SNMR 4.28: "Key Largo"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Key Largo" (1948, NR, 101 minutes, B&W), starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor and Thomas Gomez. The film was directed by John Huston.

PLOT SUMMARY: Frank McCloud (Bogart) has just gotten off the bus in Key Largo to visit Nora (Bacall), the widow of his Army friend and her father-in-law James (Barrymore). They run a hotel in Largo that has been quietly taken over by gangsters, led by the notorious Johnny Rocco (Robinson). The gangsters are forced to stay at the hotel longer than they'd like thanks to a hurricane that sweeps through. After making the deal that they came for, McCloud is coerced into helping the bad guys escape by taking them out... on a boat. And take them out he does!

MY OPINION: This was a decent film, but not one of the more scintillating Bogart/Bacall pairings. There are many good, quotable lines from this film. Huston does a good job directing an unremarkable script. This film is far from the 'powerful, sweltering classic' that the blurb on the DVD case would lead you to believe. The movie drags in spots and there is not as much character development as I might have liked. Why do we care about these people?

The big thing for me, though is the weirdness that was watching Lionel Barrymore in a role other than Mr. Potter (It's A Wonderful Life) and Edward G. Robinson in a role other than Dathan (The Ten Commandments). Talk about stereotyping!

Without doing the reseach, I wonder what other actresses were nominated for Best Supporting in 1949, because nothing in Claire Trevor's part screamed to me anything having to do with Oscar. Still though, if you're a fan of Bogart or Bogart and Bacall, then this film is a must see. It's decent, old-fashioned entertainment.

**1/2 out of *****