MovieChat Forums > Key Largo (1948) Discussion > Ponderings about Bogey's character

Ponderings about Bogey's character

posted 19 years ago by leppel
14 replies | jump to latest

Watching Key Largo, I began to wonder about
Bogey's character. In the scene where Rocco gives Bogey the gun and
says "here's your chance to rid the world of Johnny Rocco", Bacall has
a go at Bogey for being a coward. Her reaction to his statement that he
doesn't care whether Rocco lives or dies and the only battles he fights
are his own is shock.

Is this how Bogey's character really feels or is he playing a game with
the gangsters, trying to get them to think he is not a threat.

For example when Old Man Temple starts to doubt himself "no, Nora,
maybe Frank's right, maybe he's right.", you can see that Bogey is
visibly upset by his reaction. As if he doesn't want Old Man Temple and
Nora to believe what he is actually seeing.

There are other moments when it seems like McCloud doesn't care what Rocco thinks of him. "You don't like it, do you Rocco, the storm? Show it your gun, why don't you? If it doesn't stop, shoot it."

So who is Frank McCloud really, in this film? Is he really a cynic, or
are the things he does and says during the hurricane an act for the
gangsters?

[–] saturno3x1 19 years ago

An interesting discuss. I asked it to myself the first time I saw the film, and I had to re-watch it several times before getting some kind of response.

So who is Frank McCloud really, in this film? Is he really a cynic, or
are the things he does and says during the hurricane an act for the
gangsters?

According to the response you can give to this question, you can have an interpretation of the film or another completely different:
-He is just acting: In this case, what's the film about? It would be simply about a plain character who knows it all from the beginning and who is able to trick a whole gang and set them into a trap.
-He is a cynic: In this case, you have a *troubeled* character: A guy who has no ideals nor willing to fight for anyone or anything, and he drastically changes his mind at one point, getting into the fight again. So, the movie doesn't end just the same way it started: You can see something happended during the film.

Want a clue about my what's my opinion? Just remember one quote from Bogey when talking to Lauren Bacall in low voice, in the darkness, during the storm:
-When your head says one thing and your whole life says the other, the head always looses.

(That the very moment when he changes his mind, I think).

Cheers,

Santiago.

[–] kinetica 17 years ago

Everyone who believes the ten commandments and then has to violate them to defend loved ones will know Bogarts character.
Having killed fellow humans and afterwards the propaganda to guilt them into not fighting... However BAD people have no problems blackmailing, extorting and SADISTICALLY abusing people...
While heroes always have that aversion to sensless killing, OR having loved ones killed by their actions OR inactions, People of conscience who are decent or have a shred of decency will hesitate, while TRUE evil does not hesitate and thereby gains the upper hand and even beats good and causes WAR and REAL MASSIVE SCALE bloodshed.

That is the chartacter Bogey portrays. Rocco is scared of nature which he can not blackmail or intimidate, while Bogey isn't scared because he knows two things:
The storm is by God and he is good, OR the storm is nature, and Bogey can not influence it.
Rocco Can not beat the storm if it is God or if it is Nature... he controls neither, and is friend to neither.... THAT is the difference in character.

Ticks Ticks thousands of ticks, and not one blessed TOCK among them!

[–] chaud 19 years ago

I think things change a lot from before Gaye takes the gun and after it's in McCloud's hands. Maybe McCloud's plan was to take them off their chosen course so that even if they did kill him, he might have them in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with no means to get back. Also, he would choose a quick death, even if it were certain, over being tortured, especially in front of the Temples.

You have to figure there's no way he'd try to be a hero on a ship where he's outnumbered 5-1 and they're all armed. Once he gets the gun, that's different because now he can do what he did; isolate a couple, take them by surprise and then get a good spot to hide while the others are confused.

And then of course there is true love. Don't go away! It exists or I will make it exist.

[–] lv6662001 19 years ago

I really don't think he was trying to trick the gangstars,his character felt felt worn out,beaten emotionally inside and out which is backed up from his military life,besides the flow of the movie from Humphry turning from a cold hearted empty man to a man who regained his dignity(same as his role in Casablanca) would be much more suited if he hadnt done it to trick the gangstars in any way,it would look too smart on his own part,which would defeat the glory of Humphrys character in the end

Don't Fear Death,Instead Fear The Unlived Life

[–] legio-yow 18 years ago

I think neither. I think that he was truly just too scared to give his life to kill Johnny Rocco. My reason is the utterly unconvincing way he told Bacall that he "sticks his neck out for nobody". If it was a lesser actor I would say that he just hit a wrong note for that bit, but it isn't a lesser actor. We've seen Bogey say that line brilliantly, including later in the movie. And I know Huston would take another take. So why is it unconvincing? Because Bogey's trying to save face and act tough. And when Bacall caled him a coward, he decided to try and save face, so he poured the drink for Dawn. Look at the way his face was twitching after he did that. I think that action got his courage up, and he got the courage to laugh in Rocco's face and kill the gangsters.

A little pet theory of mine, but I think it fits everything the best.

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] thewholebrevitything 16 years ago

Good summation Squeeth. And I dig the cat sig.

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[–] MIchiganJFrogg 15 years ago

If you get the chance, watch the movie again with this particular question in mind. I think it is very unfair to consider Bogart's character a coward. Consider the scene where Nora has spit in Johnny Rocco's face and Rocco pulls a gun. Bogart stands in front of Nora, between her and Rocco. He manages to talk Rocco down and convince Rocco that it is not in his best interest to kill Nora. To me, Bogart's character comes across as very street smart and clever. He realizes that without him there, Nora and Temple are in big trouble, and he has to keep himself alive to protect them. He does not give in to them, even in little things, for instance in repeatedly refusing to have a drink with Curly. If you notice, the scene where Nora calls him a coward comes very soon after he has stood between her and Rocco's gun saving her life. It really comes across as very unfair and ungrateful of them to say that to him. He is brave, but he is also smart enough to make his stand against Rocco in the time and place of his choosing, not Rocco's.

[–] cyninbend-149-610489 8 years ago

Great post. One thing everyone leaves out is Frank's past positions. Circulation manager of a newspaper--not a journalist but a guy who manages people. And in the military, he was the commanding officer (I forget the exact rank)--he knows how to manage people. He knows how to get the most out of them, how to make them forget what they were planning ad do what he wants them to do...

I felt that, at first, Frank was terribly disillusioned when confronted by the needless death of Temple, leaving his wife and father broken-hearted there in the Florida Keyes, and why? Because of a bunch of evil thugs trying to run the world...Rocco was the same as the Nazis, just on a smaller scale, it disgusted him. He did not want to be another sacrifice. I don't know is he'd verbalized these thoughts even to himself before he'd gotten to Temple's home. He was just so burned-out. But when he heard what Nora said, HE knew he could not be this person who just wants to save his skin at all costs. He was always a guy who stands up to bad guys, and he could not change who he'd always been just because the voices in his head told him to save his own life....

[–] PopperTheKungFu-Dragon 8 years ago

I agree with everything you wrote and Bacall's ungratefulness and silly behavior (wanting him to die so she can hold him up as a hero) is one of my minor quibbles with this movie, but otherwise its all great.

Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Cried

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] telegonus 15 years ago

I'm late to this thread but better late than never; just saw Key Largo for maybe the tenth time, maybe the twentieth. As to the question of what Frank McLeod is, a hero or a cynic, I'd say a mix both, a cross between two earlier Bogart characters, Sam Spade (of The Maltese Falcon and Rick of Casablanca. It's as if these two characters had morphed. McLeod is a disillusioned guy who's fought in many battles, and he's more than a bit of a cynic, and he's a street smart fellow who's been around the block hundreds of times. Basically, for most of the length of the film he's taking a "watchful waiting" attitude, looking for a way to act, finding few outlets to so do safely (very like Sam Spade in this regard), and even then, as in his pouring a drink for Gay, not that safely, and waiting for his moment. This was quite clear to me while watching the film. He's an intelligent, educated, worldly man down at the heels, yet he's still got the fire burning inside him.

Bogart's McLeod plays Johnny Rocco like a violin. He knows just how to distract him, butter him up, egg him on, play the wise guy, then the sage. There's no way that a man like Rocco could understand what was up with Frank McLeod. The guy was always two steps ahead of him. What he lacked was the opportunity, which came when he agreed to take the gangsters to Cuba. There was some soul-searching to be sure, yet it was clear to me that this was the real Frank McLeod. He wanted to win, wanted to kill Rocco and his stooges. All he needed was the chance. With the gun that Gay handed him in his pocket, at the wheel of the boat, McLeod was now the boss, not Johnny Rocco. It took him a while to get there, but once he was in control he knew just what to do. I love the way his character develops in this movie. He spends much of his time on the sidelines, yet unlike the others held captive by Rocco and his pals, McLeod's observing everything that they do, processing (as we like to say) in his mind who these characters are and just how to get the drop on them. He's almost like a scientist or, better still, a chess player. McLeod plays to win, not show off.

[–] nutsberryfarm 12 years ago

he's a backroom buccaneer.

sake happens

[–] thesnowleopard 8 years ago

I think the important part of Frank's character is that he's a war vet--recently returned--and that he is the only one in the entire group. Everyone else sat the war out in the U.S. They have *no* combat experience. The gangsters think they're tough, but they've never been under fire and never subject to military discipline. Same with the young deputy who gets himself shot.

Frank has been up against ugly odds, shot at, and had to use strategy and self-control even when outnumbered. Does he consciously start out trying to outthink Rocco and save the day? No, I don't think he has any intention of doing so. But it would be second nature at that point in his life to see every situation as a potential combat situation, to automatically assess and see how he could take control of it. He may be at least partially crippled by PTSD initially, but the nastier and crazier stuff gets, the calmer and braver he becomes. The hurricane's rising fury downright puts him in his own element, even as Frank gets cooler and cooler. Notice how local civilians Old Man Temple and Nora, who have been ineffectual and almost panicked up to that point, also calm right down as the winds rise, even mocking Rocco. Look at how both Nora and Frank start smiling and Old Man Temple cheerfully relates the awful (and totally true) story of the Flagler Railroad in the '35 hurricane (check out the ghost stories about that; very creepy).

I think maybe it's at that point Frank starts to come up with a plan, now that he has the measure off the gangsters and he's established a real bond with Nora and Old Man Temple.

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