Gaye Dawn from KEY LARGO (1948)

Film noir and its losers...

Image from Once Upon A Screen blog

Not only is this Claire Trevor’s second rodeo here at The Losers of Film Noir, but this is also the first time we’ve had an Oscar-winning performance! And while she is dealt much of the same heartache as in the previously discussed Raw Deal, she takes it up a notch and earns herself that Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Written by Richard Brooks and John Huston, and based on the Maxwell Anderson play of the same name, Key Largo (1948, dir. Huston) takes place in… well, Key Largo, more specifically a hotel. Army veteran Frank McLeod (Humphrey Bogart) arrives at the hotel to visit the family of his friend George Temple, who served with him. The Temples, James (Lionel Barrymore) and his daughter-in-law Nora (Lauren Bacall), own the hotel, though it seems to be closed now; it’s summer and there’s a hurricane coming. Still, there are a few people about. Among them, Gaye Dawn (Claire Trevor).

We meet her at the bar, as does Frank. She’s not your typical ‘femme fatale seated at the hotel bar being a gorgeous baddass’ type. Oh no. She’s loud, brash and drunk. She slurs her words as she addresses Frank, she yells at the bartender to give Frank a drink, she stumbles all over the place; she’s a right mess. She’s also the ex-girlfriend of feared gangster Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson), who decides to take everybody at the hotel hostage, along with his goons.

‘Well, this is a free country. If I want a drink, I can have one. I can buy my own.’ Gaye Dawn

Her drinking problem is apparent throughout the whole film but it is only through her interactions with Johnny Rocco that we get a kind of idea about why she acts this way. Johnny took her out of the chorus, in his own words. Gaye Dawn could have been a singer. She could have been famous. She could have had it all. But something happened. We can only assume Johnny’s domineering ways got in the way. He terrorized her just like he terrorizes everyone in the film. But he’s not done with her yet. In the film’s most powerful scene, Johnny makes Gaye sing her old song, acapella, in front of everybody. He promises to give her a drink, and she reluctantly agrees. She tries her best, but her nerves get the better of her, much to everyone’s discomfort… Still, in that moment, we get a glimpse of what could have been. Not only did this scene win Claire Trevor her Oscar, it won our hearts too.

‘It’s better to be a live coward than a dead hero’ Gaye Dawn

Gaye Dawn, like many noirs characters, is the embodiment of the American Dream gone wrong. Though her character is a true supporting character, she could have even been the main character in a prequel or series spin-off. Her dreams were shattered. Her talent unnoticed. Her looks faded. And now she finds herself in a hotel in the middle of a hurricane with nothing but the bar to keep her company.

We bid farewell to Gaye Dawn and Key Largo. Our next loser is a down-on-his-luck veteran who gets wrongly convicted of murder. The movie is Boomerang! (1947), the actor is Arthur Kennedy and the loser… is John Waldron.

See you on the sunny side of the street.