Rating: 
Summary: The Fabulous 40's & Warner Brothers Studios Stable of Stars!
Review: Warner Brothers Studios had one of the greatest Stable of stars including; Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore, Lauren Bacall & Claire Trevor (won Oscar for this role) to name a few. Warners also had great Directors like, John Huston to orchestrate fantastic stories for their audiences."Key Largo", shot entirely on the Warners Sound stage (except the opening scene)provides us with a controlled fast pace tale in the Florida Keys. Summary: Gangster Rocco (Robinson) & his gang invade the "Largo Hotel" to wait for a money drop. The hotel owner (Barrymore) and daughter-in-law (Bacall) & Rocco's lush girl friend (Trevor - Oscar winner) are terrorized & victimized by Rocco & his gang while waiting.
WWII veteran officer(Bogart) comes to Key Largo to console Barrymore and Bacall over the death of his son & her husband. Meanwhile a hurricane is approaching, casting all these characters and events together for a very emotional roller-coaster ride. Warner Brothers had a monoply on making the best quick paced melodramas in the 40's (Casablanca, Big Sleep, Maltese Falcon, etc.). John Hustons ability to tell and the casts outstanding acting talents are effortlessly "Key to Largo's" success. This DVD is an Excellent quality, Black & White, FULL SCREEN (before Widescreen), digitally remastered sight & sound transfer.
Rating:
Summary: The Fabulous 40's & Warner Brothers Studios Stable of Stars!
Review: Warner Brothers Studios had one of the greatest Stable of stars including; Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore, Lauren Bacall & Claire Trevor (won Oscar for this role) to name a few. Warners also had great Directors like, John Huston to orchestrate fantastic stories for their audiences. "Key Largo", shot entirely on the Warners Sound stage (except the opening scene)provides us with a controlled fast pace tale in the Florida Keys. Summary: Gangster Rocco (Robinson) & his gang invade the "Largo Hotel" to wait for a money drop. The hotel owner (Barrymore) and daughter-in-law (Bacall) & Rocco's lush girl friend (Trevor - Oscar winner) are terrorized & victimized by Rocco & his gang while waiting.
WWII veteran officer(Bogart) comes to Key Largo to console Barrymore and Bacall over the death of his son & her husband. Meanwhile a hurricane is approaching, casting all these characters and events together for a very emotional roller-coaster ride. Warner Brothers had a monoply on making the best quick paced melodramas in the 40's (Casablanca, Big Sleep, Maltese Falcon, etc.). John Hustons ability to tell and the casts outstanding acting talents are effortlessly "Key to Largo's" success. This DVD is an Excellent quality, Black & White, FULL SCREEN (before Widescreen), digitally remastered sight & sound transfer.
Rating: 
Summary: A decent gasp of the then dying gangster cycle.
Review: Without much interaction between the two contrasting personalities inevitably thrown together at the stormswept hotel--Bogie's reluctant hero, and Robinson's menacing bully--this ultimately all seems a rather empty and synthetic gangster picture. And anyone who has seen the original, un-released version of "The Big Sleep" can see what the chemistry problem is between Bacall and Bogie here. But at least all actors pull their weight, and Huston's trademark style is evident. Not in the same league, though, with Huston's "The Maltese Falcon," "The Big Sleep," or "The Killers."
Rating:
Summary: Great actors and director doing what they do best
Review: Yet another stellar teaming of Humphrey Bogart and John Huston, and as good as it is, the second best released in 1948, the better film being the spectacular THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE. I have not read the Maxwell Anderson play upon which it is supposed to be based (and the film before they all go onto the boat near the end does have a stagy feel to it), but I would be willing to bet money that the part on the boat is taken from the last half of the novel TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT by Hemingway (also with Bogart and Bacall, though directed by Howard Hawks, supposedly based on the Hemingway novel, but not actually having much in common with it). That novel ends with the main character transporting gangsters on a boat in the same area and shooting it out pretty much like they do in the movie. The plot resembles to some extent not merely the end of the novel TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT but Bogart's first screen success, THE PETRIFIED FOREST, only with Edward G. Robinson as the gangster instead of Bogart. The role was a return to form for Robinson, who had been one of the great screen villains of the thirties. In the forties, with Hitler making hoodlums look rather small time, the traditional gangster film gave way to film noir, and although Robinson appeared in a couple as a non-heavy, he ceased primarily being a gangster. He had been in the previous few years in several superb films--THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, SCARLET STREET, THE STRANGER, and the quintessential film noir DOUBLE INDEMNITY--but in none of them did he portray the kind of gangster upon which he built his reputation. Johnny Rocco is a complete return of the kind of role upon which he had first become famous. But because of the war, he and his kind seem so much less dangerous. Interestingly, he is depicted primarily evil because of his rapaciousness and greed, not unlike the major characters of THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. When Bogart asks him what he wants and then explains he knows what it is that Rocco wants, he tells him, "More," to which Rocco excitedly replies, "Yeah, that's what I want. More." Given Huston's politics and social understanding--he and Billy Wilder were about the only two major Hollywood directors at the time who remained steadfast leftists during a period of violent right wing reaction against supposed un-Americanism--it is easy to see this as a commentary not merely on bad gangsters, but on post-War American values. I suggest that is pretty much confirmed by linking KEY LARGO with THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE. This truly is a cast to die for. The film itself is a bit slow at times, unquestionably because it is an adaptation from a stage play, but the actors are so, so very good that you can forget the relative lack of action and watch masters of their craft go to town. Lionel Barrymore manages one of his last major performances (he was a virtual invalid because of a series of leg and hip problems that began in the 1930s). Lauren Bacall is great with Bogart, but her performance is utterly overshadowed by Clare Trevor, who won a greatly deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role. This is not one of the best films made by any of the major participants, but it is a reflection on the overall excellence of their careers than on the movie itself. A "must see" for any fans of any of the principals. Correction: One reviewer below indicated Edward G. Robinson was around five feet tall. He was actually 5'5 or 5'6, a tiny bit shorter than James Cagney.
Rating:
Summary: Great actors and director doing what they do best
Review: Yet another stellar teaming of Humphrey Bogart and John Huston, and as good as it is, the second best released in 1948, the better film being the spectacular THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE. I have not read the Maxwell Anderson play upon which it is supposed to be based (and the film before they all go onto the boat near the end does have a stagy feel to it), but I would be willing to bet money that the part on the boat is taken from the last half of the novel TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT by Hemingway (also with Bogart and Bacall, though directed by Howard Hawks, supposedly based on the Hemingway novel, but not actually having much in common with it). That novel ends with the main character transporting gangsters on a boat in the same area and shooting it out pretty much like they do in the movie. The plot resembles to some extent not merely the end of the novel TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT but Bogart's first screen success, THE PETRIFIED FOREST, only with Edward G. Robinson as the gangster instead of Bogart. The role was a return to form for Robinson, who had been one of the great screen villains of the thirties. In the forties, with Hitler making hoodlums look rather small time, the traditional gangster film gave way to film noir, and although Robinson appeared in a couple as a non-heavy, he ceased primarily being a gangster. He had been in the previous few years in several superb films--THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW, SCARLET STREET, THE STRANGER, and the quintessential film noir DOUBLE INDEMNITY--but in none of them did he portray the kind of gangster upon which he built his reputation. Johnny Rocco is a complete return of the kind of role upon which he had first become famous. But because of the war, he and his kind seem so much less dangerous. Interestingly, he is depicted primarily evil because of his rapaciousness and greed, not unlike the major characters of THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE. When Bogart asks him what he wants and then explains he knows what it is that Rocco wants, he tells him, "More," to which Rocco excitedly replies, "Yeah, that's what I want. More." Given Huston's politics and social understanding--he and Billy Wilder were about the only two major Hollywood directors at the time who remained steadfast leftists during a period of violent right wing reaction against supposed un-Americanism--it is easy to see this as a commentary not merely on bad gangsters, but on post-War American values. I suggest that is pretty much confirmed by linking KEY LARGO with THE TREASURE OF SIERRA MADRE. This truly is a cast to die for. The film itself is a bit slow at times, unquestionably because it is an adaptation from a stage play, but the actors are so, so very good that you can forget the relative lack of action and watch masters of their craft go to town. Lionel Barrymore manages one of his last major performances (he was a virtual invalid because of a series of leg and hip problems that began in the 1930s). Lauren Bacall is great with Bogart, but her performance is utterly overshadowed by Clare Trevor, who won a greatly deserved Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role. This is not one of the best films made by any of the major participants, but it is a reflection on the overall excellence of their careers than on the movie itself. A "must see" for any fans of any of the principals. Correction: One reviewer below indicated Edward G. Robinson was around five feet tall. He was actually 5'5 or 5'6, a tiny bit shorter than James Cagney.
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