FRwL

Anyone think it's neat he started becoming well known when he was in his 40s and then died at 57 and with that short time is regarded as one of the biggest stars of all time. A lot of the famous actors became well known in their 30s and were in the limelight for decades and still aren't at his league. It's kind of a morale booster that you can get big later on in life.

Solid Snake

Clint Eastwood could beat him in a fight...

B5Erik

Bogart could have been a star earlier on had Jack Warner not been such a putz. He did not like Bogart much personally, and didn't think he could be a star so he never supported him for bigger and better roles in the late 30's.

Even after Bogart hit it big in the early 40's Warner still treated him like he wasn't all that big of a deal. Of course, Warner alienated a lot of his stars so Bogart wasn't alone.

Bogart had a quality that few actors of the day had - the ability to be shady but still be the hero (more or less). He was arguably the first actor to really present, "Cool," on screen. Just watch him in The Big Sleep - the guy is as cool as they come. Just watch him pick up Dorothy Malone in the bookstore!

Hell, in All Through the Night, even though it's a comedy he's the epitome of cool.

Later, as he aged, he stretched a bit as an actor, but he still played morally ambiguous characters very well.

But, yeah, he didn't hit it big until he was 41 (born on 12/25/00). He aged pretty quickly after he hit 45, though.

He may have died at only 57, but he looked 10 years older than his age once he hit 52 or 53. Too much time in the sun (and too much smoking and drinking). The guy loved his boat and spent a lot of time on it. Too bad they didn't have some SPF40 back then!

But Humphrey Bogart is still one of the biggest movie stars of all time even though his mega star status didn't happen until he was 41.

Recommended viewing:

The Petrified Forest (1936)
San Quentin (1937)
Dead End (1937)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
They Drive By Night (1940)
High Sierra (1941)
The Maltese Falcon (1941)
All Through the Night (1942)
Across the Pacific (1942)
Casablanca (1943)
Sahara (1943)
To Have and Have Not (1945)
Conflict (1945)
The Big Sleep (1946)
Dark Passage (1947)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Key Largo (1948)
Tokyo Joe (1949)
In a Lonely Place (1950)
The African Queen (1951)
Deadline U.S.A. (1951)
The Caine Mutiny (1954)
We're No Angels (1955)
The Desperate Hours (1955)
The Harder They Fall (1956)

PopcornTreeCt

Audrey Hepburn was kind of like that...

She became a star in 1953 in Roman Holiday and then in 1967 she gave one of her finest performances in Wait Until Dark. Granted both movies are neither her first or last films, however, her star truly only shined for those 14 years.

Dr Mabuse

Bogey was the son of very wealthy parents.

They looked down on acting as the stuff of the lower class, but he did it anyway.

I always liked that about him, truly big money families can be weird and not everyone has the cojones to tell them to piss off an live life like you want to.

NoirFan

In a Lonely Place is his finest film, and one of the greatest studio releases of the 1950's. Utterly devastating and infinitely moving.

zekeburger1979

I wonder if Bogart ever "thanked" George Raft for passing on The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca?

NoirFan

If he didn't, I sure do. Raft fortunately passed on Double Indemnity too.

Groucho

"This is the stuff...[flips a coin]...that dreams are made of."

"Here's looking...[flips a coin]...you kid."

islandclaws

Very similar to Charles Bronson, who didn't have his big break out until 1974 when he was 53!

Bogart will always be one of the coolest actors to ever grace the screen. The Big Sleep is one of my favorite classics of all-time.

rw2516

He was always fond of saying he had never received a Christmas present in his entire life, his birthday 12/25.
A documentary I saw once mentioned he was never as popular while alive as he is now. There was revived interest in his movies on college campuses during the early seventies which really catapulted him to icon status. Bacall has said he would be appalled at the big fuss over him these days.
Without a doubt the Bogart in trenchcoat with cigarette is one of the most, if not the definative iconic image of classic hollywood.
While it's merits as a film, whether it deserves it status or not, can be debated, Casablanca contains practically all the elements associated with classic hollywood making it the definitive classic hollywood movie.

FRwL

Didn't Bronson have his breakout with OUATITW?

I would agree Bogie really was the first actor to define cool.

NoirFan

Bogie was cool, but he wasn't hip. Mitchum was both.

islandclaws

That was more an int'l breakout. He didn't really hit it big in the U.S. until Death Wish.

Jon2

Well... let's be honest, Clint could probably beat most guys less than half his age.

However, in Bogart's case, his tough guy image was really just that... an image. According to most accounts I've read at any rate, and it's one that really dogged him for a good part of his life.

Jon2

Yeah... but Mitchum was still a putz who couldn't stay away from weed.

Meglos

:Sets as background:

Thank you!

NoirFan

I'm not sure how smoking weed makes Mitchum a 'putz'. If anything, it only added to his image as a rebellious iconoclast. In that era, most actors would find their careers in ruins after a drug bust. Robert Mitchum emerged from prison more popular than ever. The expression on his face in this classic candid snapshot, taking immediately after sentencing, says it all.

wm lopez

Boogie played the bad guy too good like if he was really like that.
Great actor.

B5Erik

Here are some great pics - many of them are iconic images:

NoirFan

Bogie in color just doesn't look right - it's like a vampire in the daylight.

B5Erik

I'll agree with that - I liked the picture but hated the colorization. I tried to take the color out but I kept getting an error when it did that.

edit - OK, fixed. I had to change the file's format to bitmap & back to jpeg, but I was able to remove that hideous coloring job.

Jon2

Well... the expression on his face pretty much defines the look of a putz.

rw2516

You need to see him in Return of Dr. X!

will travel

I love his role in SABRINA.
Also enjoy his work on the radio.
He had is own radio show with Lauren BaCall, "BOLD VENTURE".