Key Largo (1948)

That Florida hurricane isn't the only ill wind that's descended on the Largo Hotel.    

Intro.

Bogart and Bacall are probably the most iconic couple in Hollywood.  There's even a song about them called "Key Largo" by Bertie Higgins, which has the line "we had it all, just Bogie and Bacall."  You can find references to them just about anywhere, but the best place to see and learn about their chemistry is in the four films they made together.  Key Largo was the last of those four. 

Overview

Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) comes down to the Largo Hotel on the Florida Keys to visit the father and wife of his friend and fellow soldier George, who died in the war.  While he gets a warm reception from George's father James Temple (Lionel Barrymore) and George's widow Nora (Lauren Bacall), he doesn't take to well to the gangsters who have holed up in the hotel.  At first the men say they've rented the whole place out to go fishing, but when they beat up a police officer who recognizes the leader, Rocco (Edward G. Robinson), the truth comes out.  With the gangsters is Rocco's alcoholic girlfriend Gaye Dawn (Claire Trevor), whom Frank pities and tries to help.  Tensions start to brew when a hurricane forces the group to stay together within the hotel.  Rocco dares Frank to kill him, to get rid of all their trouble.  He's just a gangster who was deported and trying to sneak back into the US - who would miss him?  But Frank doesn't fight anyone else's battles.  At least, not until Rocco threatens Nora - we don't hear what Rocco says to Nora, but she spits on him.  Frank reminds him that there would be too many witnesses if Rocco tried to take revenge.  Things go from bad to worse as the hurricane gets closer.  Rocco's getaway boat disappears, Gaye has a breakdown, and the police officer they've been holding gets killed.  Not only that, but a police detective shows up and discovers the body.  With the arrival of some of Rocco's friends (and some freshly laundered money), it's clear that they have to figure out what to do with the hostages and how to escape.  They take Frank with them and overtake a nearby boat in the harbor, forcing him not only to drive the boat, but to try and put an end once and for all to their evil plans.

Highlights

Key Largo is a must for any Bogart and Bacall fans.  It's clear right from the start that their chemistry isn't manufactured.  I loved some of their unspoken interactions as we see Frank and Nora start to care for each other.  One of the most tender actions is when Nora's asleep and Frank, sitting beside her, brushes her hair back gently to wake her.  This is the stuff that makes legends.  The best part is that Bacall had matured since her first film and holds her own as a great leading lady, something that would only get better with time.  As wonderful as Bacall is in the film, it's Claire Trevor who is the real standout.  She's a sweet but tormented woman who has taken the brunt of both Rocco's anger and the alcohol she craves.  She won a well-deserved Oscar for her role too.
  
And finally there's Bogart.  Not only was he at the top of his career here, he just falls naturally into this role.  In fact, his line about fighting his own battles sounds just like it's coming from Rick in Casablanca instead.  He's the perfect embodiment of a worn out, reluctant hero.  And his victory in the end (sorry for the spoiler) is not only a testament to how Frank was and still is a war hero, but how far Bogart had risen in his career.  In his earlier days, he was always the gangster being shot and killed by Robinson; this is the first and only time the roles were reversed.  It's a great scene too - there's no fight, no real struggle.  Just a clean, dead shot (okay, three shots).  Also, Frank's line, "my first sweetheart was a boat" isn't far from Bogart's truth - as a young boy he fell in love with the sea when he would go sailing on his father's boat.  He later joined the Navy and eventually bought his own boat, the Santana.  That's the boat that's used in the end of this film, just with the place, Key Largo, added onto the stern.  

Review and Recommendation
I know this is a bit short, but I'm afraid I'm a bit sleepy.  I might add some more points to the comments - check them out this weekend!  Key Largo is one of those films you really should see not just for its place in film history, but because it's a great example of acting, cinematography and really telling a story by what is said and what is left unsaid.  Pay attention to the silences just as much as the dialogue.  Overall, a good film noir/drama, though watching tonight on such a rainy night really made it even better.  So next time you've got a rainy day, I'd recommend this classic!

Designing Woman (1957)

Intro.

Romantic comedies have been around since the beginning of film's history.  The comedy inherent in relationships goes back even further.  It is interesting (to me at least) to watch romantic comedies from different eras as the silver screen reflects the values, imaginations and everyday lives of those bygone eras.  It's true that the same can be said of any genre, but lately I've been focusing on romantic comedies because the basic premise is always the same - two people meet, fall in love and spend the rest of their lives together.  How they get from beginning to end is another matter entirely. 

Overview

Designing Woman takes after many films from the fifties.  The plot is very similar to other stories - two people meet, fall in love, marry in a whirlwind, then return to their normal lives only to realize how incompatible they are.  In this case, it is Gregory Peck as sports writer Mike Hagan, and Lauren Bacall as fashion designer Marilla Brown.  The two meet on vacation, marry quickly and return to New York.  The comedy starts with them trying to live together - Marilla finds a torn up photo of Mike's ex-girlfriend while Mike discovers that Marilla out-earns him.  Their first fight erupts after they both invite friends to their now shared apartment.  The usual insanity persists when Mike's sportswriters and ex-fighters come over for poker while Marilla's theater crowd works on plans for a new musical.  Such differences cause problems that continues to complicate the relationship.  First Marilla discovers that the actress in the musical she's designing gowns for is Mike's ex, then Mike not only lies about it, but then has to go into hiding because his articles have exposed a particular mobster as the leader in a corruption ring in boxing.  It wraps up with a lot of madness, jealousy and finally an all out bout of honesty, and of course Mike and Marilla live happily ever after.

Highlights and Interesting Points

First of all, Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall are both wonderful in this film.  They have an easy chemistry and are both genuine talents in their own right.  Especially worthy of note is how well Lauren Bacall carries herself despite the fact that at home, her husband Humphrey Bogart was dying of cancer (he died in January and the film premiered in May of 1957).  Her strength of character and superb acting comes out in her performance.

As it is a traditional film of the 1950s, the gender-specific roles are very conservative.  This could be due to the politics of the day and a time in Hollywood where it was safer to stick to more conformist views.  However, there are some points of the film that break away from the norm.  For instance, Lauren Bacall is far from being June Cleaver - she still actively holds onto her thriving career and holds her own in equality with her husband.  Also, their respective groups of friends have men who aren't all what they seem, particularly Marilla's friend, a choreographer who, despite how he carries himself, is in fact straight and a happily married man and father of two.  But the film does come back to some standard (and somewhat sexist) views, like making Marilla stoop to petty jealousy and almost faint during a boxing match.  Her strength in the rest of the film redeems her, thanks mostly to Bacall's own fortitude.  What else helps is the humor - that deep down, the film doesn't take itself too seriously.  Both characters take turns with voice-overs that are steeping with irony and deadpan sarcasm.  Without such a device, the film could easily be made into a melodrama.   

What struck me about the picture was how, unlike most romantic comedies and musicals, it begins with marriage instead of ending with it.  At first I thought that was only something that came with the fifties and that society, but films like that have really been around for some time (think about Vivacious Lady from 1938).  In a way, it's kind of another wooing - a couple deprived of the usual complicated (and hilarious) courtship face problems after 'I Do' and have to get through it in order to achieve their happily ever after. 

Review and Recommendation
Designing Woman is a good, enjoyable fun - good talents, good chemistry and good jokes make it entertaining.  While a typical rom-com film of the 1950s, it goes a little further as both Bacall and Peck make it work.  Pay particular attention to the ending, where each character has their own epilogue, directly addressing the audience much like the old credits in 1930s B-films that show clips of each actor along with their name and part.  It's a nice break in the fourth wall and allows each character to have an equal voice.  Although the film is a bit predictable, it is good-natured fun.  If you get a chance to see it, break out the popcorn and have fun.

Fun Fact: My friend Catherine read that the film originally was to star Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly, but as Grace Kelly became engaged to the Prince of Monaco, she couldn't do the film and Jimmy Stewart didn't want to do it without her.  I wonder what would have happened if the two of them had filmed it - in many ways it would be like a follow up to Rear Window, where Grace Kelly worked in fashion and Jimmy Stewart worked as a photographer covering dangerous things like racing and other sports.