Buttmunker

I like to think of myself as a fan of black-and-white films, but this one I just couldn't get into. I thought Bogart was too over-the-top (overacting), the pace of the film was slooow...I don't know, I heard it was one of the great films of Bogart's career, so I was anxious to see it.

I plan on viewing The Maltese Falcon next week - hope that one fares better.

riotinmyskull

i can't wait for that thread!

naitram

I love this movie, especially the setting. But I think Tim Holt really steals the show.

JumpCutz

Excellent film. One of my absolute favorite Bogart movies. John Huston, deservedly so, won Best Director and Best Screenplay Oscars for this film.

Ash Ketchum

"Opeenions? We don't need your steenkeeng opeenions!"

PopcornTreeCt

I'm sure there a lot of users on the Yahoo Movies message board that didn't like it either. Perhaps you should try there?

TomOpus

Solid Snake

that made my day.

Buttmunker- maybe you think he's overacting cuz well...that era had a much different style of acting. I like it. I LOVE the Maltese Falcon. Sooooo I dunno how you might like that film.

Buttmunker

I like a lot of films from that era - personally, I think James Cagney can act circles around Bogart. But Bogart had a style to his way of talking that I (like many) like.

I recently watched Bogart in Black Legion, and thought the first half was pretty good, but it became another ham-fest for Bogey during the second half. Not to mention, the character Bogey played was totally unsympathetic, so you couldn't even feel sorry for him.

I didn't see Casablanca from start to finish, but from what I did see, they directed Bogart to perfection, which is why Bogart and Casablanca are firmly connected in people's minds.

I look forward to Maltese Falcon, and really hope I'm not disappointed with the film. I don't expect to be, mainly because I like Bogart, and I like old movies. We'll see.

Ash Ketchum

See HIGH SIERRA and THE BIG SLEEP. I like those two even more than MALTESE FALCON. These three films, along with CASABLANCA, represent Bogart's finest acting work.

Buttmunker

I hate to say it, but I thought the pacing in High Sierra ruined the picture. I bought the Humphrey Bogart collection, which includes The Big Sleep, so I plan on seeing that one soon.

Not for nothing, but I thought The Petrified Forest was a snoozefest until Humphrey Bogart finally arrived in the film. Bogart was great, but the picture itself was less than.

GoldenJCJ

It's probably not his best work, but my favorite Bogart film is Key Largo. I gotta stop and watch it every time I flip by it on TV.

Though I'm probably not the best person to ask since I love Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca.

I did think Dark Passage was a tad boring and way too gimmicky.

Ash Ketchum

PETRIFIED FOREST was a play first--and Leslie Howard and Bogart appeared in those roles on Broadway. Howard insisted on Bogart being cast and, as a result, revived Bogart's film career. But the film very much hews to its theatrical structure. You either like the play or you don't. But it's not a snoozefest unless you're expecting something completely different. Yes, the ending is pretty silly. And the whole conceit of this wandering poet/writer getting mixed up with gangsters and a small-town dreamer is some playwright's desperate romantic notion. But there are things to recommend in it. Bette Davis is pretty cute in it. How often can you say that about her? And it's got a couple of interesting black characters and their interaction is a high point ("Ain't you heard about the big liberation? Have your drink, weasel!"). And Bogart is great.

Meglos

HUGE Bogie fan here, so I'm biased. I'd like to recommend some lesser-known flicks of his like All Through the Night, a light-hearted caper where Bogie and a bunch of gangsters (one of which is a very young Jackie Gleason) fight Fifth Columnists/Nazis in 1941 New York City.

<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3OGCYTdkPUY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Also worth checking out is Action in the North Atlantic - another WWII flick where Bogie is in the Merchant Marines - and Beat the Devil, a screwball cult classic directed by John Huston towards the end of Bogie's career.

islandclaws

I watched the BD of this last night - fantastic film. I had no problem with Bogart's performance, but he was definitely overshadowed by Walter Huston and Tim Holt (hell, I even thought Bruce Bennett was excellent). Bogey was a low-level loser at the beginning, and he never matured an inch the whole time - but that was his character. I thought this was one of those classic Hollywood productions where everything fits just right; I loved it. It didn't hurt that the PQ on the BD was gorgeous.

Buttmunker

Maybe the problem I had with Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind is the same problem I had with this. Lack of growth.

NoirFan

I'd say In a Lonely Place contains his greatest performance.

Palaver

Coincidentally enough, I just watched this flick for the first time a couple of days ago, and I thought it was pretty outstanding.

The only part of it that felt "off" to me was Bogey's character. Since I'm usually accustomed to him playing a heroic type, it was strange for him to play a character with literally no redeeming values whatsoever. Even as a "villain", Dobbs was pretty darn incompetent. But, as others have said, that was the character, and Bogart played it extremely well.

Of course, in my opinion, Walter Huston pretty much stole the show. Excellent performance.

inri222

I agree with this.

Casablanca / The Big Sleep / The Maltese Falcon / High Sierra come a close second

Ash Ketchum

Well, that may seem to be the case by the end of the entire movie, but you have to give the character of Scarlett some credit for drawing on reserves of strength and courage to get through the whole burning of Atlanta and the privations of the war and Reconstruction. She really steps up to the plate and takes charge, no matter what you may think of the quality of her character. After she marries Butler, it's kind of a different story and it's easy to really dislike her. That part of the story is really problematic. You almost kind of wish the movie had ended right after she marries Rhett, or even before.

But you also have to credit Leigh's performance. She carries the whole movie in her face and you can see it in every closeup of hers. In fact, the last time I watched this (on TCM a few years ago), I just focused on her face for the whole time and I was mesmerized.

Buttmunker

"...as God is my witness, I'll never go hungry again." This was about mid-way through the film, and I thought we'd see a steadily maturing Scarlett by the time the film ended. As it was, I praised Rhett for leaving. She was a brat, was in fact much worse by the end than when the film started. That's why I hated GWTW.

As for Bogie's part in "Treasure," he was a scumbag. And, unlike Pacino's Tony Montana, he didn't have cocaine to blame for his shitty, murdering personality.

But I will watch it again, just to make sure I didn't unduly misjudge the film with all the high praise in the back of my mind from years of brainwashing on how great this film was. Such films, when viewed for the first time, may suffer by comparison.

leacha

I'm a big Bogie fan and when I had Directv installed last August I had set Bogie on auto record. Now the only movies that come up have to be paid for. Damn Directv's direct marketing greed!

runnersdialzero

Love Sierra Madre, Dark Passage and Maltese Falcon. I must be one of the few people who thinks Casablanca is terribly overrated. Good movie, but not one of the 20 best movies of all time.

TheGuy

No love for, To Have and Have Not? Bogie and Bacall!