Key Largo - An Atmospheric Film Noir

Key Largo owes its atmosphere to the biggest star in the film - the hurricane. Everything takes place while waiting for, or during, or just after the Florida Hurricane. This gives the action more urgency that it would have had otherwise and lets director John Huston play up a lot of fascinating angles.

Veteran Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) decides to visit the father (Lionel Barrymore) and widow (Lauren Bacall, Bogart's real life wife) of his dead army mate George Temple. They run a quaint old hotel by the sea in Florida. 

There are guests in the hotel, though it's off-season; and a sleazier bunch of goons I've never seen. But Frank and the Temples don't realize who the goons are until Frank recognizes their boss, Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson, of course!) an exiled gangster who has illegally returned to the US. He has been joined by his former girlfriend Gaye Dawn, a washed-up singer with a drinking problem (played magnificently by Claire Trevor).

The gangsters hold Frank and the Temples hostage until a crooked counterfeiting deal comes through with Rocco's old pal Ziggy. They are also holding a local deputy. He tries to escape, with tragic results. Frank is deemed a coward because he didn't take on the gangsters.

The hurricane barrels down on them; the gangsters keep a Native American tribe out of the safety of the hotel, and wind up getting two of the tribe killed. 

Once the hurricane blows over, the gangsters are ready to leave but their skipper has ducked out, taking his boat with him. Frank agrees to steer another boat for them. Gaye sneaks him Johnny's gun, giving Frank a plan to stop the gangsters from hurting anyone else and to prove he is no coward.

There's a great payoff to the whole film on the boat - I won't give it away but I will say it's a very satisfying ending.