I wouldn’t give you two cents for a dame without a temper.
Hello to all of the classic people that are returning. I am glad you are back. I want to welcome any new visitors. As a technical note, references and citations are listed for each show on the site at classicmovierev.com. Today on the Classic Movie Reviews Podcast, we are taking on High Sierra (1941).
High Sierra (1941) has so much going for it. The film has a parade of great actors including but not limited to Humphrey Bogart, Joan Leslie, Henry Hull, Barton MacLane, and Ida Lupino. Legendary early Hollywood director Raoul Walsh directed the film. And if that weren’t enough, John Huston was the lead screenwriter.
This movie is listed on iMDB.com as a Film-Noir, and that is generally the standard I use. However, a large group of people believe that The Maltese Falcon (1941) is the first true Film-Noir. But, High Sierra (1941) was released on January 25, 1941, almost nine months before the release The Maltese Falcon (1941), which came out on August 18, 1941.
Others consider Stranger on the Third Floor (1940) to be the first real Film-Noir. This movie was released on August 16, 1940, rendering the issue mute. I don’t have the answer to this issue. I just put it out there for thought. I can say this movie has one of the most devious Femme Fatales ever. She meets the definition of – an attractive woman that leads men who love them to doom. And it is not who you think.
iMDB.com rates the movie as 7.5[1]. Rottentomatoes.com has it as 90 percent on the Tomatometer and 78 percent audience approval[2]. I have to agree with these numbers. It is a very good movie with fine acting. It is not a great movie.
New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther said in part on January 25, 1941:
“We wouldn’t know for certain whether the twilight of the American gangster is here. But the Warner Brothers, who should know if anybody does, have apparently taken it for granted and, in a solemn Wagnerian mood, are giving that titanic figure a send-off befitting a first-string god in the film called High Sierra,…”
Bogart, the last of the great gunmen, when, lodged on a high mountain crag with an army of coppers below, he shouts defiance at his tormentors ere his noble soul take flight. It’s truly magnificent, that’s all. As a matter of fact—and aside from the virtues of the film itself—it is rather touching to behold the Warners pay such a glowing tribute, for no one has made a better thing out of the legendary gangster than they have. No one has greater reason to grow nostalgic about the bad boys of yesterday who, as one of the characters in “High Sierra” reverently remarks, are “all either dead or doing time now in Alcatraz.” So, indeed, we are deeply moved by this honest payment of respects to an aging and graying veteran of the Nineteen Thirty banditti who makes his last stand his best.
[Bogart is]… a notorious hold-up man who is sprung out of an Illinois prison by an old gangland pal who wants him in California for a big job. But the gunman has got some ideas about freedom and the joy of living. He wants to marry a simple little girl he meets on the road heading West; he wants to do good things because, you see, he really has a good heart. Well, you know what that means. It’s just as old “Doc” Banton tells him (“Doc” being the quack who tends “Big Mac”). He says, “Remember what Johnny Dillinger said about guys like you and him; he said you’re just rushing toward death—that’s it, you’re rushing toward death.” [3]
This movie is one of the three that knocked George Raft out of contention for top gangster roles. I will talk a little more about that in the summary section.
Actors – High Sierra (1941)
Returning
Humphrey Bogart plays the recently bought out of prison killer Mad-Dog Roy Earle. Bogart’s character could have easily been hardened killer Duke Mantee from The Petrified Forest (1936) after spending time in the crossbar motel. Bogart was first covered in Sahara (1943).
Joan Leslie is perfect in the role of sweet and lovely clubfooted Velma. But she has a surprise, and it’s a whopper. This talented actress was first covered in Sergeant York (1941).
Henry Hull, with his incredible voice, played ‘Doc’ Banton. Hull was first covered in The Buccaneer (1958), but he is better known for wolfing out in Werewolf of London (1935).
Jerome Cowan is newspaperman Healy and Barton MacLane is gangster Jake Kranmer. These two actors were both covered in The Maltese Falcon (1941).
Henry Travers was Pa, and Elisabeth Risdon was Ma, the grandparents of Velma. Of course, Henry Travers was first covered as Clarence the Angel in It’s A Wonderful Life (1946). Elisabeth Risdon played a lot of aunts and mothers.
Cornel Wilde plays resort worker Louis Mendoza. This actor was first covered in The Big Combo (1955).
New
Ida Lupino played the role of a dime-a-dance girl Marie. Lupino was born in England in 1918. Born to an acting family, she was pushed onto the stage at a very early age. In 1931, Lupino began taking background roles in British films. She enrolled in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and continued to appear in movies and on stage.
Lupino began appearing in American films starting in 1934. She has a long list of solid movies that began with Peter Ibbetson (1935), The Light That Failed (1939), Sea Devils (1937), The Sea Wolf (1941), and Ladies in Retirement (1941).
She was right in place for the rise of Film-Noir, war, and drama that include They Drive by Night (1940), High Sierra (1941), The Hard Way (1943), The Man I Love (1946), Road House (1948), not the one with Patrick Swayze, On Dangerous Ground (1951), Beware, My Lovely (1952), The Bigamist (1953), which she also directed, The Big Knife (1955), Women’s Prison (1955), Strange Intruder (1956), and While the City Sleeps (1956).
During this period, she was also directing. Her directing work in films consists of uncredited work in Not Wanted (1949), Outrage (1950), Never Fear (1950), On Dangerous Ground (1951), where she was again uncredited, Hard, Fast and Beautiful! (1951), The Bigamist (1953), The Hitch-Hiker (1953), which is on the National Film Registry, and The Trouble with Angels (1966), which is a funny and poignant film.
Lupino began acting on television around 1954, and she even directed on this medium. She returned to film in the 1970s with Junior Bonner (1972), The Devil’s Rain (1975), The Food of the Gods (1976), where giant rats and other animals attack some campers, and My Boys Are Good Boys (1978). She died in 1995.
Story – High Sierra (1941)
The credits roll over a shot of a rocky peak.
An eastern state capital building is shown, where inside the governor signs a pardon for Roy Earle. The time is set as Fall 1932.
Roy (Humphrey Bogart) is released from the stony Mossmoor Prison. He is wearing that classic high side walls haircut that bank robber John Dillinger always had.
Roy is met by a gangster (George Lloyd), who has a car waiting. Roy informs the gangster that he will first be going to sit in the park. The freed criminal takes time to look at the trees and to watch the children play. A trashman stabs a newspaper that tells of Roy’s release and the public backlash.
When the paper comes down, Jake Kranmer (Barton MacLane) and a blonde (Isabel Jewell) are in an apartment. Kranmer orders the woman out of the room, but she wants to meet the famous criminal.
When Roy comes in, Kranmer tells him that he is running things at this end and that Big Mac (Donald MacBride) has moved to California. Roy doesn’t like Kranmer because he is an ex-cop.
Kranmer gives Roy the run down. He is to rob a resort in “the richest little town in the world.” So, I assume outside of Reno. Roy is given money and keys to a car. Kranmer tells him to start right away. Kranmer tells Roy that Big Mac spent a lot of money getting him sprung, and when he calls the tune, Roy must dance to it. Roy gives Kranmer a double slap and leaves.
Roy heads West and hits the Indiana state line. He stops by the old family farm. He talks to the farmer (Erville Alderson) and a boy that has been fishing. The farmer realizes who Roy is, and his awkward expression causes Roy to move on.
When Roy gets to the high desert of California, he gets stuck behind an old jalopy. Drive the ancient car are Ma (Elisabeth Risdon), Pa (Henry Travers), and Velma (Joan Leslie), their granddaughter. With a few more people, they could just as well be the Joad’s from Oklahoma.
As Roy begins to pass the car, a jackrabbit jump on the road, causing Pa to swerve, running Roy off the road. It is interesting to note at this point that director Raoul Walsh lost an eye after a jackrabbit crashed his car windshield.
A bit later, Roy stops to get gas. He looks at the peaks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The jalopy pulls in, and Pa goes right into the story of the jackrabbit and how Roy’s driving saved them. Pa says they are going to Los Angeles to live with Velma’s mother and her new husband.
Roy drives into the mountains. He is amazed by the grandeur. He drives into sleepy Shaw’s fishing camp. Algernon (Willie Best), the only African American in the film, is sleeping. He is used for comic relief. The men Roy is to meet are in Cabin 12. Roy is sent to Cabin 11. He sees the bored Marie (Ida Lupino) sitting outside. ’Red’ (Arthur Kennedy) is called outside. He is followed by ‘Babe’ (Alan Curtis).
Roy takes Red for a talk. Roy orders Red to send Marie away. Red tells that the inside man for the job is Louis Mendoza (Cornel Wilde). He also says Mendoza is in contact with Big Mac. Red gushes over Roy a bit, but the old-time gangster doesn’t want to hear it.
Babe is running down Roy in front of Marie. When Red gives her the goodbye news, Babe backs down. Marie decides to talk to Roy herself. She tells that she knows the entire setup because Mendoza runs his mouth too much. Marie says she can control the two younger gangsters. He lets her stay.
Algernon is sleeping on the dock when he catches a fish and does some more eye-rolling. The dog Pard (Zero) comes into Roy’s room with Algernon. Algernon says the last two or three people that took the dog have died or gotten sick. Marie arrives with Roy’s breakfast. Roy talks about prison and people committing suicide. He says he likes to crash out. Marie has the same feeling about her life also.
Algernon tells some fishermen that Pard is putting the hex on Roy.
Mendoza shows up, and Roy meets up with the entire gang. Mendoza gives them a map and says Big Mac wants to see him. Big Mac has sent them a machine-gun. Roy gives Mendoza a warning about talking too much, backed up by a death threat.
Roy goes to case the resort. Roy grabs a tennis racket, and no one questions him about being in the swanky resort. Mendoza gets really nervous when he sees Roy. After Roy leaves the resort, he sees an accident ahead. The local richeys are accosting pa. They say Velma was driving, but Pa says he was. Roy cleans up the mess with a little bravado. Velma gets out of the car, and she has a club foot.
The family and Roy go to Brown’s Auto Court, where they are staying. Pa says it was Velma’s fault. Roy has gotten the other car driver to give Pa $100. Roy asks about Velma’s foot. Pa says that it can be fixed with an operation if they had the money. Velma and Roy look at the stars in the moonlight. Velma is as sweet as pie. Roy leaves to go to Los Angeles. Pa says to look them up so he can see Velma again.
As Roy rolled into the city of angels, he doesn’t have a care in the world. He goes to see Big Mac, who is holed up in a nice apartment. Big Mac is sick and can’t get out of bed. They talk about another friend of theirs who is a discredited doctor, ‘Doc’ Banton (Henry Hull).
Big Mac wants the jewelry from the robbery. Roy says the heist will go well if the younger gangsters don’t fall apart. Big Mac says all of the A-one guys like Roy are dead or in Alcatraz. Doc comes in, and he is like an old southern gentleman. He and Roy talk in private, and Doc says Big Mac is on his way out. Roy asks about fixing Velma’s club foot. Big Mac gives Roy instructions to follow if he dies before the job.
Roy and Doc go to see Velma. Velma is super sweet to Roy. Velma’s mother gives the Doc the business. Pa tells Roy to not pay for Velma’s operation. Pa tells Roy that Velma has a 30-year old divorced boyfriend back home. When Velma comes out, she is as sweet as sugar to Roy when she finds out he is paying for the operation. Later Doc reminds Roy that Dillinger once said guys like them are rushing towards death. Pard wakes when Roy pulls up at the fish camp.
Marie is in Roy’s room, holding a .45. Babe has beaten her up, hit Red with a poker, and hurt Pard. Roy goes to find Babe. Red wakes up and comes out looking for Babe. Roy takes the gun and goes to get Babe out of the store. Roy takes Red and Babe back to the cabin where Marie is waiting. Roy wants Marie to hit him, but she won’t. Roy pistol whips Babe. He tells him and Red to leave. But if they stay, he will shoot the first one that gets out of line. They decide to stay. Marie says she is staying with Roy. He says he is going to send her home in the morning.
When Roy has a bad dream, she sees a softer side of him. In the morning, she cooks and tries to endear herself to him. Marie says she has crashed out before, and hooking up with Roy will be her real crash out from her old life. When she starts crying, Roy weakens and lets her stay. He tells her she could never be special to him.
Later, Roy tells Red and Babe that he and Marie are going to LA. Pard chases the car, and they decide to bring him along. Roy goes to see Velma while Marie and Pard wait in the car. Ma and Pa are happy to see Roy. Velma is in bed and gives Roy a cheek kiss. She is being exceedingly sweet. Roy offers Velma a trip around the world, and he wants to marry her. Velma goes into full crawfish mode. She says she wants to marry the guy from back home and invites Roy to join the friend zone. When Roy leaves, Velma cries and says she wants to dance all night long.
Later, back at the fish camp, Algernon brings in a telegram from Mendoza, saying the robbery is on for that night. They prepare for the job, and Marie looks really sad. Roy makes her take Pard to Algernon along with $5. After the heist, Roy and Marie will head to LA with the jewels, while Red and Babe take the cash and go back to the fish camp to wait. Roy says they will pay Marie a share of the loot.
They go in two cars. Pard escapes out an open window. He runs the car down, and Marie talks him into picking up the dog.
Marie waits in the car with the dog while Roy, Red, and Babe go into the begin the robbery. A car pulls up outside, and Marie signals with the horn. They now have three hostages plus Mendoza. An old security guard comes by on his rounds. Marie signals again. The woman hostage screams and the guard tries to shoot Roy. Roy guns him down. Red and Babe come running out of the back with the loot they have collected. Mendoza runs out and leaves with Red and Babe.
Red takes the wrong road and crashes in a flaming ball. Roy and Marie head over the mountain towards LA. Marie is talking about going with Roy, but he wants to give her the brush. Roy goes up to Big Mac’s apartment. Kranmer answers the door and says Big Mac has gotten worse. The newspapers say Babe and Red are dead, but Mendoza survived.
When they go into the bedroom, Big Mac is dead. Roy says he is going to follow Big Mac’s instruction, but Kranmer wants to fence the jewels. Kranmer pulls a gun and tries to take the gems from Roy. Roy gets the jump and kills Kranmer, but he is wounded in the side.
Marie drives him to Doc’s and gets treated for the bullet wound. Roy asks about Velma.
Marie and Roy go to see Velma. Marie is jealous.
Inside the house, Velma is painted and dressed like a jezebel. Her boyfriend and another couple are there drinking and dancing. Velma acts happy to see Roy. Marie lets Pard out so she can go inside and look at Velma. Marie is shocked that Velma is planning on getting married. Roy goes a little Ike Turner, and Velma says she never liked Roy anyway.
Roy takes the jewels to Santa Monica to meet the fence as he was instructed in Big Mac’s letter. The fence says it will take a few days to get the money. He wants Roy to leave the jewels behind. Roy says he will kill the fence if they cheat him. Roy takes a ring out of the jewel box before he leaves. In the car, he gives the ring to Marie, and she is delighted.
Marie and Roy are hiding at a Motor Court. The newspapers say there is a $10,000 reward for him. Now, Marie wants to get rid of Pard, and she is having a case of quarantine fever. Roy’s bullet wound is getting infected.
Roy makes a call at a gas station and sees a picture of himself in the paper. The money for the jewels is expected to be in that night. Roy goes to get gas, and the Motor Court man is calling the dog Pard. Roy puts the man in a closet and clubs him with a gun. Mendoza has told about Marie and Pard traveling with Roy.
Roy is upset that the papers called him Mad-Dog. Roy put Marie on a bus for Las Vegas. She is carrying Pard in a wicker basket. Roy gives her all the money he has.
As Roy drives, he hears on the radio that the Auto Court man has identified him. Roy stops in a small town and robs a drug store. A cop walks in on the robbery, and Roy clubs him with a gun. The state police put the word out on Roy’s location. They close in on him, and the map shows that it is around Manzanar, site of the future Japanese American internment camp.
Roy turns back at a roadblock, and the police chase him into the mountains. Roy drives like a pro up the small dirt road. The police are not very far behind. The road is closed, and Roy runs into the rocks carrying a rifle and the machine-gun.
Roy takes a position in the hills where he can fire on the advancing police. When he opens up with the machine gun, the police scatter. The sheriff sends two men around, two up top, and calls for Slim with his high-powered rifle.
Marie jumps off the bus and heads back the other direction. Roy stays in the rocks into the night. Reporters arrive at the scene. Slim is asked to get above Roy, in a good firing position.
Marie makes it to the crowd watching the gun battle. Reporter Healy (Jerome Cowan) identifies Marie and Pard. He turns her over to the police.
The sun rises bright and clear. The sheriff has not heard from Slim, who is on a 1,000-foot climb. They want Marie to call for Roy, but she refuses, knowing he would rather die.
Pard heads out towards Roy as he uses one of his few remaining bullets to write a note. Slim is still moving in the rocks above Roy. The message Roy writes says Marie is innocent. When Roy hears the dog, he realizes Marie is below. He stands and starts calling for her. Slim shots and kills Roy.
The police, Marie, and Pard all run to Roy. The dog licks the hand of the dead man. Healy says Roy ain’t much now. Marie asks what crashing out means, and Healy replies it means free. She picks up Pard and is escorted down the hill repeating free, over and over.
I’ll be right back with conclusions and the World-Famous Short Summary following a word from our sponsors.
Summary – High Sierra (1941)
This movie has been remade a couple of times[4]. The first was the western Colorado Territory (1949), which Raoul Walsh also directed. The second time was I Died a Thousand Times (1955), which I have seen dozens of times. It is slightly easier to watch Jack Palance play a twisted mad-dog killer.
Apparently, the lead was offered to Paul Muni and then George Raft. Neither actor wanted to die at the end. Surrendering this role to Bogart was one of the mistakes that cost Raft his place as the top gangster actor.
Michael Sragow said in a January 16, 2000, article in the New York Times that High Sierra (1941) was the last of the old-time gangster films, which were replaced with anti-hero westerns and Film-Noir.
Sragow described W.R. Burnett’s novel as American individualism meets existentialism and supports this with a movie quote as follows – “You always hope you can get out,” says the former dime-a-dance gal, Marie, to the aging gangster, Roy Earle. “That sort of keep’s you going.”
Roy has horrible memories of the crossbar motel, and he thinks fondly of his childhood family farm. Bogart played out this bit about returning to a nostalgic past in Dead End (1937) with the same deadly results.
Roy Earle gets involved with Velma, “the good girl,” and Marie, the dance hall girl. He even adopts a stray dog, which was played by Bogart’s own dog. This bit about adopting a stray was played up in the western Silverado (1985).
Sagrow said “This movie is about a man moving through unfamiliar territory to what Shakespeare called ‘the undiscovered country.’” He continues saying the conflict of Roy Earle continues into films such as The Asphalt Jungle (1950), The Naked Spur (1953), Stalag 17 (1953), The Great Escape (1963), and The Wild Bunch (1969)
According to Sagrow, Velma represented Roy Earle’s nostalgia for the past and unobtainable dreams. At the same time, his relationship with Marie the reality of his chosen life.[5]
Lupino often played down and out women who were looking for a way out. Her first so-called “trapped” character was in today’s film. Marie is a dime-a-dance girl but longs for an everyday life. Roy Earle seems to want out also, but he fixates on the so-called good girl Velma as an appropriate wife.
The great film critic Roger Ebert said that “Ironically, Roy’s profession never dampers his reputation except when it comes to domesticity. He is drawn to good girl Velma (Joan Leslie), but when she rejects him, he turns to the one woman he knows will take him: Marie.”
He brings up some interesting questions for Marie, Lupino’s character, who he believes went through the most significant transformation in the film. Will her life return to what it was, or does the death of Roy cleanse her?[6]
Buster Wiles played the sharpshooter that killed Roy Earle at the end of the movie. He was also the stuntman that had to slide down the 90 feet or so of rock. At the bottom, Wiles needed Bogart’s dog Zero, who was playing Pard to run to his “dead” body. For the ride down the hill, he held a handful of dog treats to attract the animal. It worked, and it looked like a hell of a ride down.
Wiles wanted to make the slide again but was told by director Walsh “Forget it. It’s good enough for the 25-cent customers.” [7]
Velma (Joan Leslie) as a Femme Fatale.
World-Famous Short Summary – A pretty face don’t make no pretty heart
Beware the moors
[1] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0033717/
[2] https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/high_sierra
[3] https://www.nytimes.com/1941/01/25/archives/the-screen-high-sierra-at-the-strand-considers-the-tragic-and.html
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Sierra_(film)
[5] https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/011600sf-bogart.html
[6] https://www.rogerebert.com/features/the-woman-trapped-the-lens-of-ida-lupino
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Sierra_(film)
