Bogart's career was made by picking up roles that Raft turned down. Raft was a decent actor with a lot of charisma - but he had horribly bad judgment when it came to selecting roles.

Bogart should have sent him a, "Thank You," card for turning all of them down.

I would like to throw in a recommendation for Beat the Devil. It's a bit of an oddball movie late in Bogie's career with supporting turns from Peter Lorre, Robert Morley and Gina Lollobrigida. It's a strange, endearing film.

So Raft was first choice for Casablanca, too?

Raft also turned down the lead in Maltese Falcon. Said he didn't feel it was an important picture. Guess with judgement like that, it's part of why Bogart is still watched and discussed while Raft elicits the response of "who?" from 99% of the public. "They Drive By Night" is his only leading role that I'm familiar with. Then again, I'm not a big fan of 30's ganster movies, which evidentally was his forte.

I think he was in "Scarface"?

I'm gonna keep y'all updated on my progress, just cause...why not?

Just watched Casablanca for the first time. I enjoyed it, but am wondering, why is it regarded so highly? It has some great lines, of course. Maybe I missed something, but I find The Maltese Falcon and High Sierra more entertaining. I'm prepared to be flamed. :)