performance by Humphrey Bogart as a sort of anti-hero who seems to be balancing the need to be wise and not cowardly in dealing with the mobsters. A problem here is that Robinson shots him in the stomach several times in one scene, but the gun misfires or is not loaded. Why? One might say that Edward G. Robinson "eats up the scenery" as mobster Johnny Rocco. Another strong performance...or is it stereotypical of the era? If it is the latter, I'd prefer to blame it on the director, rather than Robinson.
Lauren Bacall doesn't sizzle here...that would have been inappropriate. She's rather docile, and as a result less interesting than in her other film encounters with Bogart. But the role didn't call for sizzling; it called for a grieving wife.
I'm not sure that Lionel Barrymore's character was appropriate, either. With his mouth, I would have expected him to be the first to be killed by Robinson. But again, Barrymore didn't write the script or direct the film, so I'll not blame him. Barrymore made 6 films after this, and was alive for 6 more years, but he looked very unwell and surprisingly fat in this film.
Perhaps the best acting in the picture is by Claire Trevor as the alcoholic Gaye Dawn. The key to her Oscar winning supporting role was that she was careful not to overact her drunkenness, and as a result she gains the sympathy of the viewer here.
Of the supporting actors, Thomas Gomez as one of the thugs is outstanding, giving a different characterization than one might expect; he was an accomplished character actor. The brash young punk role was played by Harry Lewis; I guess he was "okay". Marc Lawrence was somewhat interesting as one of the counterfeiters. Monte Blue is somewhat interesting as the overwhelmed local sheriff. You'll also recognize Jay Silverheels as one of the Indians in an uncredited role; Silverheels later became the much-beloved Tonto in "The Lone Ranger".
The stage-like nature of this film prevents it from becoming a great film, but it's still quite good and definitely worth a watch.
This viewing I watched the new Blu Ray release. While it's a "good" transfer, I'm not sure it was worth the upgrade from DVD. I've seen much better Blu Rays from the same era.