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Undescribable Perfection

Too much of everything

Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This was Humphrey Bogart's first lead role, as Roy Earle: experienced gangster, who is summoned to move from Indiana to California to lead a single heist. Thus, Bogie was in the familiar role of a gangster, but the unfamiliar role of lead male. Actually, his role was initially offered to George Raft, who had been the lead actor in 2 recent films including Bogie. ... Beautiful Ida Lupino, who had shared supporting actor status with Bogie in "They Drive at Night", was the leading lady. For a short period, as Marie, she becomes Roy's not entirely appreciated moll. He was basically a lone wolf. Ida's role isn't nearly as interesting as her role in "They Drive by Night" However, she still served as eye candy...... There is nothing particularly unusual about this gangster screenplay, except the memorable race up Whitney Portal Road, and Roy's hopeless attempt to evade capture by climbing partway up Mt. Whitney. No doubt he knew he would die if he didn't surrender, and chose to die fighting. .....One wonders what was so compelling about Roy that made Marie cling to him even when it was obvious he would soon be captures or die....Joan Leslie plays Velma: a young woman hampered by a clubfoot, brought to California by her family after their Midwest farm went under. Roy pays for surgery to correct her foot, then asks her to marry him She turns him down for 2 reasons: she doesn't love him in a romantic way, and she has a fiancé back home, who will be arriving soon.. Roy eventually meets her fiancé. Clearly he's very jealous ,and tells him straight forward he doesn't like him and doesn't want to see Marie married to him. Thus, Roy and Velma part on a sour note..... An unrecognizably young Cornel Wilde plays one of the gangsters...... Raul Walsh directed both films in which Bogie and Ida costarred or supported.

"High Sierra" was the film that finally made a star of Humphrey Bogart, 5 years after he first signed up with "Warner Bros." Bogart excels as the bandit "Mad Dog" Roy Earle, as the character is more of a complex one than any the actor had played up until that stage. It came down to a bit of luck, in Humphrey Bogart securing the leading role. Paul Muni had been offered it but he had been given a different script to look over. After the script was re- written to suit Muni, he still said no and it was final (personally, I reckon he was leading the studio on a merry dance by wasting their time). Next, George Raft was considered for the role of Earle. During this time, Raft was unhappy with what was being offered him by "Warner Bros" and this included the "High Sierra" movie. Rather secretly, Bogart managed to persuade Raft not to do the film as it was just another gangster picture. The reason he did this, was so Bogart could be cast as he was interested in the film from the time the studio gave it the green light! In other words, Bogart won the role by default. He is playing the character of Earle with a lot more shading than he did with other similar characters. Earle is tough and dangerous but he is also capable of displaying humane qualities. He is more business-like in his life of crime and doesn't indulge in sadism or evil for its own sake. He has weaknesses like anyone else and this comes in the form of falling for a girl during the plot (Joan Leslie in her first major film). He befriends the moll of the gang who plan to rob a local health resort (Ida Lupino) and she becomes Earle's companion when the police give chase. The screenplay is a fine one, it is something that any typical actor can get his/her teeth into. The acting honours go to Bogart and Lupino but there is good support from Henry Hull, Arthur Kennedy and Barton MacLane. Raoul Walsh's direction is amongst his very best, he keeps the narrative tight and free of any unnecessary subplots. Everything about "High Sierra" falls into place just right. I was hoping for a bit more action but it doesn't matter. I enjoyed the scene where Bogart demonstrates how quickly a man can die from a tommy gun! The car chase scene adds to the climax, which carries with it some suspense. The film has a lot of location work and that is a big advantage. Humphrey Bogart was on his way to stardom.

Excellent crime drama/early film noir. This was the first in Bogey's 1-2- 3 punch, followed by The Maltese Falcon then Casablanca, that took him from resident Warners tough guy villain to one of the studio's leading romantic stars. He plays Roy "Mad Dog" Earle perfectly showing him as ruthless when necessary but with a core of decency that hasn't been ruined by years of hard knocks. Matching him every step of the way is the always outstanding Ida Lupino in one of her best portrayals. Her Marie is a classic hard luck case, tough on the outside but vulnerable underneath. She and Bogart are an ideal match, a shame then that this was there last film together and the only one where they were paired as equals. The rest of the cast is terrific in support, including Joan Leslie, a variable actress but well used here as a seemingly nice girl who is exposed as a thoughtless, shallow grabber. Walsh's direction is aces as well with wonderful use of shadows and spaces to convey the isolation of the characters.

I was always interested to see the film that made the leading character actor of Casablanca and The African Queen a star, and it seems it was this one that I found listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, from writer John Huston (The Man Who Would Be King). Basically Roy 'Mad Dog' Earle (Humphrey Bogart) has just been pardoned and released from an eastern prison, but the experienced bank robber is wanted by aged gangster Big Mac (Donald MacBride) to lead and take charge of a California resort casino heist. He starts by driving across the country, meeting the three men that will assist him in the heist at a camp in the mountains, they are resort worker Louis Mendoza (Cornel Wilde), and camp residents 'Red' (Arthur Kennedy), and they are also joined by young woman Marie (Ida Lupino), who after argument is eventually allowed to stay. Marie falls in love with Roy, but he does show any of the same feelings, he instead has affection for young woman Velma (Joan Leslie) who he pays to have an operation on her deformed foot, but she refuses a marriage proposal because she is seeing someone else, so when her fiancé shows up he does turn to Marie and they become lovers. All the plans for the robbery are made and they go ahead with the heist, but they are interrupted by a security guard and it goes wrong, the three assistants ends up in a car accident, Red and Babe are killed, and the police interrogate Mendoza. The police put a search out for 'Mad Dog' for the public to identify and catch him, Roy and Marie leave town together, but they separate so she can get away, and he hides in the Sierra Mountains. It is sunrise when the police catch up to Roy, and he tries to shoot the officers below, and it is when he hears Marie calling for him that they get the chance to shoot him, and they do and he falls to his death, while she sobs and is driven away. Also starring Henry Hull as 'Doc' Banton, It's a Wonderful Life's Henry Travers as Pa and Elisabeth Risdon as Ma. Bogart is usually the charming good guy, here he is a likable criminal, I can see reasons why he became more popular following this film, the film itself does have a bit of cheesy feel and corny story, there could have been a bit more heist action, but it is I suppose paced alright and a not bad crime thriller. Worth watching!