Key Largo (1948)

Director:

John Huston

Writers:

Maxwell Anderson (play)
Richard Brooks (writer) ...
(more)

Release Date:

31 July 1948 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

Tagline:

A storm of fear and fury in the sizzling Florida Keys !

Plot:

A man visits his old friend's hotel and finds a gangster running things. As a hurricane approaches, the two end up confronting each other.

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | Key Largo | Hurricane | Gangster | Alcoholic

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Frank McCloud
Edward G. Robinson	...	Johnny Rocco
Lauren Bacall	...	Nora Temple
Lionel Barrymore	...	James Temple
Claire Trevor	...	Gaye Dawn
Thomas Gomez	...	Richard 'Curly' Hoff
Harry Lewis	...	Edward 'Toots' Bass
John Rodney	...	Deputy Clyde Sawyer
Marc Lawrence	...	Ziggy
Dan Seymour	...	Angel Garcia
Monte Blue	...	Sheriff Ben Wade
William Haade	...	Ralph Feeney
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Beulah Archuletta	...	Passenger on Bus (uncredited)
Luther Crockett	...	Ziggy's Henchman #1 (uncredited)
Pat Flaherty	...	The Traveler (uncredited)
Felipa Gómez	...	Old Indian Woman (uncredited)
Jerry Jerome	...	Ziggy's Henchman #2 (uncredited)
John Litel	...	Dispatcher (uncredited)
Alberto Morin	...	Skipper of Rocco's Boat (uncredited)
John Phillips	...	Ziggy's Henchman #3 (uncredited)
Rodd Redwing	...	John Osceola (uncredited)
Jay Silverheels	...	Tom Osceola (uncredited)
Joe P. Smith	...	Bus Driver (uncredited)

Directed by
John Huston

Writing credits
Maxwell Anderson		(play)
Richard Brooks		(writer) and
John Huston		(writer)

Produced by
Jerry Wald	....	producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Karl Freund

Film Editing by
Rudi Fehr

Art Direction by
Leo K. Kuter

Set Decoration by
Fred M. MacLean

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist
Betty Delmont	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Frank McCoy	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Chuck Hansen	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Arthur Lueker	....	assistant director (uncredited)
John Prettyman	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Budd Friend	....	props (uncredited)
George Sweeney	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Dolph Thomas	....	sound

Special Effects by
Robert Burks	....	special effects
William C. McGann	....	special effects director (as William McGann)

Stunts
Allen Pomeroy	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Everett Dexter	....	grip (uncredited)
Ellsworth Fredericks	....	second camera (uncredited)
Burt Jones	....	best boy (uncredited)
Mac Julian	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Wally Meinardus	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Lee Wilson	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Leah Rhodes	....	wardrobe
Marie Blanchard	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Eugene Joseff	....	costume jeweller (uncredited)
Ted Schultz	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Murray Cutter	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Jean Baker	....	script supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Bros. Films (1949) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Fazer Musiikki Oy/Fazer Video (1990) (Finland) (VHS)
• Sandrew Metronome Distribution (2000) (Finland) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1967) (1973) (1993) (2006) (2008) (Finland) (TV)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1983) (2004) (Finland) (TV)
• Warner Bros. (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Key Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (Canada) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Gangster in Key Largo" - Austria, West Germany
"Hafen des Lasters" - Austria, West Germany
"Huracán de pasiones" - Mexico (imdb display title), Venezuela
"Paixões em Fúria" - Brazil, Portugal
"Ölüm gemisi" - Turkey (Turkish title)
"Cayo Largo" - Spain
"Gangster von Key Largo" - West Germany
"Key Largo" - Poland
"Key Largo" - Austria
"Key Largo" - France
"Key Largo" - Hungary (imdb display title)
"Koralowa wyspa" - Poland (TV title)
"L'isola di corallo" - Italy
"Myrskyvaroitus" - Finland
"Ostrvo largo" - Serbia
"Sti voi tis kataigidos" - Greece (transliterated ISO-LATIN-1 title)
"Stormvarning utfärdad" - Sweden
"Uvejrsøen Key Largo" - Denmark

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Sweden:15 | West Germany:16 (nf) | South Korea:15 (2003) | UK:PG (DVD rating) | USA:Unrated | Australia:G (cable rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:K-16 | USA:Approved (PCA #12932)

Filming Locations:

Key West, Florida Keys, Florida, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The film was produced in 1948, the same year in which there actually were two major hurricanes, late in the season, less than a month apart, that went directly through the Florida Keys. (See Hurricanes #7 and #8 of 1948)

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: When Gaye sits down with Nora after being released from her room, the boom microphone is reflected in the picture behind them.

Quotes:

Deputy Clyde Sawyer:Down in the lobby, I ran up against these two.
[indicates Toots and Curly]
Deputy Clyde Sawyer:Well, they didn't look right to me, so I asked them a few questions. By the way they answered me, I knew there was something fishy. So I put in a call to Ben Wade, but before I could get through, the lights went out on me. I woke up in there. Rocco was standing over me. I recognized him right away from the pictures. I made a break for the door, and the lights went out again.
Toots:I'm the electrician.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Luonteita: Renny Harlin (1990) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Moanin' Low

Edward G. Robinson at this best

Key Largo is just one of John Huston's many memorable films that somehow always seem to transcend the intention--the Hollywood intention being to make a few bucks--and to this day still plays very well and indeed appears as something close to a work of art. It features what I think is one of Edward G. Robinson's finest performances as Johnny Rocco, a sociopathic gangster holding the off-season personnel of a seaside hotel hostage as he concludes a counterfeit money deal.

The story begins as Major Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) pays a visit to the family of one of his G.I. buddies who was killed in Italy during WWII. He finds the welcome from the hotel's only "guests" chilly except for Gaye Dawn (a funny and perhaps prescient Hollywood stage name) played by Claire Trevor who is drunk and befriends him. After a bit McCloud discovers that the hotel's owner Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall) and her invalid father-in-law James Temple (Lionel Barrymore) have been tricked into allowing Rocco's gang to stay and now, as a tropical storm begins to blow, are being held at gunpoint. McCloud's delicate task is to keep the megalomaniac and murderous personality of Rocco under some control so that he doesn't murder everyone.

Note that this is a splendid cast, and they all do a good job. Note too that Huston adapted this from a play by the versatile American playwright Maxwell Anderson. So the ingredients for a good film are clearly in place; and aside from some self-conscious mishmash with the Seminoles of Florida, this is a success. Anderson's desire to explore the psychopathic personality (some years later he adapted William March's novel The Bad Seed into a stage play) finds realization in Huston's direction and especially in Robinson's indelible performance. The utter disregard for the lives of others and the obsessive love of self that characterize the sociopath reek from the snares and callous laughter of the very sick Johnny Rocco. I especially liked the crazed and thrilled grin on his face when he emerges from the hold of the boat in the climactic scene, gun in hand, imagining that he has once again fooled his adversaries and is about to delightfully shoot Humphrey Bogart to death. What I loved about this scene was that Huston did not think it necessary to contrive a fight in which the good guy (Bogart) beats the bad guy by fighting fair. What happens is exactly what should happen, and without regard for the fine points of Marquis of Queensberry-type rules. Also good is Rocco beginning to sweat in fear of his life as the storm moves in while Bogey gives us his famous laugh and grin as he assesses the essential cowardice of the petty gangster.

Lauren Bacall, in one of her more modest roles, does a lot without saying much, and Lionel Barrymore is very good as the cantankerous old guy in a wheelchair. Claire Trevor actually won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her work, and she was good as the alcoholic moll with a heart of gold. Robinson won nothing, but he really dominated the picture and demonstrated why he was one of Hollywood's greatest stars.

Bottom line: watch this to see the gangster yarn meld into film noir with overtones of the psychoanalytical drama that characterized many of the black and white Hollywood films of the forties and early fifties.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)