This movie shows a man’s struggle to continue fighting for what he knows to be right, even though his experiences have hardened him. After risking his own life and seeing friends lose theirs during the war, Bogart’s character, Frank McCloud, is bitter because, like many veterans, he wonders if the world is better off because of the fighting. When he faces a powerful gangster, he questions the use of sacrificing himself to destroy one evildoer. After all, the world is full of them. However, in the face of danger, he realizes that life isn’t worth living if he doesn’t fight for his values.
McCloud, a World War II veteran, goes to Key Largo to visit a deceased comrade’s father and widow. Although it is the off-season, he finds their closed hotel occupied by five shady men and a drunken woman. The proprietor, Mr. Temple (Barrymore), and his daughter-in-law, Nora (Bacall), greet him joyfully. They are eager to hear about their fallen loved one’s service from his commanding officer, so they invite him to spend the night.
As a hurricane approaches, the Temples learn that the party who rented out the hotel for a week is more than mysterious. The men are criminals, led by the infamous gangster Johnny Rocco (Robinson). He was deported years ago but is now attempting to restart his criminal activities in America. The hotel keepers, McCloud, and Sawyer (John Rodney), who is a local deputy, are held hostage by this brutal criminal who has no qualms about adding more murders to his record.
The Temples are desperate to overpower the loathsome man, but they are outnumbered and unarmed. Meanwhile, Frank and Nora feel the stirrings of love during these tumultuous circumstances.
A Telling Scene
Danger doesn’t always inspire bravery. McCloud risked his life during the war because it was his duty. However, he doesn’t think he should have to keep sacrificing himself.
At one point, Rocco hands Frank a gun and challenges him to shoot him, warning that he will be shot in return. Although his friends urge him to shoot the villain, McCloud decides that he’s not going to lose his life just to eliminate Johnny Rocco. He looks like a coward, but he doesn’t seem to care.
Sawyer, on the other hand, snatches the gun and makes his way toward the door, aiming to escape and bring the police. But Rocco shoots the valiant deputy before he can leave the room. Sawyer tries to shoot back but realizes too late that the gun isn’t loaded. Everyone is horrified at Rocco’s ruthless trick against McCloud.
Is McCloud a coward? Mr. Temple eagerly suggests that McCloud somehow realized the gun wasn’t loaded; he doesn’t want to believe that his new friend is a coward. McCloud, though, cynically says that he didn’t know it wasn’t loaded. He just didn’t want to risk his own life. Nora rebukes him, saying, “If I believed like you do, I’d want to be dead.”
McCloud loses the respect of his friends, particularly Nora, but it’s clear that he is just discouraged because of his experiences, and he hasn’t lost faith in everything. He still believes in the principles for which he fought during the war. He needs only to be reminded of those principles for them to be rekindled. This movie rekindles its viewers’ faith in these principles in much the same way.
When McCloud’s confidence falters in the face of Rocco’s power, Nora tells him that you can’t always do what logic tells you: “When your head says one thing and your whole life says another, your head always loses.” McCloud eventually realizes how true this is, and it motivates him to forego the chance to save himself to defeat Rocco permanently. The selfless bravery that this character embodies is tremendously inspiring.
You don’t have to fight in a war to win a battle against evil. There are battles of good versus evil fought every day. Nora’s motivating words to McCloud can serve as a motto: “Maybe it is a rotten world, but a cause isn’t lost as long as someone’s willing to go on fighting.”
