Today marks the 68th anniverary ofKey Largos release in 1948.

This article originally ran on Aug. 18, 2014, the week of Lauren Bacalls passing.

But how could she when her earliest films always had her squaring off against Humphrey Bogart?

He was too much an equal for thedame-est dame who ever livedto be lured to a cataclysmic end.

In many ways,Key Largois the definitive post-war film.

Increasingly, an unavoidable misanthropy and cynicism about the post-industrialized world had seized American society.

ButKey Largohad none of that.

And then the American government threw him out in 1940 like a no-good dirty rat.

Everything you oughta know about Rocco is in his introductory shot, which Huston withheld until the 25-minute mark.

He is all power, and hes terrified of losing it.

It is this vile, foreign menace that provokes Franks own withheld cynicism to bubble to the surface.

When Rocco asks why he went to war, Frank all but shrugs when he says no good reason.

Were fighting to cleanse the world of ancient evils, ancient ills.

However, the difference between how Frank and James Temple react to them is stark.

But the departed heros father holds them dearly as he mocks Rocco when Frank will not.

He refused to pull the trigger because one Rocco more or less isnt worth dying for.

It eventually netted Trevor an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

inTo Have and Have Not.

Bacall was discovered for that 1944 film by director Howard Hawks wife, Nancy Slim Keith.

She was the dame to kill for, and Bogie more or less did that.

You just put your lips together and blow.

Key Largois a complete rejection of that sultry image.

But all Bogies Frank can feel for her is pity.

After she scratches his face, he smiles and gives her a kiss.

Wild Cat is what he calls her.

Once Frank finds his courage for Gaye, Nora cements the reluctant role of noble superpower onto Frank.

Your head says one thing, but your whole life says another.

Even if it costs him his existence, Frank needs to stop Johnny Rocco.

This quiet fire is the point of the movie.

Or the Lucky Lucianos.

Thus, he will have Frank pilot a boat for him all the way to Havana.

In traditional noir, this would be the end of the hero.

There is a cynicism inherent with 1940s crime/noir pictures running throughoutKey Largo.

After all that death how could the Johnny Roccos of the world still exist?

But for better orworse,Key Largoanswers how America should andwillbe ready for them in the future.

These are two people who have seen too much, even if one of them is only 23-years-old.

They have seen war, suffering, and evil in their lifetimes.

Lauren Bacall was married twice in her lifetime.

The first time was when she was 20-years-old and Bogart was 45.

But where do you find a mana real manthese days?

Its equally hard to imagine well ever see a woman like Bacall again either.