An Uptown Dandy
New in Town
- Messages
- 25
- Location
- New York City
Raft did some great films. Are they remembered like Casablanca or High Sierra? Definitely not.
They Drive By Night is a great film. Of course, Bogart plays his brother in it so I'm not sure who we should give credit to for that one.
Probably his two most well remembered roles would be in Scarface and Some Like it Hot.
But Night After Night is also a great film, more remembered now because Raft secured a role for his friend Mae West, who proceeded to steal every scene in her first film appearance.
It just seems like he did consistently good films. There is a great film called You and Me with Sylvia Sidney, directed by Fritz Lang of Metropolis fame. Raft plays an ex-con on parole who is given a job at a department store owned by a man who likes to help out people with troubled pasts. Raft falls for co-worker Sidney, who turns out to be an ex-con as well. Great film.
I think its worth mentioning again that Raft was definitely a bigger star than Bogart during the 1930s. Bogart most likely surpassed him in the early 1940s by virtue of his quality films. But Raft was already starring in films such as Night After Night by 1932. Bogart secured the role in Petrified Forest, a supporting role, in 1934(?), reprising his Broadway role. He was still playing supporting roles in 1936 when he co-starred in Dead End. Raft could have just as easily turned down Dead End because it was a co-starring role and not the featured role that he had already become accustomed to. By 1937, Raft had secured his first (and only) Oscar Nomination for Souls At Sea with Gary Cooper. By 1939, Bogart was still playing supporting gangster roles in films like Angels with Dirty Faces and the Roaring Twenties, but he certainly was not the star of these films. These are still considered James Cagney vehicles. These are great films, but to say Angels with Dirty faces was a Bogart film would be like saying Scarface was a Raft film, and not a Paul Muni film.
Bogart finally got his break in the early 40s when Raft and Paul Muni both turned down High Sierra. Bogart then got another break when Raft turned down the Maltese Falcon in 1941 as well. For what its worth, Raft's contract stipulated that he did not have to do remakes, which was the stated reason for him declining to do the Maltese Falcon, which had originally been filmed in the pre-code era in 1931. Obviously, in hindsight, a bad decision.
But with the benefit of hindsight 70 years later, its easy (and of course true) to state that Bogart did films that are considered "better" today. But there was a reason that Raft was offered all of these films before Bogart - he was the more popular actor/bigger box office draw during the 1930s.
They Drive By Night is a great film. Of course, Bogart plays his brother in it so I'm not sure who we should give credit to for that one.
Probably his two most well remembered roles would be in Scarface and Some Like it Hot.
But Night After Night is also a great film, more remembered now because Raft secured a role for his friend Mae West, who proceeded to steal every scene in her first film appearance.
It just seems like he did consistently good films. There is a great film called You and Me with Sylvia Sidney, directed by Fritz Lang of Metropolis fame. Raft plays an ex-con on parole who is given a job at a department store owned by a man who likes to help out people with troubled pasts. Raft falls for co-worker Sidney, who turns out to be an ex-con as well. Great film.
I think its worth mentioning again that Raft was definitely a bigger star than Bogart during the 1930s. Bogart most likely surpassed him in the early 1940s by virtue of his quality films. But Raft was already starring in films such as Night After Night by 1932. Bogart secured the role in Petrified Forest, a supporting role, in 1934(?), reprising his Broadway role. He was still playing supporting roles in 1936 when he co-starred in Dead End. Raft could have just as easily turned down Dead End because it was a co-starring role and not the featured role that he had already become accustomed to. By 1937, Raft had secured his first (and only) Oscar Nomination for Souls At Sea with Gary Cooper. By 1939, Bogart was still playing supporting gangster roles in films like Angels with Dirty Faces and the Roaring Twenties, but he certainly was not the star of these films. These are still considered James Cagney vehicles. These are great films, but to say Angels with Dirty faces was a Bogart film would be like saying Scarface was a Raft film, and not a Paul Muni film.
Bogart finally got his break in the early 40s when Raft and Paul Muni both turned down High Sierra. Bogart then got another break when Raft turned down the Maltese Falcon in 1941 as well. For what its worth, Raft's contract stipulated that he did not have to do remakes, which was the stated reason for him declining to do the Maltese Falcon, which had originally been filmed in the pre-code era in 1931. Obviously, in hindsight, a bad decision.
But with the benefit of hindsight 70 years later, its easy (and of course true) to state that Bogart did films that are considered "better" today. But there was a reason that Raft was offered all of these films before Bogart - he was the more popular actor/bigger box office draw during the 1930s.
Last edited:
