High Sierra (1941)

Directed by

Raoul Walsh

Genre

drama film, film noir, heist film, crime film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 40m

Rated

NR

Rating

7.1 of 10 from 362 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

An aging career criminal named Roy Earle takes on one last job: a jewel heist at a resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains. He works with a young woman named Marie, but the plan goes wrong and the police close in on them.

suspensefulmelancholicbleakgrittyslow-burntensevisually lush

What happens

High Sierra is a 1941 American film noir directed by Raoul Walsh, written by William R. Burnett and John Huston from the novel by Burnett, and starring Ida Lupino and Humphrey Bogart. Its plot follows career criminal Roy Earle who becomes involved in a jewel heist in a resort town in California's Sierra Nevada, along with young former taxi dancer Marie Garson (Lupino). Parts of the film were shot on location at Whitney Portal, halfway up Mount Whitney. The screenplay was co-written by John Huston, Bogart's friend and drinking partner, adapted from the novel by William R. Burnett (also known for, among others, the novel that was adapted into the film Little Caesar and the script for Scarface). The film cemented a strong personal and professional connection between Bogart and Huston, and provided the breakthrough in Bogart's career, transforming him from supporting player to leading man. The film's success also led to a breakthrough for Huston, providing him with the leverage he needed to make the transition from screenwriter to director, which he made later that year with his adaptation of The Maltese Falcon (1941), starring Bogart. The film contains extensive location shooting, especially in the climactic final scenes, as the authorities pursue Bogart's character, gangster Roy Earle, from Lone Pine to the foot of the mountains. The novel is also the basis of the western Colorado Territory (also directed by Walsh, starring Joel McCrea & Virginia Mayo) and the scene-by-scene remake I Died a Thousand Times (directed by Stuart Heisler with Jack Palance as Roy and Shelley Winters as Marie). (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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