Review of High Sierra (1941) by James H — 22 Aug 2004

1930s Hollywood saw the golden age of the gangster film. Even though they usually contained a tragic ending, the movies did a good job glamorizing the gangster life. They were being glamorized in the real world as well, though.

There were some people who considered Bonnie and Clyde two heroes in the "Robin Hood" mold, even though they were murderers who robbed from anyone and kept for themselves. John Dillinger - by all accounts a charming man - was so well-admired that as his body lay dying in front of that Chicago theater, people were dipping their handkerchiefs in his blood for souvenirs.

As mobs took over the world of crime and replaced the lonely outlaw, the gangster movie started to fade in popularity. Soon the genre would evolve into film noir, and we would be offered a grittier, more realistic look at the gangster life, with very little to admire about it.

The year 1941 saw the beginning of the evolution with the release of two collaborations between Humphrey Bogart and John Huston. In his January, 1941 review of "High Sierra", Bosley Crowther wrote, "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. .

. ." Bogart is Roy Earle, a gangster loosely based on John Dillinger. After a stretch of time in prison, he gets out and gets himself involved with another job. The script, by John Huston, gives us a much more interesting character for Bogart to play than the audience was used to seeing at the time.

Roy is a man who can be charming when he wants to, and usually is unless he's on the job. He's having doubts about his business, and is considering quitting after this last job. He won't tolerate any man hitting a woman, and he has a soft spot for dogs.

In a nice subplot, he falls in love with a crippled woman, and pays for an operation on her club foot. When she doesn't return his love, we feel his pain because Bogart isn't afraid to show it.

A crime spree with a dame played by the lovely Ida Lupino (top-billed; Bogart wasn't quite a star yet) can only end in Roy's demise, and as his body topples off a Sierra mountain, our heart falls with it.

Not because Roy Earle was glamorized, but because he was humanized. It's a fun yarn, Raoul Walsh's direction keeps the story moving at an exciting pace, and it serves as a nice closure to the classic gangster movie era.

The beginning of the next great gangster age - the noir era - began with Bogart and Huston's next collaboration, the beloved "The Maltese Falcon". This time Huston directed for the first time, and it would prove to be the first of many collaborations between him and Bogart.

Bogart now plays Sam Spade, a private investigator on the right side of the law. But just barely. Spade is cold and ruthless and he doesn't like people. He likes their money, though, which is why he'll take a case even when the person buying his time is lying, as happens here.

He finds himself tangled up in a search for a priceless gold bird. It almost seems more trouble than it's worth until Spade explains that "When a man's partner dies, you do something about it.

" With that line we understand what drives Sam Spade, a man who didn't even like his partner and even carried on an affair with his wife. If the mystery itself doesn't entirely make sense to the audience, it doesn't matter.

The movie's not about who did what with the bird and when. It's about the characters. It's about how Sam Spade operates. It's about what happens when a man's partner dies. Thus was film noir born.

As important spot-holders in film history, "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon" hold up exceptionally well today. As film classics, they've rightfully achieved the distinction.

As good movies, they're the stuff that dreams are made of.