Reviews (34)

Gangsters. A hurricane. Danger. Fine acting. Wonderful!
I've heard a lot about this 1948 film and had never seen it. I sure was in for a treat. Filmed in black and white, the tension starts right at the beginning and doesn't let up till it runs its full 101 minutes. It's the story of an ex-GI who visits a Florida Keys hotel run by the father and widow of a former buddy who was killed in action. The hotel, however, has been taken over by gangsters. And there's a hurricane brewing. Add some great directing by John Huston from a play written by Maxwell Anderson. Then throw in the stars of the day. What a mix! What a film!

I'm not a big Humphrey Bogart fan. I usually find him stiff and wooden. But he's better in this film, showing real emotion and animation on his face. Maybe it's because his leading lady is Lauren Bacall, cast as the widow. She fresh and young and beautiful and there is real chemistry between them. And then there is Edward G. Robinson. His gangster screen presence sure is real. He's the best of the best in this kind of role. All the performances were great but Lionel Barrymore, cast as the crippled owner of the hotel, is one of the best actors I've ever seen. With all this talent and terrific screenplay, though, the only academy award winner in the lot was Clare Trevor. She's cast as the gangster's girlfriend, aging and alcoholic. There's one scene in which she's forced to sing in order to get a drink. She's lost her voice but she pushes through the song as her small audience exchange knowing looks between them. It was more than an outstanding performance; it was absolutely sensational.

And then there's the hurricane. And a scene on a boat. All this was done so well that I didn't miss any high-tech special effects. The mood was set. The danger was there. There's even a great theme about good and evil and willing to put your life on the line. And it was all combined perfectly with the screenplay, the directing and some of the best acting to come out of that era.

I give this film one of my highest recommendations. It's a real treat. And a classic that has not only stood the test of time, but has aged like fine wine. Don't miss it.

BARE KNUCKLED BOGART & RUTHLESS ROBINSON
"Key Largo" is the exciting suspense/drama directed by the legendary John Huston. It features Bogie at his care worn, worldly best and pits him against the best mug since Cagney - Edward G. Robinson. Plot wise: when a retired war hero comes to tell the father of a slain soldier about his son's final days, he discovers that the hotel they are staying in has been over run by gangsters during one of the worst hurricanes to ever hit the Florida coast. This film costars Lauren Bacall and the fantastic Lionel Barrymore.
Warner Home Video's DVD is looking pretty darn good. The gray scale of this black and white movie is well represented and the blacks are definitely black. Shadow delineation and contrast levels are superb with fine detail promenantly evident throughout. Fine details occasionally shimmer and there is some minor edge enhancement but nothing that will terribly distract from your viewing experience. The audio is mono and, although at times strident, is well represented throughout. We get no extras on this disc, a real shame.

Edward G. Robinson at this best
Key Largo is just one of John Huston's many memorable films that somehow always seem to transcend the intention--the Hollywood intention being to make a few bucks--and to this day still plays very well and indeed appears as something close to a work of art. It features what I think is one of Edward G. Robinson's finest performances as Johnny Rocco, a sociopathic gangster holding the off-season personnel of a seaside hotel hostage as he concludes a counterfeit money deal.

The story begins as Major Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) pays a visit to the family of one of his G.I. buddies who was killed in Italy during WWII. He finds the welcome from the hotel's only "guests" chilly except for Gaye Dawn (a funny and perhaps prescient Hollywood stage name) played by Claire Trevor who is drunk and befriends him. After a bit McCloud discovers that the hotel's owner Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall) and her invalid father-in-law James Temple (Lionel Barrymore) have been tricked into allowing Rocco's gang to stay and now, as a tropical storm begins to blow, are being held at gunpoint. McCloud's delicate task is to keep the megalomaniac and murderous personality of Rocco under some control so that he doesn't murder everyone.

Note that this is a splendid cast, and they all do a good job. Note too that Huston adapted this from a play by the versatile American playwright Maxwell Anderson. So the ingredients for a good film are clearly in place; and aside from some self-conscious mishmash with the Seminoles of Florida, this is a success. Anderson's desire to explore the psychopathic personality (some years later he adapted William March's novel The Bad Seed into a stage play) finds realization in Huston's direction and especially in Robinson's indelible performance. The utter disregard for the lives of others and the obsessive love of self that characterize the sociopath reek from the snares and callous laughter of the very sick Johnny Rocco. I especially liked the crazed and thrilled grin on his face when he emerges from the hold of the boat in the climactic scene, gun in hand, imagining that he has once again fooled his adversaries and is about to delightfully shoot Humphrey Bogart to death. What I loved about this scene was that Huston did not think it necessary to contrive a fight in which the good guy (Bogart) beats the bad guy by fighting fair. What happens is exactly what should happen, and without regard for the fine points of Marquis of Queensberry-type rules. Also good is Rocco beginning to sweat in fear of his life as the storm moves in while Bogey gives us his famous laugh and grin as he assesses the essential cowardice of the petty gangster.

Lauren Bacall, in one of her more modest roles, does a lot without saying much, and Lionel Barrymore is very good as the cantankerous old guy in a wheelchair. Claire Trevor actually won an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her work, and she was good as the alcoholic moll with a heart of gold. Robinson won nothing, but he really dominated the picture and demonstrated why he was one of Hollywood's greatest stars.

Bottom line: watch this to see the gangster yarn meld into film noir with overtones of the psychoanalytical drama that characterized many of the black and white Hollywood films of the forties and early fifties.

Not the Best, But Good
I ordered the DVD of this film to replace my old VHS. First, the DVD quality is excellent, though I was never able to access the 'special features'. On my player, the movie just starts. As a fan of the Bogarts, I enjoy this movie like their others. However, I've always felt the parts for both Bacall and Lionel Barrymore were somehow, wrong. Bacall seems almost like she's on Prozac, so restrained is her performance. So many of Barrymore's movements and body language seem more suited to the stage than a movie--just a little too theatrical. However, I've never seen EG Robinson do better, and his toadies all give superlative performances. Claire Trevor deserved her Oscar for this movie, she's that good. Overall, it's still a movie worth having for any fan of the classics. I just don't think it's their best.

The calm before the storm...
Frank (Humphrey Bogart) travels to Key Largo to visits James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), the father of a dead friend who was killed in action during World War II. When Frank steps off the bus he is received by some hostile strangers. It appears that these strangers are from Chicago and are renting the Temple's hotel for the week and they do not expect any visitors. Nonetheless, Frank is warmly greeted by James and his daughter-in-law, Nora Temple (Lauren Bacall), whom he helps prepare for an incoming hurricane. However, it seems that there is something much more sinister lurking in the shadows than the approaching tempest that is over the dark waters of the Atlantic. The beginning obviously displays the calm before the storm, pun intended, as the two threatening elements in the film draw nearer. This sets up a suspenseful atmosphere that begins from the initial scene and lasts until the last scene. Huston was very well aware of what he was doing when he directed this film noir as it offers a good cinematic experience. ... Read more

Description

After a shot gun marriage, Lola loses the couple’s baby and relies for comfort on her dog, Sheba, who has run away, while Doc is a recovering alcoholic who blames Lola for his dropping out of medical school. Though still depressed and bitter about their past, the couple rents out a room to a young woman named Marie and while Marie brings happiness and young love into their home, she also brings old ghosts reminding Doc and Lola of their misfortunes. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

EMOTIONAL POWERHOUSE DRAMA....
Shirley Booth and Burt Lancaster are bound together by a mutual tragedy in a sad, childless marriage made worse by Lancaster's alcoholism. When they rent a room to a sexy college student (Terry Moore), everything begins to really unravel. Based on the William Inge play (which also starred Booth and won her a Tony), the film is downbeat but hypnotic thanks to the stars. Booth also won Best Actress for the film with her heartbreaking performance as the dowdy housewife struggling to cope with her husband's problems. The film depicts a somber intervention by AA for Lancaster's character and Booth calling for Sheba (their pet dog that was Booth's child substitute that has run away) as well as some other harrowing scenes that mark this film as serious drama. Booth later became part of TV history in the 60's as "Hazel" but it's her few ventures in films like this that need to be remembered too. She was no beauty but an exceptionally gifted actress who could tear your heart out with performances like the one in "Come Back Little Sheba". Lancaster is excellent as the husband who tries to love his unkempt wife but can't face the real issues. So glad to see this searing drama coming to DVD and will be happy to add it to my library.

It's all about Shirley Booth.
Shirley Booth's Lola Delaney is (possibly rivalled only by Charles Laughton's Quasimodo) the most pathetic character ever put on film. It is palpably hurtful to bear with her the many humiliations she undergoes during the course of the film. Caught in a sort of stand off relationship with her husband, she is lonely and emotionally wasting away, while seeming to deny this fact to herself. And when she cuts loose and tries to have a little fun, dancing or enjoying radio music meant to transport you out of your daily grind, she is merely the subject of laughter and rolling eyes. Her teary ruminations on the titular lost dog are, as I read it, symbolic of a larger aching need to find someone or something with which to exchange affection. I just saw Come Back again for the first time in 30 years, and I think it is as strong now as it must have been in 1952. The cinematography by the great James Wong Howe starts out bright and ordinary, felling like a 50s sitcom, but as layers of the dark heart of the drama are peeled away, the look becomes noirish and menacing --we know something is going to snap. You won't forget it.

Even in a time when films were less gimmicky than today, Come Back is really an anti-gimmick movie. It is just a glimpse into the life of a couple simmering under the surface with regret, old hurt and selfdoubt.

When Movies were Movies
This is a wonderful old movie. In those days, the subject of pregnancy before marriage was so taboo! She plays the part of a slovenly housewife to the hilt, Burt is her stuffy, overbearing husband, ashamed of her, but all they have been through together wins out in the end.

They don't do movies like this any more.....
Shirley Booth is memorable in the role of dowdy wife to alcoholic husband Burt Lancaster (equally as good). The film is an adaptation of the William Inge play and it stands as one of the best transfers from stage to screen. Contrary to other reviewers' opinions, Terry Moore and Richard Jaeckel are great in their supporting roles.

For those of us old and fortunate enough to remember Booth from her 60's role as TV's "Hazel," this film shows that the actress was much better than the role of domestic of which she is famous. It also shows the range of her skills.

GET A LIFE MRS. DELANEY................
Great movie! I remember watching this movie when I was little. I always felt more sorry for Doc more that his wife because she was so iritating. Mrs. Delaney needed to get it together. That way her life would not be so boring, and maybe she would not be so iritating. If I was Doc, she would of drove me to drink too. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Very fine RKO western ....and an excellent DVD
SILVER LODE may be the finest western that RKO released in the mid-1950s. With expert and taut scripting, high production values (it's one of producer Benedict Bogeaus' best), excellent direction under the veteran Allan Dwan, this little oater also has two of the best performances of its two male leads: John Payne and Dan Duryea. Payne, a veteran of numerous Westerns for Paramount [e.g., EL PASO and THE EAGLE AND THE HAWK] and Republic [e.g., THE ROAD TO DENVER], here turns in a tour de force as the innocent, but hunted and accused hero. He is very fine indeed, his lines crisply given, adding to the mounting tension. Duryea, one of Hollywood's finest "bad guys," almost outdoes Payne; Duryea is simply studpendous. The final scene between the two--in the town bell tower--is quite striking and remarkable.
Secondary starring roles are filled with some very competent Hollywood veterans---Robert Warwick, Emile Meyer as the town sheriff, Harry Carey Jr. and Alan Hale Jr. as members of Dan Duryea's "posse." Lisbeth Scott is Payne's love interest; she's does quite well.
VCI has given us a fine, clean print, and attaches the original trailer at the end, along with bios of the leading actors, all very helpful.
Silver Lode is the kind of movie that will repay watching from time to time. It is way above average as oaters go. Recommended highly both to those interested in good Western fare and, yes, to others interested simply in good cinema.

Different kind of western
A taut western, very suspenseful. Much has been made of the MacCarthyism theme in this movie and it is there. Well acted with lots of familiar faces from the westerns of the era. The action takes place entirely within a small town which raises the thrill level even more. After all, how can someone remain hidden in such a small place. It is not a typical horse and cowboy shoot-em-up flick. Still though it is exciting to watch. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Rita Hayworth really was a screen goddess in the late 1940s--so why not cast her as Terpsichore, the goddess of dance? That's the premise of this splashy Technicolor musical, which borrows some devices (and cast members) from Here Comes Mr. Jordan. Rita descends to earth to inject authenticity into a Broadway show about Terpsichore, posing as an actress and turning the head of impresario Larry Parks (then in the brief moment between his Jolson Story smash and his blacklisting). This leads to an overblown, pretentious out-of-town tryout, an amusing sequence that predicts the highbrow disaster in The Band Wagon. In general, this film is funnier than its reputation, although it doesn't add up to anything and the song score is tepid (with one delightfully weird number where Rita considers bigamy with Parks and dancer Marc Platt). And Rita? Very creamy looking in a series of lavish gowns--and hardly down to earth. --Robert Horton ... Read more

Description

A boxing match at the Hollywood Stadium turns into a gripping murder mystery with over 2,000 suspects! As top contender Ace Cummings prepares to take on Madison, the reigning champ, Madison, the house lights dim. Suddenly, a scream echoes through the venue and a peculiar odor fills the air. When the lights come up, Ace is found dead. After witnessing the bizarre event, sassy and beautiful young writer Polly Ward decides to investigate, teaming up with dapper district attorney Bill Devons. Their long list of suspects includes a candy-seller, a gambler, a movie star, two of the victim's girlfriends and the boxer Madison. Clues are scarce, but the sleuths work every angle. As Polly and Bill draw closer to discovering the killer, their lives are threatened and the danger becomes frighteningly real. Rife with snappy dialogue, brisk pacing, and sharp performances, The Hollywood Stadium Mystery (a.k.a. The Stadium Murders) is a tightly-executed whodunit and a fine example of what smaller studios were capable of during Hollywood's golden era. The opening credit sequence is particularly inventive with its clever use of newspaper headlines to kick off the action. Director David Howard handles the mystery genre with panache, despite a career that centered mostly on adventures and western films like Six-Gun Gold, Painted Desert and Daniel Boone. Neil Hamilton later gained fame as white-haired Commissioner Gordon in the 1966 TV-series "Batman." The ringside radio commentator in The Hollywood Stadium Mystery was Jimmy Wallington, a real-life announcer whose voice was heard on such programs as "The Life Of Riley" and "Stranger Than Fiction." ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Above average Roy Rogers, below average DVD transfer . . .
. . . but if you pay under [dollar amount] for a DVD, you can't really complain. Unfortunately, all of Roy's movies will probably be shuffled off to DVD with just as little care. The sound crackles sometimes, and some of Dale's delightful solos are a bit distorted; the picture is fuzzier sometimes than others (even "jumps" once, as though it were a tape), and you have to turn the volume up pretty high compared to typical DVD.

Though the quality leaves at least as much to be desired as one would expect considering the price, "Yellow Rose of Texas" is above average Roy Rogers fare. Included are the classic framed man with a beautiful daughter (Dale, of course), Roy's undercover identity as insurance agent, a stunt with Trigger to save a boy in a runaway wagon, a multi-fisted fight featuring the Sons of the Pioneers (minus Pat Brady, since this is 1944), the classic shot of black "blood" dripping through two ceiling boards to give away the winged fugitive (at a rate that says he must have hit an artery and is in serious need of a transfusion!), and lots more great nostalgia inducers. One number by the Sons of the Pioneers, "Timber," is musically even better than usual. It's also interesting to see Dale Evans before that "Queen of the West" persona, which she was originally so against, was firmly established; you'll hear her sing and see her pout those pretty lips, but she won't be riding a horse. (This is partially due, of course, to the fact that much of this setting has to do with riverboats and shows rather than ranches and the frontier.) Even her hair is different than the typical "Cowgirl Dale" look that we fans take for granted.

All in all, if you want to see Roy and Dale in restored glory, don't bother with the Alpha Video releases. But if you want to see them on DVD at all, you may have to settle for these, and "Yellow Rose of Texas" is a perfect place to start.

Good sing-along title song.
Roy Rogers portrays a singing cowboy insurance investigator on a showboat. I know it sounds too weird, but just go with it. Life will be easier. Five years ago Dale Evans' father was framed for an express robbery, and he is still on the run. Roy and the sheriff are both hot on Dad's trail while the real crooks make more mischief. This is a lesser effort by RR and crew. This is one of those "modern" Westerns that feature autos as well as horses. From the complaint department, the emphasis on elaborate song-and-dance numbers detracts from the B Western fun. There is some blazing six-gun action, but not enough to give one time to use up an entire roll of caps. It's always good to see Bob Nolan and The Sons of the Pioneers. Gabby Hayes is not in this one. This movie is of moderate interest to staunch RR fans and those who relish the nostalgia of Saturday matinees. Remember the days when every kid on the block wanted to be a cowboy? From that perspective, viewing and ownership is of value. ;-) ... Read more