High Sierra

With a title that evokes high adventure, High Sierra is a classic heist film that makes it's mark with a breakthrough performance by Humphrey Bogart as the multi-faceted gangster Roy Earle. We're introduced to Roy's story with a grand intro that pulls the film's credits scrolling up into the clouds that hug the summits of the Sierra Mountains themselves. It's 1941 and the synergetic teaming of Raoul Walsh (a director with more than a few hits under his belt), John Huston (an up and coming writer soon to become a legendary director himself) and Humphrey Bogart (who had featured in a range of supporting parts and was itching to make his mark as a memorable leading man) would put an end to the era of old-school gangster epics. High Sierra broke the mould, ushering in a new era of gangster films with a heightened sense of characterisation and a less black and white view of morality.

Roy is an ageing, toughened criminal currently serving life in prison. He gets pardoned by a friend in a high place but soon finds out that he must buy his freedom by masterminding one last job. Roy is the last of a dying breed and it seems he can't escape his reputation, so he is sent up into the Sierras to knock off a resort hotel with a motley collection of half-rate would-be hoodlums. It's a less than ideal situation but Roy has his own code of honour and must see the job through. He'd like nothing more than to 'crash out' (escape to freedom) so he keeps this dream in sight through his unlikely courting of a young, crippled country girl (Joan Leslie).

This classic adventure-thriller has so much going for it. Foremost is Bogart's performance as Roy, a no-nonsense tough guy with a soft heart. It's an unusually sensitive portrayal for the genre and the era it's made in. Roy has a soft spot and affinity for small town or country folk (belying his own long-forgotten origins) and continually endears himself to the audience through his repeated meetings with a family of California-bound hillbillies. Ida Lupino also makes an impression as Marie, the hardened little-girl-lost who comes to worship Roy despite his lack of interest in her. It sets up an interesting dynamic that flows in tandem with the unpredictable twists of the plot. Also of note is Pard, the alleged 'death' dog who features throughout the film like a bad omen, and the climactic car chase through the Sierras.

Put simply, this is a memorable must-see movie full of great dialogue, action, thrills and an affecting, stand-out performance from Humphrey Bogart.

TRIVIA: As mentioned earlier in the review, Bogart mostly played supporting roles or appeared in B movies up until this point. The lead in High Sierra was actually offered to Paul Muni first, but Bogart talked him out of it so he could have a shot at it. Bogart got a lot of attention for what he did with the character of Roy Earle, and as a result from this point on he would play nothing but leading roles up until the day he died.

DIRECTOR: Raoul Walsh
WRITER/SOURCE: Script by John Huston and W. R. Burnett, based on a novel by W. R. Burnett.
KEY ACTORS: Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, Cornel Wilde, Joan Leslie, Henry Hull, Arthur Kennedy

RELATED TEXTS:
- The novel High Sierra, on which the film is based.
- The film was remade as Colorado Territory in 1949, starring Joel McCrea, and as I Died a Thousand Times in 1955, starring Jack Palance.
- W. R. Burnett also wrote or co-wrote Little Caesar, Scarface, The Beast of the City, The Asphalt Jungle, Wake Island, The Dark Command and The Great Escape.