Key Largo

Frank McCloud, a veteran of the Second World War, visits his deceased comrade’s family, only to find them taken hostage by a group of Chicago gangsters on the run. A secluded seaside Florida hotel is the setting for this unbearably claustrophobic film noir. Bogart, Bacall and Robinson shine, Huston’s direction is straight and steely, and an approaching hurricane gives The Last Laugh cinematographer Karl Freund the perfect opportunity to examine post-war malaise via the noir’s stylistic tropes.