Key Largo is on one of those films that I find a little intimidating to write about. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall are two of the biggest stars from the classic film era, and it’s easy to see why. They were married in real life, and their on-screen chemistry never fails. It’s a lot of fun to watch them in any role. Key Largo is no exception.
Key Largo is the last of four films that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall made together. I have already written about the first three; click on each film title to see any one or all of my previous articles:
◊ To Have and Have Not (1944), loosely based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway.
◊ The Big Sleep (1946), based on the novel by Raymond Chandler.
◊ Dark Passage (1947), based on the novel by David Goodis.
After the opening credits and these words: “At the southernmost point of the United States are the Florida Keys, a string of small islands held together by a concrete causeway. Largest of these remote coral islands is Key Largo,” the last still shot of the Florida Keys becomes a moving scene, with a police car following a bus on the bridge and then pulling it over. Two officers, who know the bus driver by name, board the bus because they are looking for two prisoners, Native Americans, who broke out of jail. They search the bus but don’t find them.
Humphrey Bogart is sitting in the front seat right behind the driver, who turns around and mentions that the Native Americans are probably close because the island is their home. Bogart has one line in response: “Home being Key Largo.” So viewers can’t miss two facts with an introduction that feels a bit heavy-handed: The film takes place in Key Largo. And one of the film’s stars is, of course, Humphrey Bogart.
This introduction may be a bit forced, but the rest of the story is anything but. The plot builds to several points of tension, which keeps the story interesting. Viewers never know when Johnny Rocco (played by Edward G. Robinson) is going to lose his cool and shoot somebody, which is appropriate for a film noir, of course.
Humphrey Bogart is Frank McCloud. He gets off the bus in front of the Largo Hotel, which has already been taken over by Johnny Rocco and his gangsters. The first gangster that Frank meets in the lobby tells him that the hotel is closed when Frank asks for the hotel proprietor by name (Mr. James Temple, played by Lionel Barrylmore). James Temple is George Temple’s father. George fought in Italy with Frank during World War II and died in action there. Nora Temple (played by Lauren Bacall) is George’s widow. Frank never states this explicitly, but it seems he has stopped to meet George Temple’s family and pay his respects.
The Osceola brothers are the Native Americans who escaped from prison. Sheriff Ben Wade and Deputy Clyde Sawyer show up at the Largo Hotel looking for them when Frank is outside talking to James Temple and his daughter Nora for the first time. Rocco and his gang have taken over the hotel, but they tell everyone, for the time being, that is, that they are tourists visiting in the off-season. They end up holding the Temples and Frank McCloud hostage when they drop the façade of being tourists. Toots Bass beats Deputy Sawyer unconscious when he returns to ask more questions. It is the first display of violence that the gang uses to intimidate the other characters.
Frank McCloud explains a lot about George Temple’s last days to the Temples. The Temples and Frank are connected only because of George Temple and his war service with Frank during World War II. After the war, Frank has drifted from job to job and from place to place, but something in him still values that connection to George and the desire to honor his service to his country. He seems to switch from loyalty to cynicism, however, during the course of the film. He travels to Key Largo to meet George’s father and widow, but he insists that he is not interested in fighting anyone else’s battles or advocating any cause, however noble. He doesn’t want to play the hero and confront Johnny Rocco when he threatens to shoot Frank.
(This article about Key Largo contains spoilers.)
Nora challenges this declaration of Frank’s later in the film. Her opportunity comes when Rocco makes a deal with his girlfriend Gaye Dawn: He’ll let her have a drink if she’ll sing for everyone during the start of the hurricane that is about to hit the Florida Keys. After she finishes singing, Rocco won’t make good on his promise. He says that she cannot sing like she used to, but he probably would have reneged on his promise no matter what. Frank gives Gaye a drink anyway, even under the threat of violence. Frank was willing to defy Johny Rocco and allow Gaye to keep her dignity, an act that makes an impression on Nora. The dialogue between Nora and Frank after this incident gives Nora a chance to state her belief that Frank has a noble streak in spite of himself and what he says, and that he can’t stop himself from helping others when they need it.
Claire Trevor gives a wonderful performance as Gaye Dawn, a performance for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is listening to a radio broadcast of a horse race when Frank arrives at the Largo Hotel and moves into the hotel’s bar looking for a beer and Mr. Temple. She is drunk and talkative: She explains what she knows about horses, racing, and gambling to Frank, who says little and doesn’t gamble. The scene shows how different they are. It also shows that Gaye’s companions at the bar are not very accommodating. When they refuse to serve Frank, she demands that they give him a beer. They do so partly because she is Rocco’s girlfriend, although Frank doesn’t learn this until later.
Frank returns the favor when he gives Gaye the drink she wants after Rocco makes her sing for it. And Gaye returns the favor again by acting hysterical when Rocco decides to leave her behind in Key Largo as he and his henchmen prepare to leave for Cuba. She grabs Rocco and paws at him, which gives her a chance to take his gun and then pass it to Frank, who has been forced to act as captain for the gang’s escape after the hurricane has died down.
The hurricane plays an important role in the film. Nora and Frank are practical and prepare for the storm. They tie down the Temples’ boat, and close and lock shutters in the hotel. The hurricane itself frightens Rocco, and he doesn’t like feeling powerless when he can’t shoot something or someone to get his way. It also plays a part in revealing James Temple’s paternalistic attitude toward the Native Americans living on the keys. They arrive at his hotel looking for shelter because they know that he would help them, and he would let them in under ordinary circumstances. But Johnny Rocco is in charge until he can leave for Cuba, and he has no intention of letting other people (that is, potential witnesses) into the hotel. After Rocco kills Deputy Sawyer, he tells Sheriff Wade that the Osceola brothers murdered him, which in turn leads the sheriff to shoot and kill them when they try to escape. James Temple does nothing to intervene because he understands the threat that Rocco and his henchmen pose, and he wants to protect himself and his daughter. But he is not unaware of what he has done; he later tells the sheriff, “Oh, I’m the one to blame. If they hadn’t trusted me, they wouldn’t have turned up here and they’d still be alive. It seems we can’t do anything but harm to those people, even when we go to help them.”
My favorite sequence in the film comes at the end, when Frank McCloud is steering the boat heading to Cuba and he hatches a plan to escape, an escape made possible because of Gaye Dawn and her ruse to give him Rocco’s gun. He knocks one man overboard and shoots two others. Rocco turns on the remaining man and kills him. Now it’s just Rocco and Frank, and the plot becomes a psychological game. The boat is quiet for a change, and Frank waits. From the moment that the first man is knocked overboard until he is finally able to radio for help, Frank doesn’t say another word. Rocco does all the talking, and he reveals his desperation and his treachery, both of which are finally his undoing. The sequence works so well because of the violence, both physical and psychological. Frank knows how to beat Rocco at his own game and succeeds in returning to Key Largo. It’s a wonderful relief after all that he and the other characters have been through.
Key Largo is a great film, in spite of its clunky opening. Each of the main characters has an important role to play because the film is really about personality and resourcefulness under stress. Bogart, Bacall, and Robinson were three of the most recognizable stars of the period. But it’s not just their fame that gives them such an on-screen presence. They give great performances, as do the actors in the supporting roles. It’s another film noir that I have seen several times, and I always see something more to appreciate each time I see it.
July 16, 1948, release date • Directed by John Huston • Screenplay by Richard Brooks, John Huston • Based on the play Key Largo by Maxwell Anderson • Music by Max Steiner • Edited by Rudi Fehr • Cinematography by Karl Freund
Humphrey Bogart as Major Frank McCloud • Edward G. Robinson as Johnny Rocco (aka Howard Brown) • Lauren Bacall as Nora Temple • Lionel Barrymore as James Temple • Claire Trevor as Gaye Dawn • Thomas Gomez as Richard “Curly” Hoff • Harry Lewis as Edward “Toots” Bass • John Rodney as Deputy Sheriff Clyde Sawyer • Dan Seymour as Angel Garcia • Monte Blue as Sheriff Ben Wade • Marc Lawrence as Ziggy • William Haade as Ralph Feeney • Jay Silverheels as John Osceola • Rodd Redwing as Tom Osceola
Distributed by Warner Bros.-First National Pictures • Produced by Warner Bros.-First National Pictures