It fits squarely in the Noir tradition.
Noir is said to reflect the new and hard boiled POV of returning soldiers and citizens involved in the war effort. Societal institutions intended to benefit and protect the citizenry are shown to be corrupt or to have a destructive lethality on those it is supposed to benefit.
Bogart, in true noir style, is a drifter, kind of a looser. His career as an officer should have contributed to his post war success,but it has left him rudderless and in a state of near apathy.
Bogart's reluctance to fight is an explicit outcome of his role in an institutional mechanism. His disgust is with the outcome of his war and the way it was fought. The heroic dead son may have been an unheroic participant in the fight. He didn't die as his father believed. That was a lie. Perhaps Bogart's heroism killed him. Bogart is not happy with his own actions, seems revolted by them. He consistently fails to rise to the occasion.
The authorities arrive on the Key in pursuit of the Indian brothers, perhaps the most innocent characters in the script. The lawman who gets killed dies because of his own recklessness. Bogart's inaction is mistaken for heroism. Recall Bogart's remarks about the emptiness of words? Like heroism. The world in incomprehensible, senseless.
When the cops do take action they kill innocent people. This is all a very dark point of view.
Additionally, the movie is filmed on a set, constantly reinforcing a confined strangling world. Although this is an A list pic it is shot as though a B flick where costs prohibit expensive outdoor shooting and many and varied sets.
Few choices, fate and whimsey form outcomes. The film's conclusion is anti-noir however. He should never have returned alive.
Aspects of noir such as voice over narration, a retrospective telling (Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, D.O.A.),night shots, and etc. aren't present, noir's rules are fluid. It's about spirit, attitude.
LL
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mgtbltp
11 years ago
FYI Key Largo play written by Maxwell Anderson that became the basis for the 1948 film by the same name.
Original Plot
A deserter of the Spanish Civil War played by Paul Muni redeems himself in death by defending the family of a true war hero against some bandits on the tiny island of Key Largo, Florida.
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TakeARisk
8 years ago
It's not a noir. It's straight up thriller/drama.
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tenderlovingtony
8 years ago
I agree with those who say it isn't a noir.
By my understanding, a noir needs to have one of two elements:
1) A dark cinematic style, with scenes starved for light, tight camera angles, an emphasis on darkness. Before the hurricane hits, scenes in Key Largo are very brightly lighted, much more brightly lighted than bar scenes are in film noir.
2) A plot that emphasizes the downfall of one or more characters (most often the main character) by means of their choices. In Key Largo, Bogie & Bacall are taken hostage and everything that happens follows from that. Key Largo in that regard is much more similar to the gangster movies of the 1930s and the many non-noirs that have followed. Much more typical noir plots would be Niagara, in which the Jean Peters character continues to fall into peril as a result of her continuing to engage with the bad man rather than walk away the many times she has a choice; or Quicksand, in which the Mickey Rooney character makes a downward spiral by repeatedly making bad decisions.
Absent either of these definitive elements, Key Largo does not establish itself as a noir. Certainly, not every movie with crime in it is a noir.
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