Key Largo
Movies Set in the Florida Keys

Year Released - 1948
Director - John Huston
Stars - Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, Claire Trevor
Length - 101 minutes

In the 1930s, a hurricane really DID destroy the Florida Keys. In this thriller, it's after World War II but the situation is the same. A group of people are trapped on an island as a storm batters their hotel. Humphrey Bogart plays a WWII vet who is going to talk to a friend's widow, and gets caught up in the trouble.

This classic film is actually based on the play "Key Largo" by Maxwell Anderson. It was about a veteran of the Spanish Civil War. Huston updated it. Note that this was NOT filmed on the island!! In fact at the time there WAS no Key Largo. The first island's name was Rock Harbor. The name Key Largo was a fake name made up by Anderson. But after the film became a huge success, the first island in the Keys "commandeered" the name to capitalize on its popularity. That officially happened on June 1, 1952.

Claire Trevor (playing Gaye Dawn) won an Academy Award for her part in this movie, and the movie is the favorite of many people.

If you're looking for Key Largo vistas from the movie, John Huston did send a camera crew to the Keys after the movie was completed, to make some outside "atmosphere" shots. Those were done at the Caribbean Club on Key Largo. Airboats were used to create the wind that blew by the building. So swing by the Caribbean Club to see those outdoor areas!

CARIBBEAN CLUB: Mile marker 104.

Movies of the Florida Keys

Florida Keys 1998 Travelogue
Florida Keys 2003 Travelogue

Main Page on Florida Keys Hotels