For the past couple of years I've been buying the biographies of various different famous actors - books are so cheap these days, and I'd love to know more about the stars of bygone days. Finally, I've started reading one of them - Humphrey Bogart. Written by A. M. Sperber and Eric Lax. It's leading to what I thought might happen - an overwhelming desire to see the films he appeared in as I read about them.
Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17816395 The Petrified Forest - (1936)
Humphrey Bogart kind of fell into acting via the circles he moved in (he came from a wealthy family) and the fact that his youth was rather aimless and his grades at school no good. He was smart enough - but would only apply himself in fits and spurts. His stage career started slowly, as did his film career - but when the play
The Petrified Forest came along he ended up with the role of John Dillinger-based criminal Duke Mantee, who takes a group of diners hostage while on the run. The play was a huge hit, and Humphrey Bogart stood out in the rave reviews it received. Leading the cast as two lovestruck hostages were Leslie Howard and Peggy Conklin. When Warner Bros. bought the property they retained Leslie Howard to carry over his role, and promised Bogart the part of Mantee. Just before heading to Hollywood Bogart got the news that the studio had changed their mind, and were offering the role to Edward G. Robinson instead. It was Howard who came to the rescue, demanding that Bogart get the part lest he leave the project, and Warners caved to his demands. If they hadn't of, we'd probably have no idea of who Humphrey Bogart was today.
So,
The Petrified Forest was Bogart's big break, but not the breakthrough that would lead to
superstardom. He is absolutely
fantastic in it as the dark, unshaven and desperate murderer - like a caged animal he broods and lashes out. He doesn't appear until around the 40-minute mark of the film though. It starts by introducing Gabrielle Maple (Bette Davis), daughter of diner-owner Jason Maple (Porter Hall), and lusted after by employee Boze Hertzlinger (Dick Foran), a former football player. To the diner comes traveller Alan Squier (Leslie Howard), and he unintentionally sweeps Gabrielle off her feet with his erudite ways. Eventually, of course, Duke Mantee and his gang descend upon the place and we learn a lot about who these people are while under life or death pressure. This is a very intelligent film, with the type of inventive cinematography you rarely see in 1930s movies - it's literate, superbly acted and greatly affected by the Great Depression. I was very glad to see it, and enjoyed it immensely.
8/10
By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17104564 Black Legion - (1937)
After making a name for himself in
The Petrified Forest Warner Bros. signed Humphrey Bogart on as one of their contracted performers. He was, of course, not ushered in and offered plum roles - instead having to make do with B movies and second-rate parts.
Black Legion ended up being something of a break in that sad routine - for once Bogart was being offered the lead in a decent movie. He plays factory worker Frank Taylor, who is passed over promotion-wise in favour of a Polish immigrant at work. Angry at this, he joins the Black Legion (kind of the Ku Klux Klan of the Midwest) when he hears one of their speeches on the radio. It starts with running foreigners out of town, burning down their houses and flogging them. It ends, of course, with murder - with West losing his soul in the process. Bogart's transformation from happy family man to savage, drunken murderer is totally believable and it's his performance that makes the movie as compelling as it is.
Black Legion isn't subtle, but it's straightforward and sharp approach deals with the subject at hand without sermonizing - and I appreciate that. Another very good Bogart film well worth seeking out and watching.
7/10
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