Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16657 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-06-01
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Black & White, PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
John Huston (The Maltese Falcon) directed this smart thriller about a gangster (Edward G. Robinson) who holds a number of people hostage in a hotel on the Florida keys during a tropical storm. Humphrey Bogart is the returning war veteran who takes on the villains, and Lauren Bacall is on hand as one of the people on the wrong end of Robinson's gun. Somewhat similar in tone to Howard Hawks's To Have and Have Not (which also featured Bogart and Bacall), Key Largo is a moody movie which captures a certain despair offset by the bond between individuals united by common purpose. Claire Trevor won an Academy Award for her part as Robinson's alcoholic girlfriend. --Tom Keogh

Special Features
1.85 Wide Screen
DVD 5
English
Region 2
Mono English
Mono

Synopsis
Captivating cinematic adaptation of the play by Maxwell Anderson. A notorious gangster (Robinson) holds the residents of a hotel hostage during a tropical storm. Academy Awards: Best Supporting Actress--Claire Trevor.

Customer Reviews

"When your head says one thing and your whole life says another, your head always loses."
Aaaahhh ... Bogey. AFI's No. 1 film star of the 20th century. Hollywood's original noir anti-hero, epitome of the handsome, cynical and oh-so lonesome wolf; looking unbeatably cool in his fedora, a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth. Endowed with a legendary aura several times larger than his real life stature, and still admired by scores of women wishing they had been born 50+ years earlier, preferably somewhere in California and to parents connected with the movie business, so as to have at least a marginal chance of meeting him.

"Key Largo" (1948), directed by John Huston, is the last of four movies starring Bogart and real-life spouse Lauren Bacall (after their legendary collaborations in, first and foremost, "To Have and Have Not" and "The Big Sleep," as well as in "Dark Passage"), by this time firmly established as one of Hollywood's new leading ladies in her own right. At the same time, it also constitutes a reversal of roles between Bogart and Edward G. Robinson, opposite whom Bogart had appeared in 1930s movies like "Bullets or Ballots," "Kid Galahad," and "Brother Orchid:" Whereas in the earlier films, the complexer parts had been Robinson's (while Bogart's characters had had little or no redeeming qualities whatsoever), here it is Bogey's world-weary and reluctant WWII veteran Frank McCloud who finds himself -- half acting on his own accord, half propelled by Bacall's sharp-tongued hotel keeper Nora Temple -- ultimately facing up to Robinson's ruthless gangster Johnny Rocco in the sultry, Hemingwayesque setting of the Florida Keys, under the onslaught of a hurricane; with great supporting performances by Lionel Barrymore as Bacall's father-in-law and Claire Trevor as Rocco's disillusioned, alcoholic lover.

When looking at this movie's and, even more so, its leading actors' almost mythical fame, it is difficult to imagine that, produced at the height of the studio system era, "Key Largo" was originally just one of the roughly 50 movies released over the course of a single year. But mass production didn't equal low quality; on the contrary, the great care given to all production values, from script-writing to camera work, editing, score and the stars' presentation in the movie itself and in its trailer, was at least partly responsible for its lasting success.

All in all, "Key Largo" may not be quite on same the level as those movies which, by the time of its release, had already bestowed on Bogart, in particular, his everlasting legendary status (such as "Casablanca," which would, a few decades later, end up second only to "Citizen Kane" at the helm of the AFI's Top 100 20th century movies list, with Bogey's Rick Blane, at the same time, ranking as one of the 20th century's Top 5 film heroes; "The Maltese Falcon," at No. 23 not far behind on the AFI's Top 100 20th century movies list; and "The Big Sleep," which solidified not only the chemistry between Bogart and Bacall -- who had married even before its 1946 release -- but also Lauren Bacall's own Hollywood standing as well as her sassy, mysterious aura, while also making for yet another entry of Bogey's in the AFI's Top 50 20th century film heroes list as the incarnation of Raymond Chandler's cynical gumshoe Philip Marlowe). Yet, all of this ultimately says more about those other movies (and Bogart's and Bacall's careers as a whole) than it does about "Key Largo" itself. Taken on its own, this is without question still one of the finest hours Old Hollywood ever saw -- and one of the most stellar examples of classic noir film making.

Not what it used to be
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, and so has film acting.

The best performance, hands down, is Claire Trevor, and 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 practically a cardboard cut-out.

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

Bacall, Bogart and 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
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), and widow, Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall), of his best friend, a soldier killed in the war. The Temples own a hotel on the key. The tourist season is over and 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 and 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 casually taunts the Temples and McCloud, demeans his alcoholic mistress (Claire Trevor), challenges a good cop to a rigged shoot out and 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 and the tension build. A hurricane crashes into the key and pounds the hotel. Rocco's plans don't work out and he decides to flee to Cuba, making McCloud pilot the hotel's motor cruiser. At last McCloud acts. He takes on Rocco and his gang in a brutal, bloody shootout on the boat. Wounded, he manages to head the boat back to Key Largo and the Temples. Nora Temple is waiting for him.

When Bogart made this movie he and 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 all the courtesies and perks that he, Bogart, was getting.

One of the reasons the movie works so well, in my view, is that Bogart and Robinson, as two strong actors and personalities, balance each other out and 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 and 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 and knows it, and 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 and 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 and hands it to her. In another scene Robinson whispers in Lauren Bacall's ear what are most likely obscenities. We don't hear what he's whispering and she has to stand there and take it. And the whispering goes on and on, with Rocco grinning while he whispers.

This is one of the best of the Huston/Bogart collaborations, in my opinion, and features one of Edward G. Robinson's best roles.