Hot dog, what an awesome movie! This is maybe my sixth time watching. The first time I watched Key Largo I thought it was OK, but not great. Not sure what headspace I was in then, because the acting in this is top notch. The underrated Claire Trevor is a standout (she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work here), but everyone, Bogart, Robinson, Barrymore, and Thomas Gomez are all in top form. Probably the best that Bacall has ever been. Huston has some nicely framed shots and sets things up well. Highly recommended and if you don't love it, watch it again.

She has her Bogie back.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru2tsT32pHA

Here's looking at you.

the world will always be shit so long as good men do nothing about fat gangsters.

achieves a remarkable sense of place for a film shot on a backlot. Bogart is sweeter than you expect, as he often was in the Huston films, but this is Edward G. Robinson's show and he sells it so well.

When your head says one thing and your whole life says another, your head always loses.
-Frank McCloud

If I'm going to be completely honest, while the reason for this rewatch was the recent passing of the legendary Lauren Bacall and she is great here, I'd be lying if I didn't say the real highlight of this film is the face off between two giants of the genre in Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson.

Those three alone are more then enough star power for one film, but you also have great outings from Lionel Barrymore and Claire Trevor in this pot boiler. What's great about all these performances is that they are almost all in direct reaction to Robinson's character of Johnny Rocco who's as dangerous as the hurricane in the film.
(Click here for original review)

R.I.P.
Lauren Bacall
September 16, 1924 - August 12, 2014

Classic wrong place, wrong time thriller with memorable performances across the board. Frequently imitated, seldom equaled.

Bogie and Bacall take a back seat to Edward G. Robinson's aptly named Johnny Rocco, a gangster who chews only the scenery more voraciously than his enormous cigar. It's a delightful performance that pushes Bogart into a lower key register as the recent war veteran overseeing the property of his gunned-down friend's young wife and disabled father. Much more than (the far superior) Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo finds John Huston grappling with post-war masculinity, thrusting Bogart's Frank McCloud into a heroic role he no longer wants. Unfortunately, there's not much for Bacall or Lionel Barrymore to do aside from landing heavy-handed quips about how America doesn't need men like Rocco anymore, but Robinson's magnetic performance is just enough to detract from the film's otherwise bluntly delivered themes. Fun if not particularly memorable and its nice to see a 40s film use exclusively Native American actors for those roles.

only he had it the other way -- you were the one on the hill.

Like The Breakfast Club, but with guns and alcohol.

All four of the Bogey/Bacall pairings are wonderful.

The first act of this is incredible. And Robinson and Bogart going head to head is a sight to behold. I think it starts to drag during the third act, but the first hour is v good.

Effectively builds tension in the first act, with strong, layered performances from Bogart and Robinson. Not particularly interesting to look at, despite being shot by Karl Freund.

Outstanding performances built on subtlety and nuance drive this claustrophobic experience. The use of the setting is great, as Key Largo is portrayed not as some tropical paradise, but a single stifling-hot hotel, soon battered by a raging hurricane. I liked the layers of power and control—first the mob controls the people in the hotel, and then nature takes over and holds everyone hostage. And as always, the Native Americans get the worst of it. In this sense, the film acknowledges inequality and attempts to honor Native American experience, a refreshing perspective from a film of this time period.