A hurricane swells outside, but it's nothing compared to the storm within the hotel at Key Largo. There, sadistic mobster Johnny Rocco holes up - and holds at gunpoint hotel owner James Temple, his widowed daughter-in-law Nora, and ex-GI Frank McCloud.
Acting
Robinson's Rocco — petty tyrant perfection.
Direction
Huston squeezes dread from every humid frame.
Production
Fake hurricane, real anxiety on soundstage sets.

Director
John Huston
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The hurricane was staged on Warner Bros. soundstages with airplane propellers and 900 gallons of water per minute — Claire Trevor won a Supporting Oscar for playing Rocco's washed-up moll.
Released in 1948, the film channels post-WWII anxieties about masculine failure — Frank's war hero status feels hollow against Rocco's brand of homegrown fascist bullying.