(2012-04-20 22:19:11)

One of the majuscule Noir films ever!

One of the most relevant contributions of this genre, so beloved and admired for so many people around the world, resides in the beating actuality of the narrated events. Humphrey Bogart is the criminal "Mad dog" Roy Earle who is helped to escape from prison by Big Mac ( here we have the honor pact among the criminals literally hover their lives as a sacred blaze). On the way, he will meet Velma a clubfooted girl for whom he feels a sympathetic attraction, but although as he has other things in mind, he never forgets her. The planned holdup is with astonishing accuracy, but the fate sets in this poker game an awful and tragic card; his two partners are killed in a car crash. Henceforth, the events fall in what we might denominate the sinister chaos that precedes the final fall down; Roy Earle has fallen in that undesired vertigo of desperation, anguish, fear and uncertainness that eventually will led him to the unavoidable meeting with the death. To my mind Raoul Walsh would achieve his supreme masterpiece with White heat, but this movie in particular owns all the essential factors of the modern tragedy, where smartly the confiscation of your will has fallen in the untouchable whirlwind of the randomness, or the cosmic nasty trick.One of the 20 best Noir films ever made.

(2012-04-20 10:56:15)

"CLASSIC CRIME DRAMA"

This review is from: High Sierra (Snap Case) (DVD) Roy Earle is released from prison and is preparing for his final heist. Screenplay by,W.R.Bernett&John Houston. Directer;Raoul Walch. Lupino&bogart with a great cast. I call this movie;Sympathyfor the criminal film. (You're brought into their world.) This is a well crafted movie from the40's.The most subtle scene is,Bogart at the cigaret counter.Check my review of;"I died a 1000 times."(remake.)WB,HAS IT ON WIDE SCREEN DVD.Extra's:Interviews,which includes Joan Leslie. Trailers,etc.

(2012-04-17 00:48:13)

One of Bogarts best.

I had seen this movie on TV enough, that I decided to go ahead and buy this DVD. It's a wonderful addition to my movie collection. The DVD is beautiful, very nice transfer. Movie itself is wonderful, full of intrigue and the last few minutes of the movie are wonderful.All the preformances are spectacular. This is one of Bogart's best movies, Dark Passage is another wonderful Bogart film. Ida Lupino, Arthur Kennedy add to the richness of the picture. I recommend buying this DVD.

(2012-04-16 12:47:51)

The convergence of old ways and newly found self...

The callous Roy Earl (Humphrey Bogart), a skilled robber, is pardoned and released back into society from being locked up in a prison. Once outside Roy goes back to his old ways as an old friend is planning a new heist. However, age has caught up with Roy as he realizes that most of his friends have passed away and that most people in his trade are very young. This leads Roy to gently reaching out to a handicapped woman with whom he can empathize with and relate to, and helping her out of a battered situation. In addition, Roy forms a strong emotional bond with a dog, Pard, that seeks Roy's affectionate care. The question is if Roy can balance his old lifestyle with his newly discovered self as he is about to carry out a criminal plan. High Sierra is a terrific cinematic experience as it offers both suspense and human connections in a tragic story in which Bogart gives an outstanding performance.

drednm

(2012-04-10 22:55:56)

Magnificent and Sad

Very underrated film about good and evil, or the perceptions of such.Humphrey Bogart plays a bank robber who gets paroled after 8 years. Heimmediately gets involved in a new scheme but then meets two women whochange his life.Ida Lupino plays the "bad girl" who yearns for a better life but can'tget away from her thug boy friend, who is now one of Bogart's partnersin crime. Joan Leslie plays a girl with a club foot whom Bogartimmediately falls for. Things get complicated when Bogart arranges tohave the girl's foot operated on and he realizes that Lupino has fallenfor him.This is a film where no is quite what he or she seems to be. The girlbrings out the humanity in Bogart's character, but of course after sheis "cured" she becomes a party girl and immediately hooks up with herdivorced boy friends from back east. She spurns Bogart's offer ofmarriage. Meanwhile Lupino becomes more and more attracted to Bogart.The robbery at a posh club goes badly. Bogart's partners (ArthurKennedy and Alan Curtis) crash during the getaway. Bogart has the lootbut then the "fence" (Donald MacBride) dies and he's stuck waitingaround while they find a way to get cash for the jewelry.The famous finale of this film is filmed on location in the Sierras. AsBogart is holed up in the mountains, the local media goes into a frenzyabout him and nicknames him "Mad Dog," which infuriates Bogart. Asidefrom being a robber, Bogart is of course really a "good" man, just asLupino is really, underneath the tough exterior, a "good" woman.Lupino (who gets top billing) and Bogart are excellent. Both actorshave the amazing ability to act tough and always show their "soft"interiors. Leslie is OK as the gimp. Kennedy and Curtis are also OK asthe dumb crooks.Supporting cast includes MacBride, Henry Travers (excellent as Pa),Cornel Wilde (as Mendoza), Elisabeth Risdon, Minna Gombell, PaulHarvey, John Eldridge, Henry Hull, Isabel Jewell, Barton MacLane, HarryHayden, and Jerome Cowan.This was an important film in the careers of Bogart and Lupino, andthey are both just excellent.

JohnRouseMerriottChard

(2012-04-10 06:16:28)

Roy Earle, a man out of prison, and out of his time.

Roy Earle is released early from prison thanks to a rather shiftypardon. A job is there to be done, maybe Roy's last one before finallyfinding love and straightening out?, but Roy is finding out that thisis a different world to the one he left behind, the one before heentered the Big House for his stretch. Crooks he's not familiar withand women turning his head, hell even a canine has him at odds with hismachismo sensibility, but all of it will come crashing together amongstthe magnificent High Sierra!.It's a really funny thing now, you buy two DVDs and they both tell youthat the respective film from 1941 is the breakout role for HumphreyBogart. I am of course referring to both this fabulous film and theequally brilliant, Maltese Falcon, what a double that is eh!. Truth is,is that both films merely showcase what a talent the great man was, andcrucially, that he could imbue his characters with terrific results.Here as Roy Earle i personally feel Bogey gives one of his best 40sperformances, made to look far more aged than he was {well done PercWestmore}, he manages to make Earle a tough and gritty man, yet at thesame time he pulls the audience on side with a hardened professionalismthat has us admiring the obvious qualities that reside within him.Directed by the great Raoul Walsh, scripted by one John Huston, andstarring Humphrey Bogart, it's obvious that this take on W.R. Burnett'snovel is in safe hands, playing out as one of the gangster genre's lasthurrahs, it's clear to me that some future great Western directors wereclearly taking notes, for what drives High Sierra to being great isit's man out of his time pulse, sensitivity seams thru the picturewithout ever cloying the tension and feel of the picture, the bestAdult Westerns would theme this arc with considerably great results.Backing Bogart up is the top billed Ida Lupinio {strong and perfectfoil}, while the likes of Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy, Henry Hull,Cornel Wilde, Henry Travers and Joan Leslie {badly overacting withouthurting the production} help up to put High Sierra firmly in the drawerthat holds classic crime pictures from a golden age. Not just a closelook at deep and elegiac characters, High Sierra does not lack in theaction department either, in fact Walsh does an incredible job ofknitting together heart and gusto with intelligent results. Come thefinale at Mount Whitney {High Sierra a constant looming presence in thefilm}, the thrills have more than catered for the inclined seekers ofthat particular bent, but ultimately as the credits role, Walsh'scamera leaves us in no doubt as to what has driven Roy, and HighSierra, to it's point of meaning, a special and great movie indeed,9/10

Jack Gattanella

(2012-04-02 07:06:44)

an exceptional crime movie, more than anything for what the writers, Walsh and Bogart do with the protagonist, and romance

Roy "Mad Dog" Earle usually isn't the kind of guy you want to say thewrong thing to on the street or in a store. He's an ex-convict, with arecord of robberies and other criminal endeavors, and now that he justgot busted out by a crime boss he respects, he wants to pull off thisnext score and maybe call it quits. He has that stone-cold face of aman with plenty of grit in his system, and he won't settle for anshenanigans- or anyone messing around with a woman the wrong way. RaoulWalsh, the filmmaker, and screenwriters John Huston and WR Burnett knowthis very well about the character, that he's the tough guy who SHOULDbe the villain of the story. But he isn't, and High Sierra marks acrucial step in the crime films of the 30s and 40s by making Earle morethan just a brutish guy with money squarely on his professional mind.He's also one who can be vulnerable, and fall in love, or possibly beone to deep down deny how he might "crash" at some point. We see thislast part very clearly and compellingly when Earle is sleeping, and insome kind of bad dream, and the woman he's with looks on at him,drifting in and out of talking, saying "no..no, not this, don't crash."Rarely has any crime film allowed us to get the un-certainty in apsychological vein as this, at least in the straight-laced era of the40s.Bogart, then, is the best choice for this character, and he embodiesEarle with the same velocity he gave to his more one-sided tough guysfrom the gangster pictures of the 30s, but he also carries the sidethat is meant to be more affected by the opposite sex. In a noticeablesense Bogart's Earle has two sides, the one he's normally best atshowing, to either his boss- Donald McBride's Big Mac, one of the bestactors in the film even in just one scene- or to his criminal cohorts,and the other side, where he gets involved with a small-town family,where the daughter (Joan Leslie) has a foot condition, and he decidesto get it fixed for her thinking perhaps that he might ask her hand inmarriage. This gets complicated, however, when the personal side creepsinto the professional, and Marie (Ida Lupino, proving her acting chopsbefore she proved those at directing) falls deep for Roy, likeI-can't-live-without-you attachment. Seeing the transitioning ofromantic interest is a great measure of characterization in an ofitself, because Bogart plays it at first with Lupino straightforward-don't get involved with me, and don't get too deep in the job- but thischanges as the reality of Roy's interest in Velma is made clear. Howcan a criminal really involve himself, and not expect to be rejected,by the more conventional small-town family? A lot of these scenes help raise High Sierra above the typicalpaint-by-numbers in a high stakes heist picture, but Walsh also doesn'tforget to give the audiences what they want. There's some fine toolingwith the heist sequence, for example, to show just how shabby a thinglike this can be without the right planning, and in fact how it's nottoo much of a surprise how it could be a set-up (gun-shots galore). Andas the tension mounts, the techniques at Walsh's disposal are to thepoint, but also in some stylistic flourishes. Like when Roy suddenlyhas no choice but to hold up a teller at a store for money, that he mayor may not be owed, and the call goes out to the authorities insuper-impositions, mechanical things going over people's eyes and facesvery quickly. And few chase scenes go for the length but excitementthat happens as Roy's being chased by the cops on the mountain roads.The simplicity of style, of Walsh's professional focus on the job athand, is matched up wonderfully with the screenplay's handling ofmaking these more realistic than is expected: you feel for Roy, not ina despising way as a villain, but who is left to the haggle ofcircumstance and fate, and there's even a moment of sadness up on thatmountainside as authorities and Roy go head to head.I can't say which I would prefer, this or Colorado Territory, as I'veyet to see the latter. But if you're a fan of Bogart in the slightest,it's surely worth the rental, and it may even appeal to today's fans ofcrime films (well, not all of them, of course) looking for a lesson inthe embracing and subversion of the genre of the period. Plus, it hasone of the great endings in the crime genre.

ackstasis

(2012-04-01 19:27:12)

"I wouldn't give you two cents for a dame without a temper."

Perhaps more completely than John Huston's 'The Maltese Falcon (1941),'Humphrey Bogart's first outing of 1941 set the standard for thefilm-noir movement that would dominant American cinema for two decadesto follow. Other precursors to noir had already been released, ofcourse, but few had captured the essence of the style more adeptly thandirector Raoul Walsh, who, incidentally, made a leading man out ofHumphrey Bogart in the process. There's our stoic but tragic mainprotagonist, driven by fate's bitterly-ironic sense of humour towards awretched conclusion. There's our femme fatale – not quite the predatoryblack widow of later experience – but nonetheless a dangerous dame,with whom a close association will inevitably lead to no good. There'sa good selection of suitably nefarious characters, each with their ownfurtive intentions and all to be treated with suspicion. There's alsoan adorable little dog – yes, a dog! – but even this lovable littlepooch (Bogart's own pet, named Zero) has a hand in Roy Earle's eventualdownfall.When a hardened criminal (Humphrey Bogart) is pardoned from a lifesentence, he immediately falls once again into a life of crime. Whilehe and three inexperienced criminals draw up plans to rob a Californianresort casino, Roy Earle attempts to reclaim the simple humanity of hislong-forgotten past, and he aids a poor farming family by financing anoperation to help young Velma (Joan Leslie) overcome a walkingdisability. However, when his romantic approaches towards Velma arerebuffed, Earle turns his attention to Marie (Ida Lupino), a formertaxi-dancer who means well, but can only lead to trouble. 'High Sierra'differs from many gangster pictures of the 1930s in that it encouragesthe audience to sympathise with its main character, to such a levelthat we're almost willing to imagine Earle as a hapless innocent whohas fallen into the inescapable trap of past loyalties. Also veryevident in the film are the foundations of the classic "heist flick,"and co-screenwriter John Huston would return as director to popularisethe sub-genre in 'The Asphalt Jungle (1950).'However, for all its good moments, there are also many that don't quitework. Bogart was evidently hesitant about his on screen relationshipwith Joan Leslie, who was sixteen-years-old at the time, and hetwenty-six years her senior. The contrast is so jarring that anycredibility their budding romance might have had dissipates almostimmediately, and the subplot would have worked more effectively hadEarle sought a father/daughter association rather than a marriage.Other scenes in the film, perhaps their impact stifled by dozens ofsuccessors, lack the intensity of Bogart's other great film noirentries – such as 'The Big Sleep (1946)' and 'In a Lonely Place (1950)'– and the latter film, directed by Nicholas Ray, did a superior job ofhighlighting Bogart's alienation amid a society into which he can'tassimilate. Nevertheless, with its strong acting, interesting story andhighly-influential themes, 'High Sierra (1941)' is a high watermark inthe film noir timeline, and proves a suitably entertaining crimepicture in its own right.

ccthemovieman-1

(2012-03-30 18:25:40)

Bogie Goes From Bad To Good Guy

Aw, the film that launched stardom for Humphrey Bogart and changed himfrom the perpetual villain to the "good guy."The movie doesn't feature a lot of action but it keeps your interest.You have two women in here: the hard-boiled Ida Lupino and thesoft-and-sweet Joan Leslie. Both are entertaining to watch and bothdemonstrate a few surprises in the personalities of the characters theyare playing. Bogart does the same: goes back and forth between toughguy and softy.Another key member of this unusual crime story/film noir is "Pard:" alittle dog! Human supporting roles are supplied by some familiar andsolid actors such as Arthur Kennedy, Alan Curtis, Henry Hull, HenryTravers, Barton MacLane and Cornel Wilde. Most of the people in here,including "Pard," are that endearing but there are so many differentangles to this story, it's always interesting to see.

Neil Doyle

(2012-03-30 07:28:22)

Interesting but never one of my favorite Bogart films...

IDA LUPINO was given top billing for this one, although she hasconsiderably less screen time than HUMPHREY BOGART, playing a killernamed "Mad Dog Earle". That, it seems, was because Jack Warner wasbuilding her up for top stardom after some impressive roles proved shecould act. But HIGH SIERRA really belongs more to Bogart than anyoneelse.He carries the film--not that others aren't on hand and displaying somepretty good talent. But I didn't like the sub-plot that has him fallingfor a lame girl with a club foot (JOAN LESLIE) who seems all sweet andinnocent until she's cured and turns on him. Lupino, as anyone couldsee, was more his type and their chemistry is what gives the film aboost, especially midway when Lupino's role becomes more prominent.ALAN CURTIS, ARTHUR KENNEDY, HENRY HULL, HENRY TRAVERS, JEROME COWANand, surprisingly, newcomer CORNEL WILDE all have some good supportingroles--the Warner stock company hard at work.Directed in his usual rugged western style by Raoul Walsh, it's aninteresting crime melodrama that gets off to a slow start but builds upsuspense by the time it gets to the climactic fight between Bogie andthe police among the craggy rocks of the Sierra mountains.

(2012-03-19 15:59:55)

On the Run

Bank-robber Roy Earle (Bogart) may be outside the law, but he's a lot more sympathetic than those functionaries carrying out the law. Of course, they get him in the end, just as the production code of the day said they must. In the meantime, however, we're treated to a zeitgeist glimpse of the Depression Era, as captured by screenwriters John Huston and W.R. Burnett. Together they underscore Earle's connection to ordinary folks, whether passing time with a dirt farmer, befriending a penniless crippled girl, or shooting the breeze with her folksy father. Clearly he's an extention of them, and when he 'breaks free' at movie's end, we know audiences of the day break free of their own oppressive conditions, if only for a moment.This is a milestone Bogart movie, the one that catapulted him onto the Hollywood A-list as the soft-hearted tough guy that would become his signature. Good as he is -- and looking like John Dillinger in a prison haircut -- I like Ida Lupino's soulful gun moll even better. Together, she and Sylvia Sydney defined the downtrodden, yet gutsy, lower class woman of the time. Here she clings to outlaw Earle and their ugly mutt like it's her last shot at life, which it probably is, the script discreetly implying she's been passed from man to man for years. So at film's end, when, ennobled by true love, her eyes uplift and a beatific glow calls forth, we know that a dignity is restored and a past transcended -- and the "High" in High Sierra comes to stand for a lot more than hard-scrabble mountaintop.

(2012-03-19 04:52:05)

Great performances hampered by a silly storyline

Reading the editorial review as well as the customer reviews, I didn't realize the context the movie had when it came out in its day. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold up too well today. The plotting is its ultimate failure, as Bogie's Roy Earle lets his guard down all too often in the silliest of ways. This directly contradicts with Bogie's portrayal of a streetwise seasoned con who appears to know all the tricks in the book as well as the downsides to a life of crime, fitting in line with his greatest gangster roles like Glenn Griffin and Duke Mantee. The "big" heist plays off as such a small affair where the criminals spend much of their time waiting for the green light by twiddling their thumbs, fighting with each other, and taking side trips that have nothing to do with the heist itself. The heist itself is pulled off in the open, with the criminals baring their faces to several witnesses. Earle himself stays in the clear far too long for even the police work of the time and the scale of the heist as portrayed in the film, given the fact that he doesn't lie low like he should and is aided by a few lucky breaks that would most likely never happen in real life. Worth a look but definitely not a keeper.

gring0

(2012-03-19 10:02:22)

Ultimately unmemorable

Everyone loves "Mad Dog" Collins- a lovable dog, a crippled girl halfhis age who talks like an eight-year old, her grandpa (who played thedoctor in The Invisible Man), and the cynical Ida Lupino. But why?Bogart hardly shows any wit, humour or charisma towards any of thecharacters. Nor can it be understood why Bogart would choose thechildlike Velma over the jaw-dropping Lupina who oozes sex and ispractically begging it Bogie-style. "Don't talk like a sap" Bogarttells Lupina, but that would be characteristic of most of the dialoguedespite one reviewer's claims that it is "witty." The film seemsuncertain as to what direction it wants to take- either a Chaplinesquesyrupy romance demanding double-takes, gaping mouths and wide-eyes fromits actors and tears and vulnerable innocence from its actresses. Throwin a cross-eyed "coloured boy" who of course is always asleep and a fewbooks short of a library and invulnerable police and you have a filmthat seems dated even for 1941 standards. As a result the film, alreadylengthy at 100 minutes, drags until the obligatory final chase (which Imust say is creditable). This is not helped by the ultimately pointlessdiversion involving the doddering old man who is introduced to "MadDog" by a pseudonym and yet, the next meeting refers to him by his realname after a contrived coincidence which has Bogart fall in love with achild. www.tracesofevil.blogspot.com

fedor8

(2012-03-19 03:12:50)

Sierra must have been indeed high: on crack.

High Camp in High Sierra.This is the sort of old-school Hollywood cheese that rivals any cheeseever made in France, Switzerland or Denmark. There is no aroma like thesmell of filmic cheese.Bogey, the perennial criminal midget with the height of a tall bunnyand the speech impediment of a Looney Toons character, leaves jail. Nosooner is he out, already is he being involved in a major heist. (Atleast those silly old movies waste no time.) He meets an "ex-copper", anew associate, whom Bogey instantly dislikes. "I don't trust no damnex-coppers!" This resentment against "coppers", who are surely theprincipals to blame for standing between Mad Dog Earle and his eternalbliss, Bogey displays with a quick double-slap! The ex-copper neverknew what hit him. Just as I never knew what hit ME: I was laughing,caught totally off-guard by this extremely silly scene that was in noway meant to be comical.Mad Dog Bogey Earle is not just a bank robber - he is Robin Hood. Hesteals from the rich, and then gives to poor girls with clubfeet. Hehas a chance meeting with Verna, a wide-eyed crippled girl. Bogey getsthe hots for her, forgets about the heist completely (and we forgetthis is a heist movie!). "That dame wouldn't be half-bad if I didsomethin' about that damn limp!" Previously he had met Ida Lupino, butfor some reason this hardened criminal who hadn't touched a woman inyears totally ignores her: Lupino is anything but ugly, reminding mequite a bit of Susan Hayward. Aren't convicts interested (mildly put)in sex once they finally leave jail? But, no: Mad Dog Earle is anIDEALISTIC criminal. Not only is he a modern-day Robin Hood, but healso cares far more about love than sex. A man in his 40s leaves jailand he wants... love?? Only in a dumb 40s film."The papers called me 'Mad Dog Earle'! Damn them! I'm Robin HoodEarle!"Verna gets to walk, even dance, only DAYS after her ultra-successfulfoot surgery. Apparently, early 40s medicine was far advanced inrelation to anything that exists now."Say, that goyl sure got up quickly! I sure oughta thank Huston'sbrilliant script for that!" There is something decidedly creepy about a 41 year-old Bogey (lookingmore like 55) putting his mangy hand on 16 year-old, cripple JoanLeslie. (She is supposed to be 20-ish)."Say, I figure if I fix that damn foot of hers, she'll not only not bea cripple no more, but I'll get to have 'er, too!" Sadly, VERY sadly,Leslie later rejects this noble criminal's sexual and marital advances.However, like a true gentleman - which as we know ALL old-schoolcriminals are - he does not threaten anyone, doesn't even demand themoney back that he paid for the surgery. Another such selfless,high-principled display of that wondrous nature was to be seen when heactually decided to follow-up on his dead boss's wishes, written in aletter that Bogey - naturally - hadn't opened out of curiosity BEFOREthe old geezer died. (Oh, yeah, did I mention the fact that the dyingboss is another criminal with a heart-of-gold?)"Say, how come such two-bit crooks like us are such swell guys?..."Like every noble, selfless, murdering criminal, Bogey does not rejoicewhen the car with the other gang members blows up on the road. "Say,those two guys crashed! That means mine and Lupino's cut of the lootdoubles - and yet I can't and won't celebrate for I am Robin the HoodEarle!" More silliness comes in form of a mutt. Believe it or not, someone wholoves dogs (either Huston or the author) managed to turn the movie'smutt into a central plot-device-making instrument. Mad Dog Oyle is thebest in the business, a hardened, smart pro - and yet he brings alongthis mutt ON A HEIST! Oh, them da criminal hearts-of-gold, them's hardto match in goodness...At one point Earle gets shot. He doesn't let a mere bullet bother him,hence he gets up straight away. Later on, the abdomenal surgery hurt nomore than the bullet entering his noble flesh, hence he also gets upfrom the surgeon's table with the lightness of a bee."Say, that bullet hardly scratched me! It must be one of them JohnHuston bullets that hurt no more than a needle sting." I also love how they used the same plot-device TWICE. Both times whenBogey robs a place, a cops shows up. "Coppers like them da ants: alwaysmilling around everywhere!" And I think black people will absolutelyADORE the awfully stereotypical black character...HS is an absurd, but watchable piece of crap that should have yougrinning like a lunatic - or, if you're not that bright, should haveyou writing what a great and relevant movie it is for the evolution ofcinema.

theowinthrop

(2012-03-16 13:25:37)

Bogie reaches film stardom.

People mistakenly think that the two films that made Humphrey Bogart astar were "The Maltese Falcon" and "Casablanca". In fact it is thisfilm, made the same year as "The Maltese Falcon" and directed by RaoulWalsh, not John Huston and Michael Curtiz. Based on a novel byW.R.Burnett (author of "Little Caesar" and "The Asphalt Jungle"), it isquite well written. Roy Earle (Bogie) is a clone of Dillinger (likeBogie's first notable role of "Duke Mantee" in "The PetrifiedForrest"). He has been in prison, but he gets an early release (bybribes) engineered by an old friend (Donald MacBride, in a good seriousperformance). MacBride is planning the robbery of a luxury resort, andneeds Bogart to do it. But Bogart finds that MacBride's assistant (anex-cop played by Barton MacLane) is untrustworthy. He also worriesabout the young men he has to work with - especially a too friendlyinside man (Cornell Wilde in one of his first roles). And on top ofeverything else there is the matter of a young girl with a club foot(Joan Leslie) that could be Bogart's daughter. He falls for her, andwants to help cure her. He can when he has the cash - he has a friendlydoctor (Henry Hull) to assist him. But he is so hung up about the girlthat he ignores the signs of another, tougher woman (Ida Lupino) whodoes show an interest in him. Also, he tries to ignore the stories ofdemons and doom regarding an adorable little dog that a caretaker(Willie Best) tells him.The film is a first rate one, just a smidge less impressive than "TheMaltese Falcon" and "Casablanca" because of the strength of the script."High Sierra" is well written, but it has no memorable quotes, like,"Of all the gin joints...." or "I enjoy talking to a man...." WillieBest's details about the ill-luck pursuing the dog is the best stretchof real dialogue in the film, and today (due to feelings about racialstereotyping concerning Best) many people tend to overlook how it setsthe stage for later levels of the tragedy in the film.The only problem I have regarding it is Jerome Cowan. He is given oneof the lead positions in the credits, but his role (a reporter whoappears in the last ten minutes of the film) doesn't merit it. He alsohas dialogue directed to Ida Lupino suggesting they met or know eachother somehow. There appears to have been cut scenes in the film. WasCowan in those cut scenes?

dbdumonteil

(2012-03-16 03:18:11)

Ida Lupino easily equals Lauren Bacall.

The first thing to bear in mind is that there are actually TWOmovies."High sierra" and its western remake "Colorado territory"(1949),both Walsh 's works.The latter is probably superior to theformer,since the final is more impressive,but you should notunderestimate it though;Humphrey Bogart is much better than Joel McCreaand Ida Lupino is at least as good as Virginia Mayo:actually,except forLauren Bacall,Ingrid Bergman and Katherine Hepburn,rarely a Bogart'sfemale partner had such an intensity,such a presence :sometimes sheeven steals the show,particularly in the last scenes.There are two female parts in Walsh's movie -as in the remake,in whichthe second one is played by none other than Dorothy Malone- Lupino'sbad gal with a strong heart,whose stature keeps on growing during thewhole movie:a gangster's moll at the beginning of the story,she becomesa tragic character whose pursuit of happiness is moving at the end.Onthe other hand the crippled girl,who seems a sweet ,romantic (check thescene of the stars),and touching heroine,becomes an hateful silly goosewhen she's had the operation.And she 's changed physically as well:shegrew into a sophisticated girl,we hardly know her in her last scene.The car chases are masterfully filmed ,the grandiose landscapeslovingly filmed as if they were seen through Bogart's eye ,this man whohad been in jail for a long time and who longed for freedom...thisfreedom he would earn anyway.Ida Lupino's last words will move you totears.

(2012-03-10 13:23:09)

Bogart always delivers, but this is nothing special

Humphrey Bogart became a legend as a tough guy: he talked fast, asked few questions, and stuck his neck out for nobody. His characters were usually only interested in selfish pursuits, but they usually had a soft spot for a beautiful woman. Bogart's character in High Sierra, an aging criminal named Roy Earle, falls right in line with that archetypal character, and the movie he's in is pretty good, to boot.Earle, just recently out of prison, is quickly hired to heist jewelry and cash from a hotel in Los Angeles. As he's driving to L.A. from Chicago, he runs into an old couple, Ma and Pa, and their granddaughter Velma (Joan Leslie), who is stricken with a clubbed foot, and immediately catches the attention of Earle. Wouldn't you know it? They are headed to Los Angeles as well. Roy, however, is staying at a resort outside of L.A. along with his two cohorts, who turn out to be a couple of smalltime twits, with the nicknames "Babe" (Alan Curtis) and "Red" (Arthur Kennedy). They've brought along with them a young woman named Marie (Ida Lupino), who becomes immediately infatuated with Earle.Roy doesn't return Marie's affections, however, as he is there to do a job and then get out. He's not much interested in crime anymore, and would like to retire to a farm in Indiana like the one he grew up at. Earle makes a couple of visits to L.A. with several things on his agenda: to scope out the hotel, to meet with the guy in charge, and to pay for an operation that will fix Velma's foot, and hopefully convince her to marry him. Well, things don't always go as planned, and the case is no different here, as Earle ends up running from the law, who are quickly on his tail, and looking to bring this famous criminal down very publicly.High Sierra, released in 1941, set in motion some staples of today's action genre, including car chases and fugitives on the run. However, the actual action in the film is minimal. There are some obviously ridiculous scenes by today's standards--including Bogart delivering a monologue in his sleep--and the whole film is fairly predictable, but that doesn't really make it any less enjoyable. In general, my rule is, if Humphrey Bogart's in it, it's probably worth seeing. With Bogart, you know exactly what you're going to get, and you know that he will deliver every time. High Sierra is no different.

Snow Leopard

(2012-03-10 05:48:46)

Bogart Stands Out In An Interesting & Well-Crafted Story

Even aside from its impact on Humphrey Bogart's career and on the noirgenre, "High Sierra" is an entertaining and interesting movie that isworth seeing in its own right. Bogart's portrayal of Roy Earle, alongwith Ida Lupino, a talented supporting cast, and some well-chosensettings, are all fit together nicely to tell an interesting story.Though it's hard now to experience Bogart's gangster roles as theywould have appeared to their original audiences, it's still easy to seewhy this and similar roles attracted so much attention at the time. Thecharacter is interesting to begin with, and Bogart makes him even moreso. The tension between Earle's ruthlessness and his sense of fairness,and between his desires and his practicality, makes for someinteresting possibilities.Bogart makes good use of these opportunities with his distinctivestyle. The other characters and the plot developments furnish plenty ofmaterial that develop Earle's character and give Bogart lots to workwith. Even the sequences that might seem unlikely or out of place areused to add depth to the character and the story.The climactic sequence in the mountains ties everything togethernicely, in a very appropriate setting. "High Sierra" is the kind ofmovie that classic movie fans can enjoy both for the chance to see itsinfluence on later movies and for its own interesting and well-craftedstory.

telegonus

(2012-03-06 02:20:41)

Mountain Greenery

W.R. Burnett's novel High Sierra is maybe his best book; it's certainly aclassic of its type, and very readable and moving even today. The movieversion of the book isn't quite as good, but it does something fewadaptations do: it captures the spirit of the original.The story is about a John Dillinger-like criminal, Roy Earle, just releasedfrom prison, and his planning of his last 'heist', as he moves from theMidwest to California. It's as much a character study as anything else, andhere the book is better, as Burnett seems to get inside the heart and soulof Roy Earle in ways that screenwriter John Huston and director Raoul Walshcan't. This isn't their fault. Burnett gives us Earle's inner life ininterior monologues, and movies simply can't do this. Nevertheless, we get afeeling for Earle, a lonely, extremely sentimental and romantic man,essentially a frontier type, or with more brains an artist, who cannot fitinto modern life. The reason is simple: he doesn't understand it. He isdriven by two things, strong emotions and extreme professionalism. Theproblem is that his profession is crime. Between these two extremes he isunsocialized, or rather doesn't understand the subtlety of contemporarylife. To put it in current parlance, he's not hip, which is to say he has nodetachment, no capacity for pulling back and reflecting, unless, that is, heis in love, and even then he gets it wrong by misunderstanding anattractive, crippled girl's reliance on him for love, and taking her countrygirl disposition for naivite (i.e. like him), which isn't true. This tragicaspect of Roy Earle is beautifully and perceptively described by Burnett,and while it's present in the film, it makes Roy seem obtuse, while thetruth is his emotions run deep, and are sincere. He wants to give up crimeand marry a small-town girl so that he can go back and get it right again.In the lead role Humphrey Bogart gives a major performance. Superficiallyhe's wrong for Roy Earle: too urban, flip, smart and clever. But he tradesin his natural big city persona for a moony, brooding romanticism, and itworks. He doesn't seem the least bit sophisticated, and in his quietermoments he comes off like a man who can kill the way other men write checksHe has a true girl-friend in Ida Lupino, but he doesn't realize that she'smore his type: life-weary, straightforward, deep and caring. He prefers theone he can't get, and this gets him in trouble, as his commitment to herputs him in a dreamy, dissociative state that is dangerous for a man in hisline of work. The story builds on little things, and the bucolic mountainand small-town setting of the film is terra incognita for Roy, and we sensethis even if he doesn't. He is, for all his professionalism, way out of hisleague, and is looking back to his idealized, romanticized early life, andlonging for an ideal girl that he can 'fix', rather than doing the rightthing and going off with Lupino and stating anew, which is his only chancefor happiness.Roy is a man who lives in two parallel worlds, the real, vicious one he mustcope with, and the fantasy one he longs for and sees in the crippled girl heso tenderly loves. There is no in-between for him, as his head is in theclouds much of the time. It is therefore fitting that the movie ends upliterally in the clouds, or so it seems, atop a mountain, as Roy shoots itout with reality one last time.

(2012-03-06 00:48:38)

Old style Hollywood crime thriller

One of the old films that when we start watching it, we know how it will turn out-making it sad and a bit predictable, in a funny way. Still, I was glad to see it finally out on dvd, ready for a re-viewing out of the old UHF channels from which it came.Good solid, characters, old fashioned cars and shoot outs---it's a pretty fun movie to tank a few beers to. Not a real classic, but worthwhile as an addition to a film buff's library.