Key Largo
L**T
Classic movie with Bogie and Eddie G.
They just don't make movies like this anymore. Compact, to the point story, unlike today's ultra-long 3 hour movies overloaded with CGI, car chases and explosions. This movie held our interest and told a believable, suspenseful story. Edward G. Robinson plays a classic bad guy versus Bogart's all-too human hero. If you like well-made classic films, this should entertain you.
W**L
Key Largo
Always love this movie happy to be able to get it on Amazon.
C**O
It was a good movie.
I was looking for a good old movie to watch, and this one was, it's nothing great, but good movie
J**E
Excellent!
Prefect condition DVD at the best price. Very well wrapped.
T**N
Three of the greatest film noir stars at their height, fantastic film
A classic film noir, it features a great cast and a great storyline. Major Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart), a veteran of the Italian campaign in World War II, arrives at Hotel Largo in Key Largo, Florida in the Florida Keys after the war to visit the family of his friend George Temple (who died in the campaign). There he intended to visit George’s father James Temple (played by Lionel Barrymore) and his widow Nora Temple (played by Lauren Bacall).Complicating matters is the fact that a bunch of mobsters (or five mobsters and one friend) have rented the hotel, six people who claim at first to be there fishing but are really there for criminal activity. One of the six people is Edward G. Robinson’s character Johnny Rocco, a Capone-level notorious gangster who was exiled to Cuba and is trying to make a comeback in the United States. Also complicating matters is the fact that while all these people are in the hotel a hurricane strikes and a sheriff and a deputy keep coming around looking for two escaped prisoners (and running the risk of finding out far worse criminals are in that hotel).There was a lot to like about the film. Great tension and pacing, I liked the exploration of Johnny Rocco’s character, of him trying to recapture the lost glory of his powerful crime lord days during Prohibition, of being in obvious denial that that time has passed, that there isn’t money to be made in alcohol as there once was, that people don’t recognize him as they used to, and that the woman he loved, also at the hotel, is a washed up alcoholic (Gaye Dawn, played by Claire Trevor, in a surprisingly layered role with some strong acting). In fact all the gangsters seem to miss the Prohibition days.I also liked the exploration of Frank McCloud, that his stances on heroics and self-preservation are explored with regards to fighting Johnny Rocco. Does he fight Johnny because Johnny is a dangerous criminal? To save himself? Or to save others? It was interesting to see how Frank watched heroism in others, including from some surprising sources, and how this may have influenced him to act in the rest of the film. You don’t get a lot of Frank talking about his feelings but you see how he acts, how his stance on heroics appears to change as the film progresses, that it was never that he wasn’t a coward, it was more that he just didn’t care at first.There is a subplot with Native Americans that I found interesting. Mostly it is there to have a reason for the sheriff and deputy to be nosing around the hotel a lot, but there is some social commentary as well, subtle though in one brief scene at the end a bit more overt. It’s blink and you will miss it but it is there.Except for a few shots very early on the film is obviously on a soundstage. It isn’t bad but you can tell that isn’t the sea and they aren’t at the beach. Not distracting or anything, it was how things were done back then, but I wish they had filmed somewhere on location. Once the film is inside the hotel (which the bulk of the movie is) this is for me at least completely forgotten. One can also nitpick a little on the depiction of the hurricane but I think it was depicted in a way that served the plot.
P**O
Well done
What's to say. They do not write like this anymore and have not for many years. Today everything is special effects, graphic violence and explicetp.c. sex. Consequently the script and imagination suffers greatly. 99% ofwhat we watch is 1930s and 40s vintage both U.S. and British.
L**Y
Essential Bogart
I am second generation So. Floridian so anyone with that background just had to see this movie with your mother growing up. Its still good noir. Robinson is a scream. Bacall smoky. And Bogart? He lives up to the image.
M**I
I couldnt get through it
I love Lauren Bacall, Borgart is whatever, sorry to say. I'll have to watch this movie again, but the plot is, that in post WWII Florida there was a bar and there was corruption among the sheriff and locals (typical Florida). I couldn't keep track of what was going on just wasn't fasted paced enough like Casablanca. give it a try.
J**R
Fabulous flick.
Bogie and Robinson ...The only thing that could be better is if Cagney coulda made the show.It's a broody claustrophobic film, with the setting being mostly indoors.You'll not see the likes of John Huston or these actors again - Bacall is her usual excellence as well.The actors wear a lot of white in this - very shiek and very classy.While this may not be my favourite of anyone involved...It's a Top tier genere film in my book.Seen it several times.I'd give it ....8/10
T**R
Potboiling Crime Drama down Florida Way....
I can watch Key Largo til the cows come home and have seen it at least half a dozen times. It's got some of the best elements from all the great film noir's, plus an amazing cast and an added "exotic" location.Like the claustrophobic and sweaty Deep South melodramas from Tennessee Williams and such, Key Largo has lashings of ripe and heated verbal conflict, kidnapping and colourful characters, complete with an impending hurricane, just to spice things up further.Whilst it might not have the iconic visuals, or classic lines of that other Bogart/John Huston classic 'The Maltese Falcon', Key Largo is actually easier to watch and easier to follow. And as with any film pairing the Hollywood Golden couple of Bogart & Bacall, it remains essential viewing for any self-respecting film lover.A run-down Florida hotel is taken over by a gang of thugs and their mobster boss, (an excellent, sociopathic Edward G Robinson, who reprises his mega sinister 'Little Caesar' role) and his pathetic alcoholic floozy, an Oscar-winning Claire Trevor. Wheelchair-bound James Temple, the Hotel owner, played by the reassuring Lionel Barrymore and his daughter, Nora, played by Lauren Bacall try to handle this assault on their personal freedom but it soon gets out of hand. She's the widow of a WW2 buddy of Humphrey Bogart's character, who died in action and who Bogart visits out of respect.Notorious 'public enemy', nasty criminal, Johnny Rocco, presumed dead by some and his cronies is making his escape with loads of loot in the Keys when the winds whip up and so they take refuge in the resort. There's a battle of wits, followed by a battle of guns, bombardment by crashing palm trees and ferocious storms and then a finally a mad rush to escape (again) with the concluding final battle of everything between Robinson and Bogart.It's all entertaining nonsense, really but with more than a dash of bravado and plenty of action toward the end. I think it's an overlooked, under-appreciated gem, far from perfect but one that still glints and continues to catch my eye.
T**N
Largo, this is Huston!
The premise of Maxwell Anderson's tale has been used in a variety of different ways: a group of disparate people, brought together by a set of circumstances, more often than not, out of their control. The fact that the people involved here are Humphrey Bogart, Edward G Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Claire Trevor and Lionel Barrymore give this simple story a grittier edge than almost any other.Trapped, in an out-of-season Florida Keys hotel by an impending tropical storm, Robinson and his gang, posing as unlikely anglers, are joined by Bogart, who at first is made to feel unwelcome. Subsequent events make it clear why, and Bogart ends up saving the day, and getting the girl. A simplistic plot is given the deft touch by director John Huston, menace is conveyed in a very subtle way. The storm is handled well, the tension coming from within the hotel.There is an early appearance by Jay Silverheels, Tonto in The Lone Ranger, as an escaped convict. This is a powerful, dark, drama. If Film Noir is your thing, "Key Largo" is a must.
A**S
Claire Trevor in top form here.
Reading the reviews for this film reminds me why I would never review a live, one-off performance of anything: so much depends upon one's own frame of mind (mood) at the time.I have watched "Key Largo" in this version three times over the space of as many years. It does not pal for me. I was impressed at the first viewing and I remain convinced by the film's integrity after the latest showing. Unlike another reviewer, I find both Bacall and Bogart fulfil their roles well. However, I would have to agree that Claire Trevor's performance is top grade. She is masterful in her portrayal of emotion through facial expression and body posture. She gives a similarly fine performance in a far lesser production "Born to Kill" ] with Lawrence Tierney.Picture and sound of high quality.
M**G
It's a classic
I'm a big fan of this era of movies, especially film noir and crime and bogart and chief wiggum are brilliant in this, you just waiting for bogey to sort it all out in his brilliant understated manner great film
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