Original subtitles

- Hello, Eddie. - Hello, Ben.

What gives?

We're looking for a couple of Indians broke out of jail.

Young bucks in fancy shirts.

If you see anything of them, telephone my office at Palm Grove.

Okay.

Those Indians they're looking for must be from around here.

- They always head for home. - Home being Key Largo.

Want something, Jack?

- Mr. Temple around? - He ain't here.

Hotel is closed.

- When will he be back? - I don't know.

Have a beer?

- The bar is closed. - That's right.

I told you, didn't I? Hotel's closed.

In the summertime, everything's closed.

Give him a drink.

Give him a drink!

You heard me! Give him a drink!

- You said beer? - Mmm-hmm.

Thank you.

Think nothing of it.

Bargain Lass on the outside is running very fast and very hard.

It's Lady Bountiful, they haven't caught her yet.

Come on, Lady Bountiful.

Come on, Lady Bountiful!

Come on!

Lady Bountiful by three lengths.

How's that for picking them?

Can I pick them or can't I?

That's him.

I'll take it up.

If he wants you, he'll send for you.

I like Fancy Free.

Carrying 118 pounds. That's a lot of weight.

- What do you think? - Fancy Free.

- You play the ponies? - No.

- Why not? - I haven't the money.

Aw. Angel, another beer for the gentleman.

You see, I play the long shots.

Betting on a favorite, what do you win?

When a horse comes in for me, he pays plenty.

Take Fancy Free,

"Morning Line, 12-1."

Oops, that's ridiculous.

He should be 4-1, even less.

Look at that breeding.

"By Chance Play, out of Misconstrue by Omaha."

Course, he hasn't won in 11 starts, true.

But he's been twice on the money.

And today he's running a $3,000 claiming race.

Ought to be a cinch.

Yes?

What's your name?

McCloud. Frank. By John, out of Helen.

I'm Miss Dawn.

Miss Gaye Dawn.

You. He wants you.

Uh, please excuse me.

Who's that?

- I don't know. - What's he want?

Old man Temple.

Look, mister, if you're thinking of putting up here, the hotel's closed.

- Won't be open for another month. - What are you doin' here?

- We're guests. - Yeah, but you just said...

We're here by special arrangement.

I don't plan to stay. I just wanna see Mr. Temple.

Oh, well, why didn't you say so?

He's out by the boathouse.

- Mr. Temple? - Yeah?

My name's McCloud. Frank McCloud.

McCloud, huh?

- Well, not Major McCloud? - Yes, sir.

Nora!

Nora! Nora!

Come here! When did you get here?

A few minutes ago. I'm on my way to Key West.

Did you come on the bus? I saw it stop.

Hey, Nora!

Hurry up!

Come here!

Look who's here.

This is George's wife.

This is Major Frank McCloud.

How do you do, Mrs. Temple?

Your husband and I were in the same outfit overseas.

As if she didn't know.

I wrote you a letter, Major, to St. Louis.

It was sent on to Portland, St. Paul and Memphis,

all those places, before it came back.

- Ever been down here before? - No, sir.

George was right.

The Keys are different than anything I've ever seen. And hotter.

Uh, don't look for it to get any cooler before November.

The thermometer will go down to about 100.

The sand flies and mosquitoes will disappear.

It'll be right livable for about three months on the Keys.

Except for the tourists.

- That Black Caesar's Rock? - How'd you know?

For one who's never been here, I know a lot about these Keys.

They were a favorite subject with George.

He used to dig for pirate gold right over there.

He never lost hope of finding Blackbeard's own treasure.

He must've dug 10,000 holes.

- Ever find anything? - Oh, sure.

Saltwater, every time.

How long you gonna be with us, Major?

- An hour or so. - An hour?

You can spare more time than that, surely. We got a lot to talk about.

I'll talk as long as you like, Mr. Temple.

Good, then you'll stay overnight.

He can have George's room.

Yes, Dad.

- May I help you? - Yeah, if you will, please.

Afternoon, Mrs. Temple.

Mr. Temple. Any news of the Osceola brothers?

Oh, I'm sorry, Ben.

I want you to meet my son's commanding officer, Major McCloud.

- How do you do? - Officer Ben Wade. Sawyer.

How do you do?

If you don't mind, Mr. Temple, we'd like to have a look around.

Ah, you won't find those Indians, 'cause they ain't here.

Maybe they're in the mangrove swamps. Maybe.

Or maybe if you wanna go wading, you might find them. Maybe.

But if I was you, I'd save myself the trouble.

No doubt they'll give themselves up before morning.

Well, they sure enough ought to. That's a fact, Mr. Temple.

'Cause the longer they stay at large, the tougher it's gonna be on 'em.

Fool Indians. Thirty days to do and they bust out.

Well, 30 days in jail for an Indian is like 30 years for somebody else.

Anyway, I'd like to have a look around.

Now, look here, Clyde, if Mr. Temple says they ain't here, they ain't.

His word's good enough for me, and it ought to be good enough for you.

Sorry to bother you, Mr. Temple. Come on, Clyde.

Those two brothers and my boy, George, grew up together.

There's no harm in them.

They just went to Palm Grove and got a little snootful

and started to take Florida back for the Indians.

Came mighty near succeeding, too.

I sent word for them to come in and give themselves up.

Not that I'm supposed to know where they are, you understand.

Oh, Major, I want you to meet Mr., uh, Mr....

- Bass. - Garcia.

We've already met.

My son's commanding officer overseas.

Yeah?

They were in the Italian Campaign together.

- From Salerno to Cassino. - Yeah.

My boy, George, was killed in Cassino.

Yeah?

What's going on here?

Nothing, Mr. Temple.

What's the matter with her?

- Nora? Nora! - Yes, Father.

What ails that girl? She hurt?

Case of one too many, that's all, Mr. Temple.

Now, look here! If you people can't behave yourselves, you gotta leave.

What did you hit her for?

I'll let you in on something. She's a lush, the lady.

After she bends the elbow a few times, she begins to see things,

rats, roaches, snakes, bats, you know.

A sock in the kisser is the only thing that'll bring her out of it.

Your room's ready, Major.

How long have they been here?

That one, Curly, and the woman showed up first.

Dad Temple told them we were closed for the summer,

but he offered to rent the whole hotel for a week.

It was so much money, Dad couldn't afford to turn it down.

Mr. Brown and the others arrived in that big boat four days ago.

Which one is Brown?

He's in number 11. Never comes out of his room except at night.

What's he like?

He's a lady-killer, or thinks so.

Rich, I guess, from the way the others jump when he lifts a finger.

Out of season in this heat.

Why would they decide to sit down on Key Largo?

They'll be leaving here tonight or tomorrow.

Major?

- Were you with George when he died? - Yes.

Was he in very much pain?

He never knew what hit him.

I was afraid he might have suffered.

Come down to Dad's room when you're ready, Major.

Excuse me.

Staying the night, huh?

I'm Curly Hoff.

I heard how you were with old man Temple's son in Italy.

The kid got it, huh?

Ah, too bad.

I hope you didn't take offense at the way we handled you downstairs.

You caught Toots and me at a bad time.

We were ready to bite anybody's head off.

Especially a certain blonde's.

Look, five of us. We come down here for the deep-sea fishing.

All the way from Milwaukee.

More than a year, we'd been planning to come down here and fish our brains out.

So what happens? One guy brings a blonde.

And after we all swore up and down, no dames!

But he's gotta bring her, this guy.

Well, if she isn't drunk and crying, she's got a hangover and arguing.

One minute she gets sore at you and won't talk to you at all.

The next she's making a play for you right in front of the guy.

And he gets sore at us, mind you, not her.

Everything's spoiled, including our dispositions.

It's cost us all this dough, and for what?

The world's worst time.

Now, I ask you, can you blame us for getting rude?

- No, I don't blame you. - How about a little drink, pal?

Not right now, thanks.

Hotel Largo.

Come on, just to show there's no hard feelings.

No, thank you.

Oh, thank you very much.

- Storm signals are up. - What does that mean?

Hurricane's on its way.

See what I mean? Hurricanes yet.

Dad's in here, Major.

Sit down, Major.

The war's over, Mr. Temple. I'm not a Major anymore.

Oh, I know the men that were in it don't like talking about the war,

and I don't like imposing on you.

But this letter here from the War Department is the only facts we have.

And, well, it leaves us in the dark about a few things.

I'll tell you everything I know, Mr. Temple.

Will you, Frank? Will you?

I'd be most grateful.

- Where shall I start? - Anywhere.

Well, he was a good soldier, Mr. Temple, from start to finish.

You'd have been proud of him like every man in his regiment was.

- Were they, Frank? - And with good reason.

It wasn't just a matter of doing his duty.

He was always looking for a way to do more.

And finding it.

George was a born hero, Mr. Temple.

He couldn't imagine his death. Only dishonor.

No, of course not.

It's a wonder he lasted till Cassino.

When you believe like George believed, maybe dying isn't very important.

Once, outside San Pietro, George and a couple of others

established a forward observation post.

They got a direct hit, and the others were killed.

That left it up to George.

For three days and three nights he stayed awake directing our fire.

Most of that time, I was on the other end of the line.

To keep himself awake, he talked into the phone.

Talked and talked.

Most of his talk was about you two.

You'd be surprised how much I know about you both.

For instance, inside your wedding ring, Nora, there's an inscription,

"Evermore."

That's right.

And you, Mr. Temple.

Do you remember telling George what this hollow is above the upper lip?

Before he was born, you said he knew all the secrets of life and death.

Then at the moment of his birth, an angel came and put his finger right here.

And sealed his lips.

I remember that. Yup.

He couldn't have been more than seven years old when I told him that fairy story.

What's it like where he's buried?

Just crosses on a slope.

High up, there's what's left of a church.

You can see a river from where George is.

I'd like to pay a visit to that place.

Yep, I would.

Nora, maybe we'll do just that.

Go to Italy and see where George is buried.

It belongs to us, don't it? That plot of ground?

I'm very grateful to you, Frank.

Thank you.

There was a storm warning, Dad.

You better see to the boat, dear.

What brought you down this way, Frank?

I like the sea and thought maybe I'd like to make my living on it.

- Doing what? - Doesn't matter. Hand on a fishing boat.

Life on land's become too complicated for my taste.

What did you do before the war, Frank?

I was circulation manager for a newspaper.

- You never went back to it? - Yeah, but I couldn't stick it.

I've done lot of things since I left the paper.

Driving taxis, waiting on tables, anything to make a dollar.

Including day labor.

Getting kind of rough.

Major, this is Mr. Feeney.

- Hi, pal. - How do you do?

How's your ground tackle off the stern?

Plenty heavy.

Then we'd better just double up on these bowlines.

Where'd you learn about boats?

My first sweetheart was a boat.

Hey!

How do you like that boat?

Nice craft. She ought to be away from those reefs with this blow comin' up.

That so?

Put that on that piling over there.

Charlie!

Charlie Wenoka and his family, Crawfish Island.

The Wenokas are royalty. Charlie's a prince of the Seminole nation.

His ancestors go back to the gods.

He sells seashells by the seashore.

Hello, Mama Ochobee.

Every Indian around here is a descendent of Mama Ochobee.

She admits to being 108 years old. But she has a son who's 112.

So, we suspect Mama doesn't tell the truth about her age.

New husband?

Him new husband? No, Mama. Not new husband.

- Got cigarette? - What?

- You got cigarette? - Yeah.

Pretty big blow coming, Mama?

Pretty big.

The Indians always know. Don't ask me how, but they do.

More will be along. They always come to us from as far as Matecumbe Key.

This one was born in our hotel lobby during the last big blow, weren't you?

Yes.

Hello, Tom. Hello, John.

- Tom and Johnny Osceola, Frank. - How are you do?

- How do you do? - Hello.

We get Mr. Temple message. We here give ourself up to police.

He thinks it's the best thing.

What Mr. Temple say, we do.

Him good friend to Indian.

Why don't you go on over to the hotel? And Dad'll call Palm Grove.

Thanks, Miss Nora.

Poor fellas, they got into some trouble and were arrested.

Yes, I know. Mr. Temple told me about them.

They really trust Dad Temple. All the Indians.

As far as they're concerned, he's the United States of America.

You're very happy here, aren't you?

- Very. - You're never lonely?

Did George tell you? I met him at a USO dance.

He was lonesome. He wanted company.

I was working at a defense plant.

I knew lots of people, but I was lonesome, too.

Before George, my life hadn't made much sense.

I never had much of a home, and I didn't like what I had.

George...

George gave me roots.

When he went overseas, I came down here to stay with his father.

And the roots took hold.

Now I'm, I'm like one of those mangroves.

Our local police always get their Indian.

You close the shutters while I get the oil lamps.

Hey, pal. Getting ready for the hurricane, eh?

How's about joining me for that little drink now?

No, thanks.

- You're not a drinking man? - No, not right now.

Hey, Curly.

What all happens in a hurricane?

The wind blows so hard the ocean gets up on its hind legs

and walks right across the land.

And singing this song,

"Rain, rain go away. Little Ralphie wants to play."

Isn't that Ben Wade's car?

Nora! Have you seen him?

No, Dad, I haven't.

Here's a good one.

They're snooping around looking for these two boys, and here they are.

Better go out there and sit in his car and wait for him.

Or better yet, go and find him.

What's so funny, Toots?

There are two cons in a cell, see?

And one con was trying to sell the other one a fountain pen.

And he says, "This pen is guaranteed for life."

What's the matter? Don't you get it?

A con.

"Guaranteed for life."

We get it, all right.

Have you seen Wade or Sawyer anywhere around, Frank?

No, sir, I haven't.

- His car's out there in the rain. - Yes, I know.

It's funny.

How about a drink, everybody? What'll it be, Miss Temple?

Nothing, thanks.

- How about you, Pop? - Uh...

He's not supposed to drink anything.

That leaves it up to you, pal.

Another time.

What's the matter? Don't you like me?

I'm beginning to think I got smallpox or something.

Are you still laughin' at that stinking joke?

Here's another one.

Elevator's busting through a roof, see?

And the elevator boy's saying to a couple of passengers,

"I told you there was no 11th floor."

Explain it for us, Toots.

Wise guy.

What's the idea of them?

They shut the electricity off, we still have light.

I hear that a hurricane blows off roofs,

uproots trees and puts the snatch on people.

And they all go flyin' around in the sky together. Is that right?

Absolutely.

It's raining in on Ben's car. You better close the windows, Nora.

Ralph, go put up the windows in that car.

What, get caught out in that hurricane? Not me, brother.

I'll take it.

Don't you answer it.

Yes?

No, Mr. Temple's not here now.

No, she's not here either.

Me?

I'm a guest at the hotel.

No, we haven't seen him.

Give me that phone.

Yes. If Sawyer shows up, I'll have him call you right back.

Easy does it, soldier.

The phone rang, and the girl started for it and I stopped her.

The soldier wants to get rough, so we show him our rods.

I'm glad the old man's in a wheelchair. He'd be lots of trouble.

- Who was on the phone? - The law.

That means he won't be long.

Then what?

We'll see.

You'd think this rain would cool things off, but it don't.

- Gonna have a hurricane, are we? - Yeah, so they say.

I'm not afraid of that gun.

Go ahead! Shoot!

Yeah, I'm not afraid.

Brown!

Hey, you! Brown!

Are you thieves or what? You want money? Is this a robbery?

That's right, Pop. We're gonna steal all your towels.

That big gun in your hand makes you look grown-up, you think.

I'll bet you spend hours posing in front of a mirror holding it.

Trying to look tough.

- Shut up. - You scum.

Toots...

- Tell him not to call me names. - Shut up, Toots.

Now, listen.

I don't want any trouble.

With you. With anybody.

Now, how about it? Gonna act sensible?

Why are they pointing those guns at us?

Now, look, Pop. Forget the questions. What you don't know won't hurt you.

We'll be out of here in a couple of hours.

Try to put up with us that long, huh?

What're we gonna eat tonight, sister?

Pompano, maybe?

Am I to understand we're your prisoners?

Well, put it this way, Pop, you're gonna be my guests for a little while.

You know, back in Chi, in the old days,

we used to pay $8 to $10 for an order of pompano.

They used to fly it in, the way they served it,

done up in a brown paper bag.

Got any champagne, miss?

No champagne.

Well, that's too bad.

Champagne and pompano.

They really go together.

This one's coming around.

Still feel tough?

Sawyer.

You won't get away with it, Rocco.

Why'd you hurt that boy?

He's a cop, that's why.

Well, who are you?

Why are you here?

- Answer me! - Oh, stop hollering, old man.

Johnny Rocco, of course.

Hot water.

Get some.

Yeah, that's right.

Johnny Rocco.

- I know that name. - Sure, Pop. Who doesn't?

Johnny Rocco the gangster, Mr. Temple.

The one and only Rocco.

Rocco. Rocco?

What's that, Pop? I'm kind of deaf.

Rocco!

Oh.

He said, "Rocco."

But they threw you out of the country.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's right.

After living in the USA for more than 30 years,

they... They called me an undesirable alien.

Me, Johnny Rocco.

Like I was a dirty Red or somethin'.

Then how could you be here?

Well, maybe I'm not, Pop.

This ain't real, what's happenin'. You're having a dream.

Wake up, Pop. You're snoring.

You're right.

You shouldn't have been deported.

You should've been exterminated.

Rocco...

I must apologize for Mr. Temple.

He doesn't know what he's talking about, or, who to.

Sir, Johnny Rocco was more than a king. He was an emperor.

His rule extended over beer, slot machines, the numbers racket,

and a dozen other forbidden enterprises.

He was a master of the fix.

Whom he couldn't corrupt, he terrified. Whom he couldn't terrify, he murdered.

You filth. You city filth.

Oh, Mr. Temple, you're hopelessly old-fashioned.

Your ideas date back years.

You're still living in the time when America thought

it could get along without the Johnny Roccos.

Welcome back, Rocco. It was all a mistake.

America's sorry for what it did to you.

On the level, boss, were you that big?

On the level, are you that dumb?

Yeah.

Yeah, that's me.

Sure, I was all of those things.

And more.

When Rocco talked, everybody shut up and listened.

What Rocco said, went.

Nobody was as big as Rocco.

It'll be like that again, only more so.

I'll be back up there one of these days.

And then you're gonna really see something.

If the time ever comes when your kind

can walk a city street in daylight

with nothing to fear from the people...

The time has come, Mr. Temple. It's here.

Okay.

You know all about me.

Now, what's with you, wise guy?

Well, give.

- In the war, weren't you? - Yes.

- Get any medals? - A couple.

- Brave, huh? - Not very.

- Why'd you stick your neck out? - No good reason.

What are you saying, Frank?

I believed some words.

Words? What words?

Well, they went like this, "But we are not making all this sacrifice

"of human effort and human lives

"to return to the kind of a world we had after the last world war."

Huh.

"We're fighting to cleanse the world of ancient evils.

"Ancient ills."

What's that all about?

I remember those words.

Well, that makes two of us.

We rid ourselves of your kind once and for all.

You ain't comin' back!

Who's gonna stop me, old man?

If I wasn't a cripple...

You wouldn't be talking this way. Right, Pop?

Filth! You filth!

Get him, will you!

- Sic him, Pop! - Stand your ground!

"Stand your ground." You're killing me, Pop.

Come on. Come on, Pop. You're not quitting, are you?

My boy, George, never quit, and I ain't quitting.

That's the spirit, Pop. Never say die.

You little wildcat.

Smelled blood, huh?

Got your appetite up, huh?

Hey, boss.

Miami wants you on the phone.

A whole bunch of people out on the porch, look like Indians.

- What do they want? - They want in.

- What for? - The hurricane.

All right, keep them out.

Hello?

Yeah, this is Mr. Brown.

Hello? Oh, hello, Ziggy. How are you?

I recognized your voice, yeah.

Swell hearin' it again.

How's every little thing?

- Maybe it's the law. - Right. Show him in.

Hey, that's swell.

This end, too.

Look, when are you coming down?

What hurricane? That right?

- I want to see the boss. - It's the skipper!

- Mr. Temple, Mr. Temple, please! - Well, look, uh...

You're only a couple of hours away. You can beat the hurricane out.

No, it's gotta be tonight.

Yeah, see you in a couple of hours.

Bye.

Storm warning. Big blow on the way.

- So what? - This coral reef not safe.

Got to make for deep water right away.

That boat stays right here.

Too dangerous. Boat break up on reef.

I tell you when to move that boat.

I am skipper.

Now, look.

I paid you.

- Now, you do what I say. - Please, señor.

You want half money back? I give.

But got to move boat.

Give me your rod.

See this?

You move that boat, I'll blow your brains out.

Okay, okay.

We'll be out of here in a couple of hours.

I'll be ready.

Go out and move that car around the back.

I come back here looking for those Osceola boys.

I knew they were somewhere around here.

Down the lobby, I ran up against these two.

They didn't look right to me, so I asked them a few questions.

By the way they answered me, I knew there was something fishy.

So I put in a call to Ben Wade,

but, before I can get through, the lights went out on me.

I woke up in there.

Rocco was standing over me.

I recognized him right away from the pictures.

I made a break for the door, and the lights went out again.

I'm the electrician.

Angel. Shave.

What did Miami have to say?

Everything's okay.

How soon will they be down?

They were leaving right away.

How're you feeling, copper?

I'll say one thing, you sure can take it.

By the way Toots poured it on, I'm surprised you ever woke up.

Phew. Boy, sure is hot.

Not too close.

So I won't get away with it, huh?

How many times I heard that from dumb coppers. I couldn't count.

I still say it.

You'd give your left eye to nail me, wouldn't you, huh?

You can see the headlines, can't you?

"Local Deputy Captures Johnny Rocco."

Your picture would be in all the papers.

You might even get to tell on the newsreel how you pulled it off.

Yeah.

Well, listen, hick.

I was too much for any big-city police force to handle.

They tried, but they couldn't.

Took the United States government to pin a rap on me.

Yeah, and they won't make it stick!

You hick!

I'll be back pulling strings to get guys elected mayor and governor

before you ever get 10-buck raise!

Yeah.

How many of those guys in office owe everything to me?

I made them.

Yeah, I made them, just like a tailor makes a suit of clothes.

I take a nobody, see, teach him what to say, get his name in the papers.

I pay for his campaign expenses.

Dish out a lot of groceries and coal.

Get my boys to bring the voters out.

And then count the votes, over and over again

till they added up right, and he was elected.

Then what happened?

Did he remember when the going got tough?

When the heat was on?

No, he didn't want to.

All he wanted was to save his own dirty neck.

Yeah, that's enough of that. Give me a towel, will you?

Yeah. "Public Enemy," he calls me!

Me, who gave him his public, all wrapped up with a fancy bow on it!

Angel, lay my clothes out.

- What suit? - The gray one.

- What color shirt? - A white one, of course.

Some little wildcat.

I knew one like you a long time ago.

Scratched, kicked, bit.

Regular hellion.

She even stuck a knife in me once.

Irish kid.

Little and kind of skinny she was but a real fireball.

Her name was Maggie Mooney.

But for professional reasons, I had her change it to Gaye Dawn.

She was a knockout in those days.

Hold on.

Why, you...

Go ahead, boss, smack her. Get it out of your system.

Look at him. The great Johnny Rocco with Nora's spittle hanging from his face!

Shut up, old man!

Come over here. I'd like to spit on you.

Give me. Give me!

Nothing to stop me from wiping you all out.

What good will that do, boss? Forget it. Her kind's a dime a dozen.

I say smack her and let it go at that.

Oh, that'd be right for you, Toots, not for him.

I need your advice, I ask for it.

The Roccos don't, or they wouldn't be Roccos.

No, Toots. Smacking her isn't enough for such an insult. He'd have to kill her.

Then he'd have to kill the rest of us because we witnessed it.

Not just Mr. Temple and me, but all the witnesses.

It's kill us all or nothing.

He needs you and Curly and Angel.

So it'll be nothing.

Wise guy.

Unlock this door!

Unlock this door! I want out!

Let her out.

I take off my hat to you, soldier.

It's good thing you said what you did when you said it, or he'd have started shooting.

Close shave for you folks. Closer than the one he got from Angel.

Where is everybody? Downstairs?

Oh... Hello, everybody.

Hi, fella.

Where's Johnny?

He's in there getting dressed.

I need a drink.

What's everybody doing upstairs?

Honey?

Have you been crying?

Why? Has somebody been mean to you?

Him? Did you make her cry? If you did, you ought to be ashamed.

- How about a little drink, huh? - No, thanks.