The holiday season has come and gone, and if you’re a classic film buff like me and didn’t quite get the gift you were hoping for, this column is for you. I recommend picking up some Bogart. Below are two vastly different Humphrey Bogart movies to satisfy most film fans.
A Top Five Movie on anyone’s list without a doubt should be Casablanca. Directed by Michael Curtiz, and released in 1942, this love story set in French Morocco not only starred Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, and co-starred the absolutely stunning Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund - the supporting cast included Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre.
The story focuses on expatriate American Rick rediscovering his passions for life, love, and morality in general by helping his ex-lover Lund travel on to America. Film critic Roger Ebert once pointed out that Casablanca wasn’t thought of as something all that special when it was being produced, a fact that’s hard to imagine given the universal themes the film not only touches on but totally nails.
Bogart’s performance in Casablanca is both nostalgic and nuanced. Whether that’s more to do with working with the stellar supporting cast or not, Casablanca remains one of Bogart’s best films and a true pleasure to watch over and over, and won three Academy Awards (including Best Picture).
A final note regarding Casablanca - as someone who quotes movies all the time, this film is a gold mine. But one of the most famous lines connected to the movie, wasn’t ever said in it at all. “Play it again, Sam” is a colossal misquote of Bogart’s pleading to his piano player, Sam in regard to the song As Time Goes By: “You played it for her and you can play it for me…If she can stand it, I can!
Play it!” Even more interesting is Rick’s expression, “Here’s looking at you, kid,” to Ilsa. Aljean Harmetz, in his 1992 book, Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of Casablanca tells us that the quote comes from something Bogart said to Bergman as he taught her poker between takes. A total of six lines from Casablanca appeared in the AFI’s movie quotes poll, the most of any film. The others were: “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”, “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’”, “Round up the usual suspects.”, “We’ll always have Paris.”, and “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”.
The African Queen (1951) was a film that I hadn’t seen until recently; mostly due to its 2009 restoration. Considering that I love Bogart and enjoy his work, I thought I’d give a go to the film that brought him his one and only Best Actor Oscar. Bogart plays the Canadian Charlie Allnut, captain of the rough and tumble titular boat that delivers mail and supplies to German East Africa during World War I.
On one of his deliveries, he meets brother and sister British missionaries Samuel and Rose Sayer, played by Robert Morely and Katherine Hepburn. Charlie warns the two that war has broken out and they should leave the area. They don’t, of course, and after the Germans attack the village, Samuel becomes fever-stricken and dies. Charlie comes back to the village after the attack, finds Rose, and the two set out on the river to escape.
Their adventure sees them overcome white water rapids, make it past a German fort while being shot at, survive a broken propeller shaft, crocodiles, leeches, and being run aground, all on a quest to conduct a suicide mission to blow up a German gunboat preventing the British from counterattacking.
Of course the two also find time to fall in love and via what must have been considered a twist ending back in 1951, get captured by the Germans, almost hanged, married, blow up the gunboat, AND live happily ever after.
It’s staggering to think that The African Queen netted Bogart his first and only Oscar. I think that it either had more to do with being paired with Hepburn or being rewarded for body of work that was far superior to this one performance.
Finally, not taking anything away from Lauren Bacall, who starred with Bogart many times, it would have been nice to see him work more with Hepburn. The chemistry they have together toward the end of the film could have been polished to a high luster.
Check out The African Queen, if only to see a side of Bogart that isn’t as widely known.