Humphrey Bogart 1899 – 1957 ….the stuff that dreams are made of…

The Petrified Forest 1936 Directed by Archie Mayo WB B/W

..with Leslie Howard and Bette Davis in "The Petrified Forest"

 Many people still believe this was one of Bogart’s finest performances. Peter Ustinov claimed it was because of “his enormous presence”. Presence isn’t something you can learn and it is also something you can’t really explain. Bogart’s tough guy just had added dimension that all the other “tough guy” actors didn’t have. In this film, he had only 10 pages of dialogue but when he was onscreen, no one could take their eyes off him. It was after this film that he became known only as “Bogie”.

At home Bogart and Mary were having problems. She wanted to go back to New York where she could pick up her career again. He wanted her to stay with him and raise a family. Bogie lost and Mary went back to New York . Finis marriage.

Dead End 1937 Directed by William Wyler UA B/W

...with Allan Jenkins in "Dead End"

Bogart escaped Jack Warner’s “Murderer’s Row” on this loan out to Samuel Goldwyn. It was a Lillian Hellman adaptation of Sidney Kingsley’s hit play and, although Bogart still played a gangster, the role allowed him to build a character of more than one dimension. As “Baby Face” Martin, a product of the slums and a vicious killer, he still could let emotion play a part. He played one of his most brilliant scenes in the film with Marjorie Main as the mother who despises him.

This is also the picture that gave the Dead End Kids (Billy Halop, Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey and Bobby Jordan to name a few) their start. They would all meet Bogart again down the line in several more pictures.

But one columnist wrote “Bogart refuses to conform to Hollywood standards of behavior”. Bogie answered in a letter that took 8 pages.

High Sierra 1941 Directed by Raoul Walsh WB B/W

...with Ida Lupino in "High Sierra"

A brilliant screenplay, superb direction and Bogart, too…the ingredients guaranteed to create an excellent film. But Bogart wasn’t the first choice to play “Mad Dog” Roy Earle. George Raft turned it down because Earle dies in the film and George refused to die in a movie. Paul Muni turned it down because the studio offered it to Raft first. Cagney said no and so did Edward G. Robinson. Down to the last guy in “Murderer’s Row” , the studio reluctantly asked Bogart. His reply: “Sure. Where the hell’s the script and when do I start?” Bogart was a smart man! ….and the reviews proved it. It was a real turning point in his career.

Of course, living at home was getting dangerous. Now married to slugger Mayo Methot, the household budget was arranged to include a carpenter on constant call to repair any damage done to their house or someone else’s when the “Battling Bogarts” had one of their disagreements.

Once again Bogart got a plum role cast off by Mr. George Raft. George didn’t want to trust his career to a unexperienced director like John Huston. Raft should have learned his lesson by now. Bogart changed his dark, gangster’s overcoat for a trench coat but gave the private detective that same chilling, arrogant façade. Then he underscored it with a bit of sex appeal. It was the sleeper hit of the year.

In the excellent cast…..Sydney Greenstreet as the “Fat Man” was head of an International gang and Peter Lorre was his right hand scoundrel. Peter became one of Bogie’s closest friend off the set. The author, Dashiell Hammett, had been a detective himself, providing the realism that made the story work. And, of course, contrary to what George Raft thought, Huston was a helluva director.

Casablanca 1943 Directed by Michael Curtiz WB B/W

...with Dooley Wilson in "Casablanca"

World War II brought the curtain down on gangster films and set the stage for war epics and espionage thrillers. It was a genre just waiting for Humphrey Bogart. He was the only star at Warner who could handle the Axis!

Nobody working on this film thought it was going to be any good. But, not only was the story attuned to the headlines in the daily papers, Bogart took the character of Rick from tough to vulnerable. Again, he was surrounded by a superb cast …Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt and old pals Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.

Off the set, Mayo was so jealous of Bogart and his leading lady that she threatened if he left her for that Swede she would do him in. It frightened his management team so much they took out extra insurance on their firm.

Actually there was as much action on the set as there was in the picture! Bogart was up to his usual shenanigans and met his match in Raymond Massey. In one scene their doubles were slated to do a scene where they had to jump from the bridge of a burning tanker into the water flaming with burning oil. Bogart bet Massey that his double was the bravest. The two got into such an argument that they decided to do the stunt themselves. Massey burned his pants nearly off and Bogart singed his eyebrows. The producer and director were basket cases.

But midway during the filming, Bogart’s battles with Mayo took center stage. Bogie came on the set with a dandy black eye one morning that even make-up couldn’t cover. The cameraman had to work from his right side.

To Have or Have Not Directed by Howard Hawks WB B/W

...with Lauren Bacall in "To Have or Have Not"

Bogie meets Bacall on screen and off! Howard Hawks wanted Bogart to play Harry Morgan, the rugged sea dog but was looking for a new face to play opposite him. His wife, “Slim” found Lauren Bacall, a model with no film experience and helped Hawks get her voice lowered to that deep throaty drawl. With Bogie’s help, Lauren sailed through the role and she won Bogart as well. When she gave him that line “If you want anything, all you have to do is whistle” Bogart was down for the count. He later gave her a small gold whistle with that line engraved on it.

Bogie was now big box office but he was still bucking the system. “In Hollywood, I am what is called antisocial. People do not invite me to their homes because they are afraid I might say the wrong thing to Louis B. Mayer, Darryl Zanuck or Jack Warner, which I probably would”.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 1948 Directed by John Huston WB B/W

...with Walter Huston in "the Treasure of the Sierra Madre"

Written by John Huston and directed by John Huston, this memorable story became one of the greatest films of all time. Bogart played Dobbs, an unshaven, shifty-eyed drifter in Mexico with a passion for gold. With tow others (Walter Huston and Tim Holt), he plans to go on a gold-hunting trip up in the mountains. What with Indians and bandits and arguments among themselves. Things go badly and Dobbs is killed. And nobody ever ends up with the gold.

The film was made on location in San Jose de Purua, an isolated village 140 miles north of Mexico City. But Bogart was blessed…despite broiling sun, frequent downpours, steep hills and hordes insects and snakes…he had Lauren along to cook him ham and eggs!

While Bogart got only an Oscar nomination, both the director and his father Walter walked away with statuettes. But Bogey had another big surprise waiting for him. He was going to be papa!

The African Queen 1951 Directed by John Huston UA Color

...with Kate Hepburn in "The African Queen"

Screenwriter John Huston phoned Bogart one day to tell him “I have a great story. The hero is a lowlife. You are the biggest lowlife in town and therefore most suitable for the part”. So they had lunch at Romanoff’s and then both of them rushed over to Kate Hepburn’s to tell her about the skinny missionary spinster who floats down a river in Africa with a lowlife to fire a homemade torpedo at a German gun boat!

The crazy plot was from a story written in 1935 by C. S. Eliot and the movie rights had been bounced around Warners and 20 th Century Fox before Sam Spiegel bought it. But by the time the stars got to London on their way to Africa, the backers had backed down and Bogart, Hepburn and Huston had to ante up to get it made.

It was shot on location in the Belgian Congo and Uganda. Everyone came down with dysentery except Bogie and Lauren. Bogie even brushed his teeth with scotch.

The Caine Mutiny 1954 Directed by Edward Dmytryk Columbia Color

...as Captain Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny"

Bogart wanted the role of Captain Queeg but knew he was competing against almost every other star in Hollywood. It was Stanley Kramer, the producer, who chose Bogart. But Bogie had to defend his interpretation of the character when Columbia studio executives complained that he wasn’t making Queeg “ crazy enough”. “That’s not the way I see Queeg and it is not the way I’ll play him. Queeg wasn’t crazy, he was sick”. To Bogart, there was a big difference.

He also didn’t find anything wrong with working with a director who had served a prison term for contempt of court as one of the “Hollywood Ten” the “suspected Communists” of the HUAC. Bogart had already been to Washington to protest the activities of that particularly distasteful government commission.

Sabrina Directed by Billy Wilder Paramount B/W

...with Audrey Hepburn in "Sabrina"

The film was based on Samuel Taylor’s play “Sabrina Fair” with the screenplay done by the author, Ernest Lehman and director Billy wilder. Bogart had the role of Linus Larrabee, a wealthy, Wall Street type complete with Homburg, Brooks Brothers suit and black umbrella (never opened) a look he despised off the set. Bogart even beats out William Holden and gets the girl! The critics complained that it wasn’t logical and Bogart was incensed (I am using that word because it is less objectionable to the one he used). “That talk I shouldn’t get the girl is insulting”, he said. “One of the things Hollywood does is bury you after you reach the age of Tony Curtis. The tombstone is already up. This is an American idea. In Europe you don’t run into that problem.

Yo, Clint Eastwood!

The Barefoot Contessa 1954 Directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz UA Color

...with Rossano Brazzi and Ava Gardner in "The Barefoot Contessa"

I couldn’t do a better synopsis of the film than Bogart himself. “In a nutshell, the plot is that life louses up the script. In other words, it isn’t always true that Cinderella meets Prince Charming and lives happily ever after. In this case Cinderella meets Prince Charming but Prince Charming has been in a war and he is seriously damaged below decks. That is what the story is about.”

Well, not quite. The story itself somehow resembles the life of Rita Hayworth. The heroine (Ava Gardner) is a beautiful Spanish dancer who becomes a star and is mixed up with some characters that act a lot like the Ali Khan and Howard Hughes. Bogart played a washed up director “modeled after some of my friends who are ex-drunks”. Edmond O’Brien’s performance as a press agent won him a supporting Oscar and he credited Bogart with his success.

The Desperate Hours 1955 Directed by William Wyler Paramount B/W

...with Robert Middleton in"The Desperate Hours"

This film was adapted from Joseph Hayes’ novel and the hit Broadway play all inspired by actual events. Bogart had wanted to buy the movie rights himself but lost the movie to Paramount. So he committed himself to the studio production without even discussing contract or salary by inviting William Wyler to lunch. …where they both got drunk! But Bogart never regretted his decision even when he was sober.

He was one of three escaped convicts who broke into the home of a middle-class family and held them hostage at gun-point. His cohorts were played by Dewey Martin and Robert Middleton and the family heads played by Frederic March and Martha Scott. Arthur Kennedy rounded out the cast. But again Bogart dies in a hail of bullets.

The Harder They Fall 1956 Directed by Mark Robson Columbia B/W

...with Rod Steiger in "The Harder They Fall"

It was the story of an ex-sportswriter who accepts a job as a press agent for a boxing syndicate. Before long, he uncovers the abuse of the boxers by the syndicate and planned to expose them.

Bogart wanted the part badly and got it. But, on the set, he was disgusted with method-actor Rod Steiger. Bogart hated what he called “scratch-your-ass-and-mumble actors. He liked seeing Steiger onscreen but hated working with him.

This was the last film Bogart would ever do. A cough turned out to be cancer of the esophagus. But he delayed the operation until the picture was completed. The delay cost him dearly because the cancer spread. Bogart died just months after the picture was released. But Bogie’s wit lasted until the end. His last words were “I never should have switched from Scotch to martinis”.