High Sierra (1941)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Raoul Walsh

Writers:

John Huston (screenplay) and
W.R. Burnett (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

25 January 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The Blazing Mountain Manhunt for Killer 'Mad-Dog' Earle!

Plot:

Roy 'Mad Dog' Earle is broken out of prison by an old associate who wants him to help with an upcoming robbery...

Plot Keywords:

Robbery | Police | Dog | Prison | Murder

Cast

Ida Lupino	...	Marie
Humphrey Bogart	...	Roy Earle
Alan Curtis	...	'Babe'
Arthur Kennedy	...	'Red'
Joan Leslie	...	Velma
Henry Hull	...	'Doc' Banton
Henry Travers	...	Pa
Jerome Cowan	...	Healy
Minna Gombell	...	Mrs. Baughmam
Barton MacLane	...	Jake Kranmer
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Ma (as Elizabeth Risdon)
Cornel Wilde	...	Louis Mendoza
Donald MacBride	...	Big Mac
Paul Harvey	...	Mr. Baughmam
Isabel Jewell	...	Blonde

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G (TV rating) | Argentina:Atp | Finland:(Banned) (1942) | Finland:K-8 (1990) | USA:Approved (certificate #6563) | Australia:PG | Germany:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Humphrey Bogart''s part in this movie was originally intended for Paul Muni. Muni did not like the first draft of the screenplay which was authored solely by John Huston and given to him by Hal B. Wallis, so Wallis got the book's author W.R. Burnett to assist John Huston in a second rewrite. This rewrite was presented to Paul Muni who still disliked it and turned the movie and the role down completely. In the meantime, On May 4th, 1940, Humphrey Bogart sent a telegram to Hal B. Wallis reiterating his continuing desire, which he had mentioned several months earlier, to play the part of Roy Earle. After Muni turned down the script the next person on the list for Warner Brothers was George Raft. Bogart, knowing that Raft was trying to change his image and move away from gangster roles, found out about this and mentioned to Raft when he saw him next that the studio was trying to get him do another gangster movie where the gangster gets shot at the end. Raft marched into Hal B. Wallis office and flatly refused to do the movie. Bogart finally ended up with the role he wanted all along by default.

Goofs:

Continuity: During the chase up Mt. Whitney, the dust from the camera car can be seen kicking up in front of Roy's car and the police motorcycles.

Quotes:

Roy Earle: Of all the 14 karat saps... starting out on a caper with a woman and a dog.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Bad Sister (1983) (TV)

Soundtrack:

I Get a Kick out of You (1934)

Ida Lupino easily equals Lauren Bacall.

The first thing to bear in mind is that there are actually TWO movies."High sierra" and its western remake "Colorado territory" (1949),both Walsh 's works.The latter is probably superior to the former,since the final is more impressive,but you should not underestimate it though;Humphrey Bogart is much better than Joel McCrea and Ida Lupino is at least as good as Virginia Mayo:actually,except for Lauren Bacall,Ingrid Bergman and Katherine Hepburn,rarely a Bogart's female partner had such an intensity,such a presence :sometimes she even steals the show,particularly in the last scenes.

There are two female parts in Walsh's movie -as in the remake,in which the second one is played by none other than Dorothy Malone- Lupino's bad gal with a strong heart,whose stature keeps on growing during the whole movie:a gangster's moll at the beginning of the story,she becomes a tragic character whose pursuit of happiness is moving at the end.On the other hand the crippled girl,who seems a sweet ,romantic (check the scene of the stars),and touching heroine,becomes an hateful silly goose when she's had the operation.And she 's changed physically as well:she grew into a sophisticated girl,we hardly know her in her last scene.

The car chases are masterfully filmed ,the grandiose landscapes lovingly filmed as if they were seen through Bogart's eye ,this man who had been in jail for a long time and who longed for freedom...this freedom he would earn anyway.Ida Lupino's last words will move you to tears.