Humphrey Bogart 1936 isle of Fury Lobby Card

I think that Dobbsie (Bogart)  is shown not to be particularly scheming at the outset – At most he’s only ornery. Deep inside is his latent insanity that is hidden by his daily routine among other city dwellers, and inactivated by his poverty. But out in the unstructured country – and with riches to be had – his insanity safely emerges. It is the same scenario as Lord of The Flies, and Apocalypse Now [and almost like The Thing or Alien]: Man’s true nature emeges when away from civilization. The same thing happens in a blackout – When the lights go out, some folks go nuts.

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Walter Huston is portrayed as a wise old codger, so he would’ve seen Dobbs as a schemer at first. He even cautions the other two about what could happen.  It is Houston that introduces the ideas of greed and mistrust that he weaves into his bedtime stories, which the other two saps are all ears to. If Howard would have kept his mouth shut, maybe Dobbs wouldn’t have gotten some of those ideas.

Nobody makes a fool of Fred C Dobbs.

Treasure was my favorite film for years.

- “Badges!? We ain’t got no badges. We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!!”

Saw Sabrina last night with Hepburn and Bogie. It was so campy but at the same time I enjoyed it though.
It was fun spotting other stars throughout the movie, such as Grandma Walton as Bogie’s secretary, Dr. Bombay as the chauffer, Ms. Hathway as one of the maids.  Seeing Bogart in Sabrina was kind of shocking. He seemed out of his element.

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Holden was disappointing. He seemed like he didn’t understand the role and was just playing the bufoon because that is what he thought the character would be be doing. He looked good and I could see the “Golden Boy” but his acting was really disappointing.
Hepburn was disappointing too. I always hear she was so good in this movie and honestly, she seemed miscast too. Her English accent was distracting especially in a role where she was supposed to be lower class. Her voice modulation was really annoying as it didn’t change regardless of what she was saying or what emotion she was trying to convey. Her figure was extremely disturbing — she looked like a praying mantis or some insect. In a couple of scenes they did closeups of her and her hair looked like it was brittle. I was surprised to notice these things since I was expecting so much having heard the years of hype about her performance and appearance.

Love the movie. The plot holes are hilarious tho.
1. Guy escapes San Quintin in a garbage can.

2. The first guy to pick him up is a small time crook, who Bogart knocks out.

3. The next person to pick Bogart up, Lauren Bacall just happens to be his lone defender who even had a letter about it printed in the paper, she never met him.

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4. She thinks him innocent of murder, but by chance keeps him from killing a guy with a rock.

5. knocked out guy nearly killed by rock comes to and sees a car race off and reads license plate.

6. Agnes Morehead and boyfriend of lone defender Lauren Bacall are friends with Bogart, although Lauren Bacall doesn’t know this until this time.

Then there is the cabbie who doesn’t rat him out and knows a plastic surgeon, the guy who can drive from Marin to SF in a car that doesn’t go over thirty, a plastic surgeon who is up at 4 AM, guy falling off a cliff under the GG bridge and no one notices, Agnes Morehead trips out a window…

It just goes on and on, if I had that kind of luck I would be king of the earth.

It’s still a fun movie to watch even if it is maddening as hell.

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1) The Flitcraft Parable — wherein Spade tells Brigid an episode about an average man, married, with a steady job, who one day narrowly escapes death from a falling steel construction beam. He then dissappears, only to be found in another city, with another name, another steady job, and another wife. ” He adjusted himself to beams falling, and then no more of them fell, and he adjusted himself to them not falling.”

2) Gutman has a teen daughter who he keeps drugged and bound in a distant home, far from the city. Spade finds her, with needle holes in her stomach and arms, dazed and emaciated. Although she really has no solid impact on the search for the Falcon, I think Hammett used the tawdry inferences of her forced imprisonment / sexual servitude / being drugged by her own father / possible incest to paint Gutman as a truly evil man, to sway the reader away from liking him. After all , he is a most charming and cultured villian.

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It’s coincidental that John Huston himself played a character much like Gutman – mildly corrupt on the outside, inherently depraved on the inside — in ” Chinatown “. The two films could be discussed side by side in fact, especially Bogart vs Nicholson, or Nicholson as Bogart.

Humphrey Bogart Maltese Falcon Trailer

Maltese Falcon Trailer

1. Its screenplay. I would bet more lines are still quoted from that film today than any other (“You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play it, Sam.” “Of all the gin joints in all the world she had to walk into mine.” “Here’s looking at you, kid.” “We’ll always have Paris.” “There’s gambling going on here? I’m shocked.” “Why did you come to Casablanca? For the waters. But Casablanca is in the middle of the desert. I was misinformed.” “The problems of two little people don’t amount to a hill of beans …” “You’ll always regret it, maybe not today, but …” “This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.” “Round up the usual suspects.” There are so many more

2. Its pure dumb luck. When it was finished, everyone associated with it thought they had made a fairly good “B” picture. Then the Big 4 Summit meeting was held in Casablanca and Warners decided to exploit that by giving the film a wider release. The film literally lit up the screen.

3. It is a movie that has far more impact the SECOND time you see it than the first. Because on the second time, you know the history behind Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman when she first walks into his cafe and that scene has far greater impact with that knowledge.

4. There’s not a wasted moment on the screen. Even what would normally be considered throwaway subplots like the story of the young bride who will submit to Claude Rains’ sexual advances so she and her husband can get out of Casablanca ring true and become integral to the overall development of the main characters.

Bogart-Casablanca

I’ve seen this probably dozens of times. Who can forget Bogie in this role? The stark images, the noirish feeling of inescapability. The Sierras, or the dog Pard.

Of all the 14 karat saps… starting out on a caper with a woman and a dog.

John Huston, W.R. Burnett & Bogie. Nuff said…

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I just saw “In A Lonely Place” and was completely floored by how good it was. Ray drew some amazing performances from Humphrey Bogart and Gloria Grahame. And there are all these peripheral characters who seem so strangely flawed. The agent, the masseuse, the cop and his wife, the tipsy actor. It’s film noir with a Hollywood Babylon twist.

The ending was just devastating.

In A Lonely Place Review

The Maltese Falcon (1941)

The Maltese Falcon is one of the greatest films ever made. I’ve seen it at least 20 times. Always fresh. Always nuanced.

 This is indeed one of the best and most enjoyable movies of all time. I can’t wait to watch it for the two hundredth time. . Bogart was superb at his rapid fire best, with Mary Astor setting the STANDARD for manipulative femme fatales for all time. The old dependable Jerome Cowan, as Miles Archer, his terrificly smarmy self.  John Huston’s direct was perfection. Peter Lorre as the little gay charactor – spot on! They all gave bravura performances in this Dashiell Hammitt ‘Hard Boiled’ mystery story. Think ‘The Family Guy’s’ parody of “Fast Talking High Pants”. That really encapsulates the essence of this film noir classic.

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Great Writing and Famous lines

The slapping line after Mary Astor slaps, Lorre…. The writing is phenomenal. Bogart to Elisha Cook – ” People lose teeth talking like that. “ Bogart to Ward Bond – ” It’s the stuff dreams are made of. “ Virtually every line of Greenstreet’s dialogue.  Bogart’s scene with Peter Lorre when in the face, grins, and says, “When you’re slapped, you’ll take it and like it” is one of the most real and believable tough guy lines in movie history.  And, only these great players could give those great lines the delivery they deserved. No question about Hammet’s original writing, and Huston’s screenplay.

Sam Spade is actually a complex character In the film, he is constantly getting into more and more trouble while “playing an act”. He is putting on a face for some people and putting on another face for others. He’s actually quite scared, but essentially “acting a character to all involved”. At the end, he drops his “acting”, and confesses with brutal emotional honesty that he has been “touched beneath his surface”. In a way, for the first time in the movie he comes clean in an honest way.

When he confronts Mary Astor initially he’s a bit desperate on trying to get her story straight before the cops come. He wants to believe that she didn’t kill his partner, but with disgust at himself and definately at her, he has to admit that she killed his partner. And, with pain, he knows that he couldn’t settle down with someone who did that especially since she can’t be trusted. And he tells her that straight out.

I really think that Sam Spade’s “acting” and “dishonesty” are what tie the story together. It’s what makes the ending palpable. She’s been doing the same thing, “lying to everyone.” And how can he live with a person who does that continually (and on a more ugly scale.)

They are both motivated by fear. They’re beyond their limits, but good at “playing cool” beyond their limits. After most of the major confrontations, Sam Spade checks in with himself, sees his hands shaking, or laughs smuggly at how he’s played others. There’s something dark in this way of life. and at the end of the movie it all returns home. Really, all you Bogart fans certainly need to re-evaluate this film. CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD!!! Doesn’t get any better than this for this particular genre. Outstanding movie!