John Huston (1906–1987)

John Huston crafted this very fine film with the underlying theme of isolation from a play by Maxwell Anderson. The backdrop of a gangster taking over a hotel in the Florida Keys is filled with inner emotional depth rather than a lot of action, making this the most mature and realistic of romances Bogart and Bacall would have on screen.

Major Frank McCloud (Bogart) shows up at the Largo hotel in the Keys to see his war buddy's father and widow to give them some news about how George died a show more hero. McCloud became disillusioned while trying to save the world and has been drifting since the war in both a personal and literal sense.

Nora (Bacall) had been drifting before she met George and begins to feel this same connection to Frank as they talk about their lives since the war. There is a maturity here as Huston shows a deeper aspect to caring about someone rather than the fireworks of physical attraction. The themes of loneliness and isolation run through every aspect of this film.

Frank once again must decide whether to save the world when the Largo is taken over by fallen gangster Johnny Rocco (Robinson). Rocco was once big and despite his deportation back to Cuba by the United States government as an undesirable, plans to be big again. Frank had gone to war as an idealist, hoping to rid the world of gangsters like Rocco but now views it as a lost cause.

Nora is a reminder to Frank, however, that while your head may say one thing, your whole life can say another. As the tension of being held hostage during an approaching hurricane in the sweltering Keys intensifies, Frank slowly begins to go with his whole life rather than his head, breaking his own personal isolation from the fight he gave up. The turning point comes when Rocco humiliates his former girlfriend, Gay Dawn (Claire Trevor), by making her sing for a drink, then refusing to come across with it when she complies.

Claire Trevor gives a moving performance as a girl much like Nora who simply got hooked up with the wrong guy, and became a lush. She will have her own turning point and help Frank when he’s forced to take Rocco and his pals back to Cuba. Lionel Barrymore gives a good performance also as George’s disabled father, holding on to his son’s memory and his beliefs.

A great score by Max Steiner complements the lonely mood of this film perfectly. Bacall is terrific waiting for Frank to return against the odds, wondering if she can open the shutters of her loneliness and let the light in once more. This is a somber and mature film that deserves to be viewed more than once. Bogart and Bacall fans will love this film, but they’ll find much more here than just Bogie and Bacall. A minor masterpiece and one you need to see. show less

Rating: well, why not? 3* of five

Oops! Forgot one. This is 1967's film version I'm discussing, not the book, which was *awful*. That's not fair...it's not horrid writing, it's just so very very very dated and not in a good way. Kind of a time capsule of what was wrong with 1954.

Ya know...this film version was pretty damn lame, too. What redeems it is the sheer balls-out what-did-I-just-watch comedic pace of the thing. David Niven is LUDICROUS as Bond, but good as this character who isn't show more Bond but is called Bond. The return of Ursula Andress, this time as superspy Vesper Lynd (not to be mistaken for 2006's Vesper, completely different character), is notable; but the turn to the comedic and ridiculous is signalled by Bond having a child by Mata Hari, yclept Mata Bond.

It was one of the many moments where I rolled my eyes so hard I think I saw my brain. There's a bit with a flying saucer in London that convinced me I was having an LSD flashback.

Don't go into the film thinking it's a Bond flick and maybe it's okay...but frankly, it feels a little too Sixties-hip-via-Hollywood for me to do more than smile faintly.

Why watch it, then? Because David Niven is very good at being urbanely nuts. It's a meta-performance. If he arched his eyebrow any higher, he's lose it in his receding hairline. Because Ursula Andress is classic as Vesper. Because Orson Welles is endearingly baffled as Le Chiffre, seeming not to have seen a script before being shoved in front of the camera. It's like a Warhol-movie moment. If you're a straight guy, Jacqueline Bisset and Barbara Bouchet are pneumatically endowed. But Peter Sellers was a major disappointment to me. Clouseau was his only character at that point, I guess. Blah.

Fun. Not Bond, but fun. Sort of. show less

Some criminals do a robbery.

2.5/4 (Okay)

The first half is good, up through the heist. The second half is an awkward mix of noir cynicism, and Appeasing The Hays Code: The Movie, with one (1) Marilyn Monroe scene as a consolation prize. (It's worth watching, if only for her delivery of the line "You banana head.")

(Oct. 2021)

A nun and a marine are stranded on an island in WWII.

3/4 (Good).

A solid adventure story. The attempts at forcing inappropriate "romance" are never upsetting or unbelievable, which is surprising for the era.

(Jan. 2022)