Amazon.com Essentials:
John Huston (The Maltese
Falcon) directed this smart thriller about a gangster (Edward
G. Robinson) who holds a number of people hostage in a hotel on the
Florida keys during a tropical storm. Humphrey Bogart is the returning
war veteran who takes on the villains, and Lauren Bacall is on hand as
one of the people on the wrong end of Robinson's gun. Somewhat similar
in tone to Howard Hawks's To Have and Have
Not (which also featured Bogart and Bacall), this moody movie
captures a certain despair offset by the bond between individuals
united by common purpose. Claire Trevor won an Academy Award for her
part as Robinson's alcoholic girlfriend. --Tom Keogh
