Bogie's best movie?

[Trenchfriend]

I saw "To Have and Have Not" in german public television and was fascinated about this great acting!!

 

[Edward]

Still hard to get past Casablanca.... for a silly little propaganda flick, it's as damn near perfect cinema as is posible to get. Though in terms of leading ladies, nothing whatever can match the chemistry between Bogie and Bacall in the Big Sleep. Not seen a Bogie film I couldn't love, though.

 

[Zombie_61]

Bogart gets a chance to deliver some neat one-liners in Across the Pacific...

Except for the ending, which feels rushed, Across the Pacific is a good outing for Bogart. Also, a very natural and relaxed performance by Mary Astor shows more chemistry between her and Bogart than in The Maltese Falcon in my opinion.

 

[Fading Fast]

Except for the ending, which feels rushed, Across the Pacific is a good outing for Bogart. Also, a very natural and relaxed performance by Mary Astor shows more chemistry between her and Bogart than in The Maltese Falcon in my opinion.

Agree with both. "Across the Pacific" starts strong, has an okay middle and then all but falls apart in a rushed finish. And Mary Astor and Boogie have almost no chemistry in "The Maltese Falcon," to the point that it hurts the movie for me as I don't believe he feels anything for her or could feel anything for her.

 

[Blackthorn]

Still hard to get past Casablanca.... for a silly little propaganda flick, it's as damn near perfect cinema as is posible to get. Though in terms of leading ladies, nothing whatever can match the chemistry between Bogie and Bacall in the Big Sleep. Not seen a Bogie film I couldn't love, though.

Hear, hear! Bogie is the reason I wear fedoras this many years after his death.

 

[Blackthorn]

But my personal favorite, since I'm a born again Christian who travels a lot working in third world countries, is The Left Hand of God.

 

[2jakes]

The Big Sleep 1945 version & 1946 version.



I prefer the 1945 version which has several scenes that were deleted from the ’46 version.

but there are other scenes in the ’46 which I like, so I combined/edited to include both.

I have both originals but added a dash of sepia color for my own personal “film noir” look !

 

[rocketeer]

Not a great fan but here's two I like in order of preference. Treasure of the Sierra Madre and Dead End.

 

[Zombie_61]

...And Mary Astor and Boogie have almost no chemistry in "The Maltese Falcon," to the point that it hurts the movie for me as I don't believe he feels anything for her or could feel anything for her.

I agree completely. Her character is supposed to be using her "feminine wiles" to lull Spade into lowering his guard, and some of their dialogue is rather flirtatious, but it falls flat because of the lack of chemistry between them. I think that's the main reason I like The Big Sleep so much more--Bogart is really on his game, and the chemistry between him and...well, just about every woman he's on screen with...is believable.

The Big Sleep 1945 version & 1946 version.

I also like both versions, but prefer the original 1945 version myself. There isn't a huge difference between the two, but the story in the '45 version just feels a little more "fleshed out".

 

[2jakes]

I agree completely. Her character is supposed to be using her "feminine wiles" to lull Spade into lowering his guard, and some of their dialogue is rather flirtatious, but it falls flat because of the lack of chemistry between them. I think that's the main reason I like The Big Sleep so much more--Bogart is really on his game, and the chemistry between him and...well, just about every woman he's on screen with...is believable.

I also like both versions, but prefer the original 1945 version myself. There isn't a huge difference between the two, but the story in the '45 version just feels a little more "fleshed out".

(Nit picking)

In the book shop scene, I’ve always wondered why there wasn’t a retake when Bogie clumsily bumps his drinking cup with a
very young Dorothy Malone. Unless he was taken in when Ms. Malone removes her specks & lets her hair down .

Also if this movie were to be made today, they would’ve shown way more than just a sip or two behind closed doors.
That’s one of the reasons I like this movie. No nudity or swearing. It may not be real...but there’s enough of that already.

But yet there is killing in this movie...so perhaps my thinking is not so well thought out after all.

 

[Zombie_61]

(Nit picking)

In the book shop scene, I’ve always wondered why there wasn’t a retake when Bogie clumsily bumps his drinking cup with a
very young Dorothy Malone. Unless he was taken in when Ms. Malone removes her specks & lets her hair down...

I'm taken in by young Ms. Malone every time I watch that scene, so I can forgive Mr. Bogart for a momentary lapse of "smooth".

...Also if this movie were to be made today, they would’ve shown way more than just a sip or two behind closed doors.
That’s one of the reasons I like this movie. No nudity or swearing. It may not be real...but there’s enough of that already...

I've never read the novel, but as I understand it the implication that Marlowe (Bogart) and the book store clerk (Malone) had "relations" is not part of the original story. Allegedly, director Howard Hawks was so taken by 19-year-old Malone's maturity that he chose to make that scene steamier than it was originally scripted. It's a brilliant example that proves you don't need nudity or blunt language to "turn up the heat" as long as you know how to craft the scene and the actors have chemistry.

 

[2jakes]

I've never read the novel, but as I understand it the implication that Marlowe (Bogart) and the book store clerk (Malone) had "relations" is not part of the original story. Allegedly, director Howard Hawks was so taken by 19-year-old Malone's maturity that he chose to make that scene steamier than it was originally scripted. It's a brilliant example that proves you don't need nudity or blunt language to "turn up the heat" as long as you know how to craft the scene and the actors have chemistry.

True.
And as much as I like the Maltese Falcon,

I agree with Fading Fast & his comment regarding the lack of chemistry between Astor / Bogart.


If you haven’t , I would suggest you watch the “Cheap Detective” with Peter Falk as detective Lou Peckinpaugh in the Bogart mold
& Madeline Kahn as Ms. Montenegro, Denise Manderley, Wanda..etc-etc-etc... :eusa_doh:

Great satire with ​Kahn along with Louise Fletcher, Eileen Brennan, Stockard Channing & Ann-Margret.

In my opinion, these ladies stole the movie !

 

[Stormy]

It's difficult to say which is his best. Bogie just never missed! Key Largo, Dead End, and Dark Passage are tops in my book. Ironically, Casablanca is definitely at the bottom of the list for me. Everything about that film (except the music) just screams "MEDIOCRE" to me. I'm not even crazy about the wardrobe and costumes, a very rare occasion pour moi. Go figure ...

 

[Stormy]

OK ... THAT DOES IT!!! That's all I can stand, and I can't stand no more!! I'm about to go watch 2 Bogie films back-to-back! I just happen to have just about every flick he's been in.

 

[Trenchfriend]

What would be happened, if Bogie lives longer and made much more movies across the following decades? Would he be a legend, today?

 

[Edward]

What would be happened, if Bogie lives longer and made much more movies across the following decades? Would he be a legend, today?

The most obvious option is that he'd have aged like Brando, producing a masterpiece of the level of The Godfather.

Though it's also possible that he'd have gone down the same path as Bobby DeNiro, discovering a gift for comedy in later life (it's all there in Casablanca - the one thing rarely mentioned about that film is how funny it is).

 

[Stanley Doble]

Bogie just kept getting better and better. He was considered a lightweight before Petrified Forest.

Producer Arthur Hopkins:

'When I saw the actor I was somewhat taken aback, for he was the one I never much admired. He was an antiquated juvenile who spent most of his stage life in white pants swinging a tennis racquet. He seemed as far from a cold-blooded killer as one could get, but the voice (dry and tired) persisted, and the voice was Mantee's.'

He was 35 years old and had been acting for 12 or 13 years. Over the next 20 years came the performances that made him a legend.

When he died he was only 56. What he could have done in the next 10 or 15 years if he hadn't gotten cancer, who knows.

 

[DanielJones]

One that I hardly get to see, but is always a must see when it comes on is Across the Pacific for me.

Cheers!

Dan

 

[Bolero]

"Casablanca" because of its Moralistic overtones, WWII Times, all the great other actors, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Claude Raines, Paul Heinreid, Conrad Veidt, Ingrid Bergman......

Major Strasser: What is your nationality?

Rick: I'm a drunkard.

Captain Renault: That makes Rick a citizen of the world.

[all laugh]

 

[Benzadmiral]

Rick (innocently; after glancing at Strasser's dossier on him): "Are my eyes really brown?"