What to watch
by chuckofish
Ralphie: Hey Curly, what all happens in a hurricane?
Curly: The wind blows so hard the ocean gets up on its hind legs and walks right across the land.
Toots: And singin’ this song: Rain rain, go away, little Ralphie wants to play.
I don’t know about you, but all this non-stop weather talk has put me in the mood for Key Largo (1948).
It is a humdinger of a good movie, based on a play by Maxwell Anderson, the screenplay written by Richard Brooks and John Huston. You just can’t do much better than that. It is a classic Warner Brothers production of the 1940s, featuring some of its greatest stars: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor (in her Academy Award-winning performance), and a host of character actors. The music is by Max Steiner. The full Warner Brothers treatment.
(On a personal note: I have a fondness for Warner Brothers movies, because my mother did also. When she was growing up in Worcester, Massachusetts she had a friend whose brother went to Worcester Academy where there was the Lewis J. Warner ’28 Memorial Theater. Built in 1932, it was a gift from Warner Brothers Studio President Harry Warner, who donated the building to honor the memory of his only son. Lewis died within three years of graduating from the academy. They showed Warner Brothers movies there on Saturdays and Mary would go there with her friend to see all her favorites: Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart et al.)
Key Largo tells the story of Frank McCloud, disillusioned WWII veteran, who visits the hotel of his deceased friend’s father in the Florida Keys and falls in love with the man’s widow. When mobster Johnny Rocco arrives on the scene with his crew of henchmen just as a hurricane bears down on them, drama ensues.
I think it is my favorite Humphrey Bogart movie (except for The Petrified Forest, of course). And Claire Trevor was never better (even in Stagecoach where she was also terrific.).
What does a girl have to do for a drink around here?
Her Academy-Award winning big scene is a classic. You can imagine a lesser actress really over-playing it. She gets it just right.
I wish this clip included what happens after she sings, because it’s the best. The timing is perfect: Bogart-Robinson-Bogart. Thank you. Hats off to the director, John Huston, as well.
The special effects are not great, but who cares? You get the idea just fine. It was adapted from a play, so it has that stage-y quality. But I don’t mind. And I don’t mind the flag-waving aspects either. Not at all. They’re kind of refreshing.
dual personalities 
Oh, I totally agree! We watched this movie fairly recently and it is just wonderful. And Claire Trevor is perfect. It’s definitely one of Bogart’s best movies.
And I love your use of the word humdinger.
Oh, you’re terrible!
“You’re welcome.” One of my all-time favs! I love adaptations of plays because they rarely leave a single room and they’re so dialogue-heavy. Key Largo and The Petrified Forest are some of the best examples.
On a related (twitter hashtag) note, every time I tweeted about Hurricane Sandy I referred to it as the #BigBlow. I’m certain that none of my friends had a clue where that came from but maybe my sisters did. 🙂
On ANOTHER ‘Key Largo’ related note: Did you know what I had engraved on the inside of my wedding band??
It’s a Shakespeare quote, right? Is that from Key Largo?
The Richard III quote is from “Ball Of Fire” (“Look, how this ring encompasseth thy finger, Even so thy breast encloseth my poor heart; Wear both of them, for both of them are thine.”) I used that quote in a card for Lauren. In “Key Largo” when Humphrey is telling Lionel and Lauren about how the deceased son/husband told stories over the radio to stay awake, he mentions that engraved on the inside of his ring is “evermore.” I really liked that and had it engraved on mine! 🙂
That is really nice and very sweet.
[…] movies at the Lewis J. Warner ’28 Memorial Theater at Worcester Academy (which I blogged about here). Like my mother, I feel that same thrill when the Warner Brothers logo appears and their rousing […]