Bogart In Love, Part One

The first film that helped Bogart become something other than Hollywood's best bad guy.

     In 1943 Humphrey Bogart had finally achieved the kind of success he'd only dreamed of. Nearly ten years and fifty films of playing heavies, villains and heels opposite the likes of James Cagney, George Raft and Edward G.Robinson, after spending the 1920's on Broadway in juvenile { " Tennis, anyone?" } roles, Bogie had struck the mother lode of movie stardom in the Oscar winning hit Casablanca. In year's previous, if not cast as the bad ass that the hero rubs out in the end, Bogie was, at best, cast as the second lead. Some of these non-gangster parts included Raoul Walsh's They Drive By Night, and the Bette Davis 1939 classic Dark Victory, in which Bogie unsuccessfully dusted off his Irish brogue. However these type of films were few and far between. Warner Brothers, the studio who had him under contract since 1936's The Petrified Forest, found audiences and critics alike responded to Bogie most favorably as the biggest bad guy on the Silver Screen, who would get his comeuppance in the final reel. High Sierra in 1940 helped turn the tide for Bogart. Directed by Raoul Walsh in his usual rough-house manner, High Sierra offered Bogart a chance to play the lead in an "A" picture with a decent budget. In it Bogart was still a gangster, "Mad Dog " Roy Earle, just recently paroled, but for once he portrayed a sympathetic heavy, getting involved with two very different women, being used by one { Joan Leslie } while the other { Ida Lupino } falls in love with him. It's a movie Bogie could thank Paul Muni and George Raft for, as they both turned it down. Though not a huge moneyspinner, the movie garnered good reviews, did good enough biz and helped establish the Bogart Legend. From this point on, though he didn't know it at the time, Bogart would play second fiddle to no one. Next up was the lead in the forgettable The Wagons Roll At Night, but after that came a game changer that really set his career in motion, playing detective Sam Spade in John Huston's adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon. An early entry in the film noir sweepstakes, the story had been filmed twice before, both unsuccessfully. The Huston version of Falcon was a major achievement for all involved, no more so than for it's leading man who displayed the tough exterior moviegoers had come to expect from Bogie, with the added element of pathos and empathy. Like when he tells Mary Astor he "won't play the sap for no one." :  

     This represented a new kind of tough guy. One who was vulnerable to love but would still send that love up to the Big House if she were guilty. Released on October 3, 1941, Falcon went on to recorded three Oscar nominations : Huston for Best Adapted Screenplay, Sydney Greenstreet as chief baddie Kaspar Gutman in the Best Supporting Actor category and the film for Best Picture. They all lost, but being in such elite company as Citizen Kane, How Green Was My Valley and The Little Foxes was ample reward for a film no one at Warners initially had much faith in. Huston and Bogart, who would go on to become great pals and drinking buddies, went on to make five more films together some of them the best either man would ever make. But all that was in the future. By 1942  Bogart was trying to endure married life to Mayo Methot, a character actress who hadn't been working much of late due mostly to her weight gain, which in turn was due to her excessive alcoholic intake. Known in Hollywood circles and the gossip rags as "The Battling Bogart's", they made good copy and were generally well liked amongst writers, especially Bogie. It was no secret that Bogie also enjoyed a drink or several { Bogart was once famously quoted as saying the world was three drinks behind and needed to catch up, or words to that effect.} and Mayo, whom Bogie nicknamed "Sluggy", had a tendency to get jealous or downright violent when under the influence, once pulling a gun on him and another time successfully stabbing him in the shoulder. Mayo was wife number three for Bogie, the first two, also actresses, were Helen Menken and Mary Philips. Besides their chosen profession they all had a quality that must have held an attraction for Bogie : they were all strong-willed, formidable women. Bogart it seems, liked a woman who could give as good as she got, one who was not about to kowtow to him or anyone else.

Great pic of Bogie with his Sluggy tee on, which was not only the nickname for his wife, but also the name of his schooner.

     After the success of Falcon Bogart went on to make the lighthearted All Through The Night { again inheriting another of George Raft's rejects } and  Huston's Across The Pacific, before beginning Casablanca in late spring of 1942. Like many great films from that Golden Era of the movies, Casablanca was just another movie for the brothers Warner and executive producer Hal B.Wallis, of no more importance than The Hard Way, Edge of Darkness or any other "A" budget picture with a top star attached. The fact that Casablanca was timely worked in it's favor at the box office, yet something more intangible made it click and become one of the screen's most memorable films. An absolutely stellar cast also helped { Lorre, Greenstreet, Henreid, Rains, etc }, probably the most quoted and economical screenplay ever written { by the Epstein brothers } didn't hurt, along with the brilliant assurance of Michael Curtiz, and his graceful, swooping camera at the helm, and the improbable chemistry between Ingrid Bergman { in her prime } and Bogart made the film irresistible,  both then and now. For Bogart, on a personally/professional level, it made him sexy for the first time on film. If Ingrid Bergman is saying on screen how much she loves you, audiences - then and forever after - believed her. In other words, it is the cinema's happiest accident of all-time. If one cannot relate to Casablanca, one cannot relate to film in general. I mean, what's not to like ??

Original poster for the film that really turned the tide for Bogart. From this point on, Bogie became not only a great box office draw but a romantic one too. 

      Because of Casablanca Bogart became not only a star but a superstar before that phrase had been invented. It's success landed him in the Top Ten Box Office Stars Poll, where he would remain ensconced for the remainder of the decade, checking in at #7 for 1943. Casablanca also made Bogie a quite unlikely sex symbol. Call it sexy-ugly, but  women responded to his tough veneer, smoking, boozing and cynical wisecracks. The success of his career made Mayo all the more jealous and paranoid, afraid that some starlit or hatcheck girl would wisk her beloved away, not that Bogie gave Mayo any reason to believe he would stray; by all accounts he was a loyal husband, not only Mayo but to his wives and didn't indulge in hanky-panky on or off the set. Bogart had standards, it seems, and morals. By the time he entered into the making of director Howard Hawks latest opus, To Have and Have Not,  it is not unreasonable to assume Bogart had endured enough of Mayo's shenanigan's, that he was not the happy man he ought to be and he might be looking for a way out, though probably on an unconscious level. In other words, Bogart was vulnerable. It is at this moment Lauren Bacall walked into his life.

Bogie and Baby. The film that started it all. 

      To Have and Have Not is loosely based on a novel by the esteemed Ernest Hemingway. Howard Hawks { Bringing Up Baby, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, the original Scarface, The Big Sleep, Red River, Rio Bravo and even more } specialized in movies that featured men who could hold there own, men that were, in Hawks-speak, " professionals ", whatever that profession may be. This "professionalism" was probably best brought home in his 1939 aviation epic Only Angels Have Wings, which includes the famous "Who's Joe?" sequence. Hawks was also a master of giving his hero's women who were just as strong, if not stronger, than their male counterparts. Jean Arthur in Angels, Roz Russell in His Girl Friday, Ann Sheridan in I Was A Male War Bride, Angie Dickinson in Rio Bravo - and after To Have and Have Not, Bacall again in The Big Sleep - are prime examples. These women, if not professional equals, were at least equal in giving back a brand of toughness and world weariness; sexy femmes who can pull a gun out of their purse as well as a lipstick and make both gestures memorable, while never losing their femininity, which is not easy to do { just ask Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider or Mila Jovovich in the dreadful Ultraviolet or Resident Evil movies, tough broads who could kick-butt with the best of them, but whose sex appeal is sorely lacking }. In 1944, Lauren Bacall became the epitome of the Hawksian woman.

Bacall teaching Bogie how to whistle, she fairly drips with an insolent sensuality . 

      From the start of filming Bogie and Bacall seemed to enjoy each others company on set. When introduced to her Bogart, who had viewed Bacall's screen test and approved her casting, said " we should have a lot of fun together ". Understatement of the decade, bub! The relationship began with a fun, kidding kind of camaraderie. After a few weeks into filming Bogart came by her dressing room at the end of the day's shooting. After some small talk, according to Bacall, he put his hand under her chin and kissed her. That's all it took and soon the pair were plunged into an affair. Bogart, the married superstar who had never strayed, was stymied. Refusing to hurt Mayo, Bogart said and did nothing to motivate a change of residence or cohabitation. Bogart was also disturbed by Bacall's age, he being 44 to her 19. 25 years is a sizable age gap for any couple to overcome. Therefore, Bogie having been married three times previous, may have thought a happy marriage just wasn't in the cards for him.

Bogie, Bacall and Marcel Dalio on set. Just look at that woman. Sexy, slinky and not afraid of anyone.

      Director Howard Hawks with his ice cold persona, was livid that Bacall would prefer Bogie over him. Bacall was signed to a personal contract by Hawks, not Warners, and one night threatened Bacall with a life sentence to Monogram or one of the other various low budget "Poverty Row " studios if she did not see the light of day and make her appreciation to Hawks a physical reality. The next day Bacall, in tears, related the situation to Bogie. He told her not to worry, that there was way too much time and money spent on her for Hawks to let her get away to some cheap, fly-by-night operation, Howard was simply jealous, that's all. However, Bogart was upset over Hawks treatment of his new love and was ready to walk off the picture if Hawks didn't back down his threats. It took a peace conference with studio boss Jack Warner to mediate a " personal talk to smooth over everything," with Bogart and Hawks coming to an understanding regarding Lauren Bacall; in other words, " hands off, Bacall is my girl."  Filming resumed, and things went fine from that point forward. Life with Mayo, however, with her tendency for jealous rages, didn't get any easier. Having just turned forty, her youth and figure essentially gone, Mayo was more unpredictable than ever. As his affair with Bacall increased so did his absences from home, leading Mayo to believe, correctly for once, that Bogie had fallen for his new co-star. She took to call him on set, needling him with things like " How are you doing with your daughter? She's half your age, you know. "

The Look. There will never be another like her.

      From the start Warners figured Bacall was a star with a future and the publicity department worked hard on her behalf, coming up with the nicknane " The Look ", much like Lana Turner's Sweater Girl and Ann Sheridan's Oomph Girl, and Bacall was happy to oblige becoming well liked for her cooperation and professionalism. Finally, on May 10, 1944 filming wrapped on To Have and Have Not, with Bogie and Bacall going off together. In real life it was different, Bacall went to dinner with Hawks and his wife Slim with Bogart driving off alone, apparently to Mayo. Despite the fact that filming was concluded Bogie and Bacall continued to meet in secret. During this period Bogart would write tender, vulnerable love letters to Bacall, wishing he had more time to spend with her. Bacall would later recall her willingness to meet him at a moments notice anywhere he wanted. Age did not seem to matter to her, Bogie having so much energy, Bacall being so much more mature than her nineteen years. For his part, Bogart was caught between his love for his new co-star and his obligation and responsibility to Mayo, and it tore him apart. The goodbye to Mayo would be a long, hard one. It was at this time, October 10, 1944, when filming of The Big Sleep reuniting Bogie, Bacall and director Hawks would commence, that Bogie's life would get really complicated.


Sources :                   Bogart by A. M. Sperber & Eric Lax
                                 Wikipedia page on To Have and Have Not
                                 IMDB on To Have and Have Not
                                 By Myself by Lauren Bacall 
                                 Turner Classic Movies