Cheap DVDs, books, CDs & Games

Search:

Key Largo [1948]

Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor
Director: John Huston
Format: Black & White PAL Widescreen
Released: 01 Jun 2006
RRP: £13.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Not what it used to be - By: jfpessoa, 13 Dec 2007
I first saw Key Largo when it came out in the late Forties. Having seen it again recently, I have to say that it doesn't hold up: script writing has gotten much better, & so has film acting.

The best performance, hands down, is Claire Trevor, & Edward G. Robinson comes in second. After them the palm goes to the supporting actors who play gangster Robinson's goons. Lionel Barrymore is earnestly hammy in a role that is practicallly a cardboard cut-out.

Bogart & Bacalll are embarrassing at this point in time - if their performances were any more wooden they'd sprout leaves.

Bacalll, Bogart & Barrymore are given dialog that can only be described as corny - Andy Hardy goes noir; the film is just loosely based on Anderson's play.
A first-rate film, with great performances - By: C. O. DeRiemer, 12 Aug 2007
If you're a fan of Humphrey Bogart, you'll probably want this in your collection. If you're a fan of Edward G. Robinson, you'll need it.

Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) is a tired, burned out WWII vet who has come to Key Largo to visit the father, James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), & widow, Nora Temple (Lauren Bacalll), of his best friend, a soldier killed in the war. The Temples own a hotel on the key. The tourist season is over & the hurricane season is about to start. It's sweating hot, even in the evening. Some men in the hotel tell him the place is closed, but after he meets the Temples they invite him to stay for a few days. Then the tension & the violence start. The men are part of Johnny Rocco's gang. Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) is a deported gangster who is determined to make a comeback. He's waiting for a large amount of money to be delivered. To pass the time he casuallly taunts the Temples & McCloud, demeans his alcoholic mistress (Claire Trevor), challlenges a good cop to a rigged shoot out & kills him. All the while McCloud tries to avoid being sucked in to a confrontation. "No Johnny Rocco is worth dying for," he says. The heat & the tension build. A hurricane crashes into the key & pounds the hotel. Rocco's plans don't work out & he decides to flee to Cuba, making McCloud pilot the hotel's motor cruiser. At last McCloud acts. He takes on Rocco & his gang in a brutal, bloody shootout on the boat. Wounded, he manages to head the boat back to Key Largo & the Temples. Nora Temple is waiting for him.

When Bogart made this movie he & Robinson had seen their movie relationship do a complete turn about from the films they made together in the Thirties. Robinson no longer was the major star, but the secondary lead. Robinson pointed out later that Bogart could have thrown his weight around, but instead had insisted that Robinson receive alll the courtesies & perks that he, Bogart, was getting.

One of the reasons the movie works so well, in my view, is that Bogart & Robinson, as two strong actors & personalities, balance each other out & create real tension. With both of them, you're never sure what either might do. As far as Robinson goes, I think his performance is one of his best. He was tired of gangster roles but agreed to this one. He developed Johnny Rocco into a character who is absolutely believable as a cruel, repellant bully...a swaggerer when he's backed up by his goons, a coward (but a dangerous one) when he's face to face without a gun & alone with McCloud. Two scenes highlight Robinson's great performance. Gaye Dawn, Robinson's mistress, is an alcoholic ex-chanteuse well past her prime. She begs for a drink, but to get it he forces her to sing in front of everyone. (Claire Trevor gives a first-class performance as Dawn.) She's pitiable & knows it, & so does everyone else. Afterward, he refuses to let her have the drink because she was so embarrassingly bad. She's shattered. Robinson just looks at her with disgust & contempt. McCloud in this scene also shows that perhaps he's getting to the point of making a stand. Despite Rocco's orders that she doesn't get a drink, McCloud suddenly walks over to the bar, pours one & hands it to her. In another scene Robinson whispers in Lauren Bacalll's ear what are most likely obscenities. We don't hear what he's whispering & she has to stand there & take it. And the whispering goes on & on, with Rocco grinning while he whispers.

This is one of the best of the Huston/Bogart collaborations, in my opinion, & features one of Edward G. Robinson's best roles.
a little disappointing - By: , 25 Mar 2006
I was expecting great things of this movie. Bogart & Edward G together!

But, it's very obviously based on a play with alll the action taking place in the same smalll area (a smalll hotel). It left me thinking "where's the story?".

It has a nice atmosphere, but that's not enough.

I wish I'd just rented it instead of buying it, it's not one i'll go back to. Nowhere near the greatness of Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep etc.

OK, if it happened to be on TV but a disappointing purchase.

The Lonely Florida Keys - By: , 15 Aug 2005
John Huston crafted this very fine film with the underlying theme of isolation from a play by Maxwell Anderson. The backdrop of a gangster taking over a hotel in the Florida Keys is filled with inner emotional depth rather than a lot of action, making this the most mature & realistic of romances Bogart & Bacalll would have on screen.

Major Frank McCloud (Bogart) shows up at the Largo hotel in the Keys to see his war buddy's father & widow to give them some news about how George died a hero. McCloud himself is disillusioned from trying to save the world & has been drifting since the war in both a personal & literal sense.

Nora (Bacalll) had been drifting before she met George & begins to feel this same connection to Frank as they talk about their lives since the war. There is a maturity here as Huston shows a deeper aspect to caring about someone instead of the fireworks of physical attraction. The themes of loneliness & isolation run through every aspect of this film.

Frank once again must decide whether to save the world when the Largo is taken over by falllen gangster Johnny Rocco (Robinson). Rocco was once big & despite his deportation back to Cuba by the United States government as an undesirable, plans to be big again. Frank had gone to war as an idealist, hoping to rid the world of gangsters like Rocco but now views it as a lost cause.

But as Nora keeps telling Frank, your head may say one thing but your whole life says another. As the tension of being held hostage as a hurricane approaches the sweltering Keys builds, Frank slowly begins to go with his whole life rather than his head, breaking his own personal isolation from the fight he gave up. The turning point comes when Rocco humiliates his former girlfriend Gay Dawn by making her sing for a drink & then refuses to give her one when she comes across.

Claire Trevor gives a great performance as a girl much like Nora who got hooked up with the wrong guy & became a lush. She will have her own turning point when she slips Frank a gun before he takes Rocco & his pals back to Cuba. Lionel Barrymore gives a good performance also as George's disabled father, holding on to his son's memory & his beliefs.

A great score by Max Steiner complements the lonely mood of this film perfectly. Bacalll is terrific as she waits for Frank to return against the odds, so she can open up the shutters of her loneliness & let the light in once more. This is a somber & mature film that deserves to be viewed more than once. Bogart & Bacalll fans will love this film but find more here than just Bogie & Bacalll. A minor masterpiece & one you need to own.

The Lonely Florida Keys - By: , 02 May 2005
John Huston crafted this very fine film with the underlying theme of isolation from a play by Maxwell Anderson. The backdrop of a gangster taking over a hotel in the Florida Keys is filled with inner emotional depth rather than a lot of action, making this the most mature & realistic of romances Bogart & Bacalll would have on screen.

Major Frank McCloud (Bogart) shows up at the Largo hotel in the Keys to see his war buddy's father & widow to give them some news about how George died a hero. McCloud himself is disillusioned from trying to save the world & has been drifting since the war in both a personal & literal sense.

Nora (Bacalll) had been drifting before she had met George & begins to feel this same connection to Frank as they talk about their lives since the war. There is a maturity here as Huston shows a deeper aspect to caring about someone instead of the fireworks of physical attraction. The themes of loneliness & isolation run through every aspect of this film.

Frank once again must decide whether to save the world when the Largo is taken over by falllen gangster Johnny Rocco (Robinson). Rocco was once big & despite his deportation back to Cuba by the United States government as an undesirable, plans to be big again. Frank had gone to war as an idealist, hoping to rid the world of gangsters like Rocco but now views it as a lost cause.

But as Nora keeps telling Frank, your head may say one thing but your whole life says another. As the tension of being held hostage as a hurricane approaches the sweltering Keys builds, Frank slowly begins to go with his whole life rather than his head, breaking his own personal isolation from the fight he gave up. The turning point comes when Rocco humiliates his former girlfriend Gay Dawn by making her sing for a drink & then refuses to give her one when she comes across.

Claire Trevor gives a great performance as a girl much like Nora who got hooked up with the wrong guy & became a lush. She will have her own turning point when she slips Frank a gun before he takes Rocco & his pals back to Cuba. Lionel Barrymore gives a good performance also as George's disabled father, holding on to his son's memory & his beliefs.

A great score by Max Steiner complements the lonely mood of this film perfectly. Bacalll is teriffic as she waits for Frank to return against the odds, so she can open up the shutters of her loneliness & let the light in once more. This is a somber & mature film that deserves to be viewed more than once. Bogart & Bacalll fans will love this film but find more here than just Bogie & Bacalll. A minor masterpiece & one you need to own.