MovieChat Forums > Key Largo (1948) Discussion > That sheriff was an idiot [spoilers]

That sheriff was an idiot [spoilers]

posted 10 years ago by thesnowleopard
5 replies | jump to latest

I get the intent in the story and it's a very effective turning point for Frank when the sheriff shoots those two Osceola boys. Also, it's a dramatic irony that the sheriff survives *because* he's a racist who jumps to the conclusion they're guilty, which means Rocco doesn't "have" to kill him. I'm not calling it a flaw. It works in the movie.

But he's still an idiot. Brilliant police work there, dummy, especially with the gangsters Rocco was meeting with waiting right there in the driveway. Any cop with half a brain would have seen how tense everyone was. Hide it and bide his time? Sure. But going off half-cocked and shooting two innocent people, then leaving the real murderers to go on their merry way? Not so much.

I always wondered how that must have gone down after he found out the truth. He probably would have come up with some excuses to help him sleep at night and never been charged with anything (because that happened back in the day), but his relationship with the Osceolas and the Temples must have been irreparably damaged. I doubt either forgave him. It's those kinds of old hurts that fester for a lifetime in a small town.

Edit: Ah, I forgot that last scene between the sheriff and Temple, but I still think he was an idiot!

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[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 10 years ago

As Rocco would've said - "he was a hick, see". Myeah, see...now I won't hafta kill you. See?"

It's hard to type out EGR's inflection

[–] udippel 9 years ago

Yes, you found a serious gap in the plot. Usually I am too old-fashioned to run after all sorts of goofs and gaffes, but in this case it does make it a disappointment. Also, I could add, after him having found the deputy, any Rocco would have to have him killed before driving off. And if only, since everyone there felt that something strange was going on, and nobody could be sure that he didn't just play along, only to return with the cavalry.
So that whole lot makes it one of the weak spots of that movie.

[–] thesnowleopard 8 years ago

I don't actively go picking stuff (or, at least, hold it against the work) if I really like the story. Nothing's perfect and there can be things where execution is clumsy as all get-out, but it still all works together somehow, whereas in other films, everything works like clockwork and is about as emotionally involving.

And in defense of the film, the deaths of the two Osceola boys are played out as the tragedy that they are. They're just two more innocent victims of Rocco that he never even meets. But still...there's something about it I find chilling. Maybe it's that Rocco casually lets the sheriff draw the wrong conclusion and shoot the wrong people, just to provide himself a convenient pair of scapegoats. In that way, he involves the sheriff in his guilt, which makes the end of that subplot somewhat dissatisfying. Justice doesn't exactly prevail.

Innsmouth Free Press http://www.innsmouthfreepress.com

[–] PopperTheKungFu-Dragon 8 years ago

Agreed.

Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Cried