← Back to Reviews
in
The Petrified Forest (1936)
The rock solid performances of Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard reprising their Broadway roles definitely make the 1936 film version of The Petrified Forest, an effective blend of hostage drama and star-crossed romance worth your time..
Based on a play by Robert Sherwood, this is the story of a notorious gangster named Duke Mantee (Bogart) who holds a disparate group of people hostage in a gas station/diner in the middle of the desert. The hostages include an intellectual drifter with a death wish named Alan Squier (Howard); a dreamy-eyed waitress named Gabrielle (Bette Davis) who hates her life and wants more than anything to get out of Arizona; a wealthy older couple named Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm and their chauffeur; the station's not so bright mechanic named Boze who loves Gabrielle, and Gabrielle's father and grandfather.
Sherwood's play opened on Broadway in January of 1935 and closed in June because the film version was in theaters less than a year later. Director Archie Mayo doesn't put a lot of effort into making the film look less like a piece of theater and more like a movie. During the opening scenes, the sky in the background is clearly painted backdrops. The film may take place in the Arizona desert, but we can tell immediately that the filming of this piece never left Warner Brothers sound stages, but the story is so compelling that, as the film progresses, we really don't care.
Even though the film is a hostage crime drama, what really makes the story special is the star-crossed romance between Alan and Gabrielle. I loved the way Alan is introduced in the film...broke and hitchhiking across the desert until his fateful meeting with Gaby, a true dreamer who thinks she's found a way out of her dead end existence with Alan, even though he really doesn't promise her anything. How a charming and intelligent man like Alan ended up in his position is never really addressed, but curiosity is piqued when it comes to light that Alan seems to want to die, despite Gabrielle pinning all her hopes of a new life on him. The relationship between Alan and Gabrielle is presented with such care that we're genuinely terrified for them with the arrival of Duke Mantee on the scene.
And as for Duke Mantee, this seems to be the performance that was the genesis for Bogart's career as the ultimate cinematic tough guy. Bogart gives a genuine menace to his character more through the physicality of the character rather than the dialogue. Bette Davis gives the role of Gabrielle real substance, a role originated on Broadway by Peggy Conklin. Dick Foran was fun as Boze and there's also a real scene-stealing performance from Charley Grapewin as Gaby's grandfather, who considers Mantee a hero. Grapewin would become an important part of movie history a few years later when he would play Dorothy's Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz. The ending is a little rushed but for fans of Bogey, Davis, and Leslie Howard, a must-see.
The rock solid performances of Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard reprising their Broadway roles definitely make the 1936 film version of The Petrified Forest, an effective blend of hostage drama and star-crossed romance worth your time..
Based on a play by Robert Sherwood, this is the story of a notorious gangster named Duke Mantee (Bogart) who holds a disparate group of people hostage in a gas station/diner in the middle of the desert. The hostages include an intellectual drifter with a death wish named Alan Squier (Howard); a dreamy-eyed waitress named Gabrielle (Bette Davis) who hates her life and wants more than anything to get out of Arizona; a wealthy older couple named Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm and their chauffeur; the station's not so bright mechanic named Boze who loves Gabrielle, and Gabrielle's father and grandfather.
Sherwood's play opened on Broadway in January of 1935 and closed in June because the film version was in theaters less than a year later. Director Archie Mayo doesn't put a lot of effort into making the film look less like a piece of theater and more like a movie. During the opening scenes, the sky in the background is clearly painted backdrops. The film may take place in the Arizona desert, but we can tell immediately that the filming of this piece never left Warner Brothers sound stages, but the story is so compelling that, as the film progresses, we really don't care.
Even though the film is a hostage crime drama, what really makes the story special is the star-crossed romance between Alan and Gabrielle. I loved the way Alan is introduced in the film...broke and hitchhiking across the desert until his fateful meeting with Gaby, a true dreamer who thinks she's found a way out of her dead end existence with Alan, even though he really doesn't promise her anything. How a charming and intelligent man like Alan ended up in his position is never really addressed, but curiosity is piqued when it comes to light that Alan seems to want to die, despite Gabrielle pinning all her hopes of a new life on him. The relationship between Alan and Gabrielle is presented with such care that we're genuinely terrified for them with the arrival of Duke Mantee on the scene.
And as for Duke Mantee, this seems to be the performance that was the genesis for Bogart's career as the ultimate cinematic tough guy. Bogart gives a genuine menace to his character more through the physicality of the character rather than the dialogue. Bette Davis gives the role of Gabrielle real substance, a role originated on Broadway by Peggy Conklin. Dick Foran was fun as Boze and there's also a real scene-stealing performance from Charley Grapewin as Gaby's grandfather, who considers Mantee a hero. Grapewin would become an important part of movie history a few years later when he would play Dorothy's Uncle Henry in The Wizard of Oz. The ending is a little rushed but for fans of Bogey, Davis, and Leslie Howard, a must-see.