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| High Sierra | ||
Bogie (as Roy Earle) and Ida Lupino (as Marie) |
High Sierra (masterfully directed by Raoul Walsh in his second outing with Bogart) was the film that
finally made Bogie a star. He originally received second billing to Ida Lupino, but was undoubtably the lead (in fact later
releases reversed the billing order). Lupino's character was brilliantly written and her acting was exceptional, but Bogie
brought a performance to the screen that lifted the entire film into another stratosphere. High Sierra tells the story of Roy Earle, a convicted robber and killer freshly released from an eight year jail stint (which was supposed to be a life sentence) by way of a pardon obtained via the corrupt powers of his crime boss, 'Big Mac'. Roy must do one last job in return for his freedom. | |
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The thing that makes this film so special in it's genre is the wonderfully complex character of Roy Earle. From the moment he is first released from prison,
we know that he is a somewhat complex and psychologically torn character. His first act of freedom is to take a walk in a park, look at the beauty of the trees and grass, and throw a stray baseball
back to the small children who are playing there. On his way to "the job" he stops to have a genuinely warm conversation with a poor farmer. His relationships
with women are also unusually gentle, including his relationship with Ida Lupino's emotionally lost character Marie, and the almost golden hearted kindness he
shows to the disabled daughter of a family of helpless strangers that he encounters on his journey. And yet, when the time comes, he is prepared to kill without remorse.
And this complexity of character is so well written and
so well acted that it works on every level.
High Sierra was supposed to be just another 25 cent gangster flic in the long line of cheap flics that Warner released during that era, but it turned out to be a classic. It is also considered to be the first 'film noir'. The screen play was written by multiple time Bogie collaborator John Huston (this film being their first joint effort) and W.R. Burnett (author of the novel upon which the film is based). Also contributing to the success of High Sierra was the great supporting cast which included Henry Hull, Henry Travers, Joan Leslie, Arthur Kennedy, Cornel Wilde, Alan Curtis and Bogart regular Barton MacLane. Shot in Black & White. The DVD presents the film in it's Original Aspect Ratio of 1.33 to 1. Extra Features include: Original Theatrical Trailer Curtains for Roy Earle: The Story of High Sierra - (short but informative 15 min featurette exploring the film's production history and Bogart's private life at the time). Available individually or as part of Humphrey Bogart - The Signature Collection, Vol. 1. | ||