I have 4 Humphrey Bogart movies in list of favorites: The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The African Queen and Key Largo. I know that compared to the other three, it is considered a "lesser" work, but it is my favorite Bogart.
I am not going to write about the brilliance of all the performances in Key Large: Lionel Barrymore, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, and Claire Trevor. Enough has been said about them all. I wish to concentrate on Bogart and the loneliness of his character in the movie.
Bogart often played damaged characters; i.e., men who had been hurt, badly hurt, at some time in the past. Frank McCloud in Key Largo is one of those characters. He is not a tough guy like Sam Spade or a "sharp" character like Rick. He is a nice man and a very lonely one. Frank has no family, he was an orphan. He was an officer in the war, but the war is over. He has no job, no family and no prospects. He is tired; tired of being alone and tired of the violence of the war.
But Frank has one dream, a borrowed dream. During the war, one of his men often told him stories of his own life with his father and wife and their small hotel in the Florida Keys. It is a tale of family closeness and love, of clean salt air and colorful characters. It is everything Frank has never had in his life. After the war and the death of his friend, Frank has nowhere to go and nothing to look forward to. So he finally drifts to Florida, to this family, to tell them how much he respected and liked his friend.
They, Nora and Father Temple, are very glad to meet Frank. Just as Frank had been told about them, they had been told about Frank in letters sent home from the war.
Into this comes Johnny Rocco and his goons and his moll. Frank is a decorated soldier and a brave man, there are too many innocent lives at stake, Nora and Mr. Temple and even Gaye Dawn, the alcoholic moll. Frank cares about these people, even Gaye, and he does not want them to be hurt and perhaps more than anyone else there, he knows the terrible devastation bullets can wreak on the human body. This sets up the conditions for all the talk while they are trapped by the hurricane. I will not say any more about twists of the plot because I do not want to include spoilers.
Let me just say that in the end, Nora and Father Temple realize that they need Frank as much as Frank needs them. And so Frank is finally able to come home. He finally "has it all ... in Key Largo."
I am not going to write about the brilliance of all the performances in Key Large: Lionel Barrymore, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, and Claire Trevor. Enough has been said about them all. I wish to concentrate on Bogart and the loneliness of his character in the movie.
Bogart often played damaged characters; i.e., men who had been hurt, badly hurt, at some time in the past. Frank McCloud in Key Largo is one of those characters. He is not a tough guy like Sam Spade or a "sharp" character like Rick. He is a nice man and a very lonely one. Frank has no family, he was an orphan. He was an officer in the war, but the war is over. He has no job, no family and no prospects. He is tired; tired of being alone and tired of the violence of the war.
But Frank has one dream, a borrowed dream. During the war, one of his men often told him stories of his own life with his father and wife and their small hotel in the Florida Keys. It is a tale of family closeness and love, of clean salt air and colorful characters. It is everything Frank has never had in his life. After the war and the death of his friend, Frank has nowhere to go and nothing to look forward to. So he finally drifts to Florida, to this family, to tell them how much he respected and liked his friend.
They, Nora and Father Temple, are very glad to meet Frank. Just as Frank had been told about them, they had been told about Frank in letters sent home from the war.
Into this comes Johnny Rocco and his goons and his moll. Frank is a decorated soldier and a brave man, there are too many innocent lives at stake, Nora and Mr. Temple and even Gaye Dawn, the alcoholic moll. Frank cares about these people, even Gaye, and he does not want them to be hurt and perhaps more than anyone else there, he knows the terrible devastation bullets can wreak on the human body. This sets up the conditions for all the talk while they are trapped by the hurricane. I will not say any more about twists of the plot because I do not want to include spoilers.
Let me just say that in the end, Nora and Father Temple realize that they need Frank as much as Frank needs them. And so Frank is finally able to come home. He finally "has it all ... in Key Largo."