Key Largo

Key Largo (1939), a drama by Maxwell Anderson. [ Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 105 perf.] Concluding his side has lost the Spanish Civil War, King McCloud (Paul Muni) urges his men to join him in deserting, but they refuse and die fighting. Back in America, King is beset by guilt. He attempts to expiate his feelings by visiting the families of his fallen comrades, including the D'Alcalas who run a small hotel in Key Largo and are being menaced by gangsters. At first King would wave away the problem, but concluding his life is now worthless he kills one gangster and is himself killed. His death spares two innocents' being framed for the killings that a gangster has committed. Although the Playwrights' Company offering was dismissed by some critics as a well‐intentioned tract, poorly developed, it reflected the deep concern of many theatrical figures over the events and implications of the war.

Key Largo was a play written in blank verse by Maxwell Anderson that became the basis for the 1948 film by the same name.

Plot

A deserter of the Spanish Civil War played by Paul Muni redeems himself in death by defending the family of a true war hero against some bandits on the tiny island of Key Largo, Florida.

History

The play only ran for 104 performances in 1939. The rights to the play were bought by producer Jerry Wald. Wald convinced maverick film director John Huston to turn this into the 1948 film Key Largo starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

The film script was heavily changed from the play. John Huston was so angered at the deficiencies in the play that he barred producer Jerry Wald from the set of the film. It was believed that Huston was in a rage over the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) hearings and didn't want to adapt a play by a reactionary who hated Franklin Delano Roosevelt^{[citation needed]}.

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