Bogart
Cats: Bogart|
There is only so much time in the world and I am going to try to not waste it here. On Wednesday April 25th Turner Classic Movies is showing a group of Humphrey Bogart pictures that are must see and essential the the appreciation of Mr. Bogart and his work.
At 8:00PM we have The Big Shot (1942). I have never seen this picture. It was never available on VHS or DVD. It was rarely shown on tv. Now that I am sort of out of the business it might be available but it wasn’t prior to the store closing. I know that I will be recording this for my collection but I am, as I am sure you know, partial to Mr. Bogart.
At 9:30 PM High Sierra (1941)will be shown. This is a landmark Bogart picture. He is not playing a smarmy second banana in a Cagney film, he is coming into his own. He proves without a doubt that he can carry a picture effortlessly. This movie was written by John Huston and it was here that began their professional relationship as well as a lifelong friendship. Others were considered for the lead role but Mark Hellinger who was still producing at Warner Brothers insisted that Mr. Bogart play the part of Roy Earle. Thank god for the persistent Mr. Hellinger.
This is not just your typical heist/noir/ex-con not going straight picture. There is such a depth to Rot Earle and Mr. Bogart truly fleshes out this aging ex-con bank robber into a sad decline of a man. I do not remember when I first saw this picture but it was diffenently on tv way back when afternoon tv was filled with movies (after all the soaps where over). It is appropriate for the younger set and it in no way glorifies crime, they could not do that in 1941.
Angels With Dirty Faces (1938) follows at 11:15P. We should all know the story of this one at this point. Two kids grow up in the tough streets of Hell’s Kitchen. One goes bad, the other becomes a priest. Skip ahead 15 years (for Pat O’Brien it looks more like skip ahead 20 years) and the bad boy Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) fresh from 3 years up the river runs into half the cast of Dead End ; Huntz Hall, Leo Gorcey, Billy Hallop and Bobby Jordan who were just starting to get type cast. Father Connelly (Pat O’Brien) tries and eventually succeeds in getting Rocky’s help to straighten out this unruly bunch of dead end kids. Of course Rocky does it on the way to the electric chair after killing crime boss Mac Keefer (George Bancroft)and back stabbing lawyer James Frazier (Humphrey Bogart).
Mr. Bogart is just a few years away from bigtime stardom. One can see, however, how great an actor he is, especially if comparisons are made to his other perfomances. No matter what, Mr. Bogart put the same efforts in all his work. There is a thread that one can see through out his work, conviction.
Even though the ending is a little tough, we put this on in the store constantly. I know that I saw this one too on tv back in the good old days of pre - Oprah and Phil.
After midnight, 1:00AM on Thursday the 26th to be precise, The Petrified Forest will be shown. This is the picture that put Mr. Bogart on the map. He had done a few pictures prior to this one but had gone back to New York after some initial dissappointment with Hollywood. Back on Broadway, Mr. Bogart gave one of those performances that I wish I could go back in time to see. As Duke Mantee in the original Broadway version of The Petrified Forest (1936) Mr. Bogart gave a legendary performance. It would only seem logical that he play the role in the film version, the rights to which were purchased by the Brothers Warner. They did not see it that way.
Leslie Howard had also been in the stage version and was cast in the picture. The Warner Brothers wanted Edward G. Robinson to play Duke Mantee. Leslie Howard insisted that Mr. Bogart play the role Mr. Bogart originated or else he would not do the picture. Edward G. Robinson was happy to step aside as he was afraid of never shaking off the gangster thing. The rest is history. Mr. Howard and Mr. Bogart remained friends until 1943, when the KLM plane Mr. Howard was in was shot down by German fighters over the Bay of Biscay (the Nazi’z thought that Winston Churchil was on the plane otherwise they would have never been aggresive towards unarmed civilians). Mr. Bogart named his daughter with Lauren Bacall Leslie in honor of Mr. Howard.
The final picture is the 1955 picture The Desperate Hours showing at 2:30 AM on Thursday the 26th of April. The picture stars Fredric March (in a role originally intended for Spencer Tracy) as a not such a pushover middleaged uppermiddle class business man who’s home is invaded and family held hostage by a gang of escaped convicts. Humprey Bogart in a role originated by Paul Newman on Broadway shines in his last tough guy role (he made only one more picture after this) as the leader of this viscious trio.
The story is taut as a typical suburbian family is thrown out if it’s orderly, predictable and pleasant routine into a world of escaped and ruthless killers using them as a rest stop and a shield from the law. This underrated version is far superior to the remake with Mickey Rourke, infact skip the remake.
This is a nice way to round up this night of Bogart. There are people who say he looks tired in the film. They attribute this to his illness that would ultimatly kill him in a couple of years. I think that Mr. Bogart knew exactly how he looked and used this to further his performance, a tired convict. A man who had been subjected to all the harshness of prison life and it has taken it’s toll. Mr. Bogart almost looks dirty, but not a dirt that be washed off, almost like a dirt on the soul of this character. What a night.
There is a 46 minute long documentry following The Desperate Hours at 4:30 AM that is hosted by Mr. Bogart’s son Stephen. I had the pleasure of meeting Stephen Bogart at the street renaming ceremony back on June 23, 2006. I will never forget it. Ms. Bacall got out of the car first, then he got out. He looked shockingly like his father. I believe that once he knew I wanted nothing from him or his mother he seemed to relax. Although protective of his mother (as he should be), he was rather nice.
