![]() Near mile marker 104 (the highway is marked with signs beginning with 110 at the top of Largo and ending with 0 in Key West), I pulled into the Caribbean Club, the bar of movie myth, as the sign outside says. 1 is four lanes here, with billboards and other commercial clutter hiding the nearby blue water of the Atlantic and the green gleam of the gulf. Largo, meaning "long" in Spanish, is the largest and most developed of the Keys. I came to the Keys to find the myth behind the fact, seeking the Hollywood rendition of this string of coral rocks running 110 miles, from Key Largo to Key West. “It must have been good religious money,” said Brooks.Nonetheless, moviemakers have been drawn to the little islands ever since, but what you see on screen isn't always what is really there. Furthermore, they made it to the airport and then proceeded to make a film which has earned for itself the status of a cult favorite. In those 20 minutes Huston won back most of what he had lost and Brooks cut his losses to about $4,500. They needed to get to the Miami airport, and already water covered the road to the mainland. “We’ll find out how religious it is,” said Huston, heading for the craps table. They went back in and Huston handed Hanley a piece of paper on which he had written: “Mary was born without sin.” We want you to tell us what the Immaculate Conception means.” “Father, we’re having a religious dispute,” said Brooks. When the call went through, Hanley handed the phone to Brooks. Hanley, a prudent Irishman, insisted he was right, but he wanted a smaller bet - much smaller.īROOKS AND HANLEY went outside in the howling wind to call a Miami monsignor over a crankup phone. Want to bet $35,000 you’re wrong? Double or nothing?” ![]() “Do you know what Immaculate Conception means?” “It’s got something to do with Christ,” said Spiegel. Something else arrived, too: the leading edge of a West Indian hurricane.Īs the winds howled, John Huston’s sonorous voice mused: “Does anyone here know what Immaculate Conception means?” Soon a few other movie people began to turn up: Huston’s wife, Evelyn Keyes, with her pet monkey, Dodie, producer Sam Spiegel and director Anatole Litvak. In a short time Huston lost more than $25,000, and Brooks roughly $6,000 (“about all I was getting for the script,” the writer recalled). Hanley brought in a lady to make the beds and cook for us.”Ĭasino owner Hanley must have known of Huston’s reputation as a heavy bettor. ![]() John Huston didn’t even believe there was such a place. “A man named Tom Hanley met us in Key West and drove us up to Key Largo. Brooks, who would later write and direct such memorable pictures as Elmer Gantry, Sweet Bird of Youth and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, recalls that strange visit in 1947: Only a few exteriors were shot in the Keys.īut Key Largo did have a strong Key Largo connection, involving director Huston and screenwriter Richard Brooks, who traveled there to begin work on the movie. Robinson, Claire Trevor and the rest did almost all of their work on the movie in - where else? - Hollywood, Calif., playing their parts on a sound stage set. In fact, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Edward G. One book on the Keys reports that “Most of the movie was filmed inside of the Hotel (Caribbean Club).” Much of its renown, however, was based on a misconception that persists today: that the movie actually was filmed on Key Largo. THE CLASSIC JOHN HUSTON film Key Largo brought fame to an obscure island in the Florida Keys long before the island’s underwater state park became a mecca for scuba divers and tourists.
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