Line #26 Film/HighSierra


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6	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/high_sierra_1941.jpeg]]
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8	One of Creator/HumphreyBogart's breakout roles that made him a star (along with ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon\|1941}}''), this 1941 heist film was directed by Creator/RaoulWalsh. Creator/JohnHuston and W.R. Burnett wrote the screenplay, [[TheFilmOfTheBook adapted from]] Burnett's novel of the same name.
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10	Bogart stars as robber Roy Earle, pardoned six years into a life sentence through the machinations of ailing crime lord Big Mac. Earle has been broken out to do one last heist, alongside two young toughs, who disgust him with their lack of discipline and smarts. Earle finds himself out of place in a world that is changing fast. His failed romance with a young Dust Bowl refugee convinces him that he has no place in honest life, but after the heist goes bad, he finds loyal companionship in the form of Marie (Creator/IdaLupino), a dancehall girl from UsefulNotes/LosAngeles.
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12	[[SelfRemake Remade by Walsh]] as the 1949 {{Western}} ''Colorado Territory'' (starring Creator/JoelMcCrea and Virginia Mayo), and by Stuart Heisler as the 1955 film ''I Died a Thousand Times'' (starring Creator/JackPalance and Creator/ShelleyWinters).
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15	!! This movie contains examples of:
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17	%%* AntiHero: Roy Earle may be a sharp-tongued armed robber [[spoiler: and eventual murderer]], but he's quite sympathetic and intends to go straight and head home after the hotel job.
18	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Babe is a short-tempered jerk who abuses Marie, so it's hard to feel bad when he dies in a fiery crash.]]
19	%%* BadassInANiceSuit: All the gangsters.
20	* TheCaper: Roy, Babe, and Red rob a resort hotel.
21	* CartwrightCurse: Sort of. Every owner of Pard the dog has died.
22	* ClimbingClimax: Earle flees the police up the rocky slopes of the titular High Sierra.
23	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Everybody dies except Mendoza, who talked, and Marie, who's going to prison or possibly an asylum, as she appears to be having a nervous breakdown at the end.]]
24	* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Roy Earle gets shot off the top of [[RuleOfSymbolism the tallest mountain in America]].]]
25	* FilmNoir: This is a classic example, although one might consider it a gangster film or pre-noir, as many consider the genre to have been defined with ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon\|1941}}''. Historians cite it as a GenreTurningPoint, in that it was when the '30s gangster film became Noir, noting the greater psychological focus and the symbolism (which generally defined noir) separated it from the '30s gangster films, which were more focused on social opinions of urban crime rather than exploring character motivations.
26	%%* KnightInSourArmour: Roy Earle.
27	* MeaningfulName: Roy Earle is a reference to Theatre/KingLear, (Earle is a semi-anagrame for Leare, and Roy is French for King). About the only thing in common was the theme of growing old and the longing for OneLastJob.
28	* NeverGoingBackToPrison: Roy is haunted by [[PastExperienceNightmare bad dreams]] of prison, and is determined to never return. [[spoiler:Like so many other examples of this trope, he eventually chooses SuicideByCop rather than get taken back to prison.]]
29	* NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Roy Earle [[http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTczNjM5MTAzMF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwMDE3MTM2._V1_SX640_SY720_.jpg is based on]] [[http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/0098a8969b75fcbcc047c1d6b8ca240296a8feea/c=0-15-1549-1178&r=x404&c=534x401/local/-/media/Indianapolis/Indianapolis/2014/03/03//1393864227000-inidc5-5kfj0w6wy6vjizus59z-original.jpg John Dillinger]], down to a final last job, tracked by a manhunt and entering into a romance at the time of his death.
30	* OneLastJob: Roy wants to retire after this heist.
31	* {{Retirony}}: [[spoiler: He ends up dead]].
32	* TheStoolPigeon: Roy gives a veiled threat to Mendoza warning him against squealing, as the last time someone on one of his heists squealed, Roy riddled them with bullets. [[spoiler: Mendoza ends up telling the cops everything anyway to save his own skin.]]
33	%%* TragicHero: Roy.
34	%%* UncleTomFoolery: Algernon.

Context Film / HighSierra