"Himself, he never took too
seriously-his work, most seriously. He regarded the somewhat
gaudy figure of Bogart, the star, with amused cynicism; Bogart,
the actor, he held in deep respect," said John Huston.
Bogart was the one, old-time movie star that modern day society
felt it could trust. To Bogart, it took a life-long career of
huge successes before he ever considered himself to be a real
man. He had walked in the shadows of the other Broadway superstars,
like Cagney, and Edward G. Robinson, as well asTracy and Grant.
Yet he seemed to surpass them all with a talent that was so
real it had to have come from the heart.
Bogie was noted as unusually quiet;
yet onscreen his statements were so loud you almost needed earmuffs
to prevent your ears from bleeding in utter amazement at his
talent. Although his first few films gave no impressionable
credit to audiences, he returned after a short reunion with
Broadway. Bogie was born with an impressive, yet not perfected
performance, in 1936's "The Petrified Forest".
Humphrey was known for his cast as a
gangster in the early thirties, and he was a miscast in romances
and westerns. It was 1941's "High Sierra" that brought
him back to his feet. Some of the films of his peak years include
the credible and magnificent "Maltese Falcon" (1941),
"The Big Sleep" (1946),"The Treasure Of The Sierra
Madre" (1948), and "In a Lonely Place" (1950).
But of course, who could forget his stellar performance in the
one and only "Casablanca" (1942). Probably one of
the most realistic quotes, when it comes to summing up his persona
and his actions, was from a restrauteur, DaveChasen, when he
said, "Bogart's a helluva nice guy until around 11:30 p.m.
After that, he thinks he's Bogart."
Few were allowed to see the real
him, perhaps his fourth wife, but not many others. And through
it all only two movies dared to portray the myth; who is the
real Bogart? For that daring step, he won an Oscar, with 1951's
"The African Queen". He then died, at the age of fifty-seven,
much too early for his time, but with nothing left to prove.
(CD)