HIGH SIERRA (1941)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Crime / Drama

Director: Raoul Walsh

Cast: Humphrey Bogart / Ida Lupino / Joan Leslie

Plot

Freed from prison, infamous Chicago bank robber “Mad Dog” Earle heads to California to lead a volatile crew of younger crooks on one last job.

What I Liked

The gangster film came into its own in the 1930s, as claustrophobic urban dramas usually constructed around the bloody rise and equally bloody fall of an energetic young psychopath amid a backdrop of alleyways, nightclubs, and gambling dens.  The cities in which these films take place seem trapped in perpetual night and populated only with depraved souls.  I admit, I love films like that.

That said, I also love a film that can break a mold and “High Sierra” did just that, dragging the gangster film out into the California sunlight and turning it into a road movie of sorts, if not a full on western.  In a way, it makes sense.  Westerns of a certain type have a lot in common with gangster films, in that they both can focus on ill-fated anti-heroes and have us rooting for the bad guy over the straight-laced lawmen in pursuit.  “High Sierra” brings out those similarities and effectively blurs the lines between the two classic American film genres, particularly with its iconic climax.

Also defying convention is the character of Roy Earle, played by Humphrey Bogart.  Yes, Earl is a compelling anti-hero much like the film gangsters who preceded him.  However, Earle differs from the crime bosses of “Public Enemy,” “Little Caesar,” or “Scarface,” in that he’s not a young hothead looking to take on the world.  Earle is a world-weary, cynical crook who wants nothing to do with the world at all, a ground-breaking character for the era.  For a guy like Roy Earle, there's no rise and fall; life is just a series of falls.  It’s a role that helped make Bogart a household name.  Ironically, for this film, the relative unknown received second billing to the then bigger name of Ida Lupino, who is convincing as Marie, one of the first genuine femme fatales of American film.  Today, Lupino is criminally forgotten by the general public.  Meanwhile, Bogart would become the world’s most famous movie star off of perfecting the Roy Earle persona in other films.

What I Didn’t Like

Well-acted, unconventional, and character driven, “High Sierra” will be a treat for those looking for more than shoot ‘em up action in their gangster movies.  However, that also means that, of all the classic gangster pictures I’ve seen thus far, this is undoubtedly the slowest.  I have to admit that I yawned many-a-yawn as I watched first hour or so of this movie.  Its plot relies more upon the suspense of whether or not the heist will come off as planned or fall apart due to the squabbling of Earle’s inexperienced cohorts than it does upon tommy gun fire and fist fights.

There’s also a rather contrived love triangle involving Earle, Marie, and unattainable good girl Velma (played by Joan Leslie).  Though both good actors, Bogart and Leslie have very little on screen chemistry and some of the romantic lines written for them are too sappy to stomach.  Thus, one never feels that doe eyed Velma is really a threat to steal Earle away from the worldly wiles of Marie.

Most Memorable Scene

*spoiler alert*

Thankfully, the movie picks up considerably in the third act.  We’re treated to a dramatic heist, an eye-catching chase scene, and finally a classic, you’ll-never-take-me-alive western-style showdown when Earle is cornered in the mountains by the police.  The inevitability of the end is never in doubt – indeed, it’s a foregone conclusion almost from the film's outset.  But that’s not the point, the point is we can’t take our eyes away from the screen as one of filmdom’s most compelling gangsters fights tragically on, alone against an army of coppers.


My Rating: 3.5 out of 5