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The Big Shot was completed just as the USA was getting into World War II and it would be many years before Humphrey Bogart once again played a gangster role. He ended his career as Warner Brothers gangster however with a good role that more than faintly resembled his High Sierra and George Raft's part in Each Dawn I Die.

The story of The Big Shot is told in flashback as Bogart lies in a prison hospital. As he relates it, Bogey's a three time loser who if he gets another conviction it's permanent accommodations for him at the state's expense. Like Roy Earle in High Sierra, it's really too late for him to go straight.

But what a surprise he gets when he finds his former girl friend, Irene Manning, now married to big shot criminal attorney and criminal mastermind Stanley Ridges. When they start taking up where they left off, it's the beginning of the end for Bogey.

Like Roy Earle and Hood Stacey in Each Dawn I Die, there is an air of doom about Bogey's Duke Berne in The Big Shot. No matter what he does it will end bad for him as it does for those other characters. But the audience gets quite a ride. Best bit of action is that police chase with Bogart and Manning being pursued by upstate cops.

Best supporting performance in the film is that of Chick Chandler who plays another convict Dancer with whom Bogey makes a prison break. Chandler did work in vaudeville and was a song and dance man and got to use those skills in the role. Also Stanley Ridges is one mean and nasty villain.

This was the time that Bogart was between classics The Maltese Falcon and Casablanca. Though The Big Shot is not up there with those two, it's a lot better than other stuff he was doing at the time like All Through the Night and Across the Pacific. This is a good film for a Bogart fan to introduce someone else to the charisma and persona of Humphrey Bogart without using a classic.

"The Big Shot" is a 1942 film starring Humphrey Bogart and Irene Manning. Bogie is a career criminal, Joseph Berne, who is sent to prison for life for something he didn't do - set up by his own attorney (Stanley Ridges), who finds out that Joe is involved with his wife (Manning). Berne's fake alibi is provided by a young salesman, George Anderson, who needed money and instead gets a year for perjury. It's George's predicament later on that gives Joe a crisis of conscience.

After years of toil at Warner Brothers, Bogart is now a star, and his image as a gangster is softening and would morph with Casablanca into an anti-hero. He does a good job in this film - his story is told in flashback from the prison hospital. The script is problematic. One glaring offense is that the police locate a criminal in a cabin. When they get there, they don't surround it, and their prey, not even aware the police are there, go out the back and drive away. Most viewers are aware that the cops surround an edifice. Not here. The movie is not particularly well directed by Lewis Seiler. There is, however, an exciting car chase.

Of interest here is George's girlfriend, the beautiful and doomed Susan Peters, who less than three years later would be paralyzed in a hunting accident. She was signed by MGM after this film. 1942 was a banner year for her, as she was nominated for a supporting Best Actress Oscar for "Random Harvest." She died in 1952. One of Hollywood's saddest stories.

Humphrey Bogart, a master-actor of crime, did it again in this 1942 film. Ironically, it's when Bogie tries to go straight that things begin to go awry.

While we have all the familiar elements to a Warner's Gangster Film, this picture is done incredibly well. There are the small time crooks, the fancy lawyer who plots the jobs, two innocent young lovers caught up in this mess and a dame, Irene Manning, who gives a splendid performance.

Manning, the wife of the crooked lawyer, will not allow her lover, Bogart, to participate in a heist. That's when the action begins. Her husband discovers her indiscretion and makes sure that Bogart, who is blamed for being part of the robbery team, goes to prison on a life sentence as it is his third offense.

The lawyer causes more havoc until Bogie breaks out of jail and is finally able to deal with him.

With all his sinister gangster ways, Humphrey Bogart shows that he has a heart and will not let the "kid" take the rap and go to the chair as a result.

The Big Shot is a decent crime picture, reminiscent in theme to the previous year's High Sierra, which also featured Humphrey Bogart. Director Lewis Seiler was no Raoul Walsh but handles the familiar plot about the doomed criminal nicely, giving it shadings of atmosphere, urban and rural. The movie is one of the last flowerings of the second major wave of gangster pictures, of which it is a late example. Bogart is excellent, yet one can sense the genre running out of steam despite his performance and the nice pace of the film. There were more pressing issues at hand by the time the movie was made, such as a world war with Germany and Japan, as overall the activity of the criminals in the movie seem small potatoes compared to what was going on elsewhere, in Europe and in the Pacific.

This movie is very similar to Bogie's first movie "Up the River." Having seen all but three of his movies I was not expecting very much and chose to watch it only because it was one I had never seen before. I was pleasantly surprised by the acting. But, the location shoots and especially the stunt work was extremely well done for the time. The first car crash was very different than those of most movies that are over 65 years old, showing a car crashing through other cars and then flying off of a ramp and rotating through the air before it exploded into flames. The location shots taken in the snow covered high mountain country provide glimpses of vintage life in rural America of 1940. And the ending car chase and motorcycle stunts were very impressive for stunt men without the safety equipment that is now used. Even the dance scenes that "Dancer" was in were also enjoyable and revealed some of the dancing style of vaudeville. All in all the movie was entertaining and worth seeing, especially if you are a fan of Bogart and early stunt work.

In this crime drama from Warner Brothers and director Lewis Seiler, career criminal Duke Berne (Humphrey Bogart) is a paroled three-time loser, destined for a life sentence if he gets busted again. He tries to stay clean, but old compatriots coax him into helping out on an armored car robbery. Things go south, and he ends up behind bars, with nothing but escape offering any hope.

This is average material elevated a bit by Bogart's presence. The armored car robbery sequence is excitingly shot, as is the prison escape attempt, and a snowy car chase. The supporting cast is a bit weak, though Irene Manning and Susan Peters are both lovely to look at. This was a bittersweet film for me, as it was the last major Bogart film that I had not seen. Only A Devil with Women (1930) and Body and Soul (1931) remain unseen. I know it's a bit cliche, but Bogart is my favorite actor of the classic film era, so knowing that there are no more major films out there that I have not seen is a little bit sad. On a side note, I notice that this hadn't been shown on TCM until this year, after a 13 year absence from the channel, which is strange since it's a Bogart picture and a Warner Brothers release, with it only having been shown five total times since 1994. This could be due to the blackface performance that happens during the prison show sequence.

HUMPHREY BOGART once admitted that he had to spend years at Warner Bros. dodging bullets and writhing around on the floor as a bullet-ridden gangster type, before being taken seriously in other roles.

THE BIG SHOT is a prime example. It came at a stage in his career where he was on the verge of becoming one of the biggest stars ever, with CASABALANA giving him the iconic role of Rick and taking him away from gangster roles for awhile. But until then, he was still a full-fledged gangster star.

Basically, it's a grade-B yarn with IRENE MANNING (who starred in "The Desert Song" opposite Dennis Morgan a year later), as his romantic interest in a cast that includes SUSAN PETERS, STANLEY RIDGES, MINOR WATSON and HOWARD DA SILVA.

Bogart is an ex-inmate, a three-time loser trying to go straight and we see his story in flashback as he lies on a hospital bed. Lured back into a life of crime when he can't find a job, he joins Da Silva's gang and has to deal with romantic complications involving ex-girlfriend Manning, married to crime boss Stanley Ridges. He gets accused of being one of the armored car bandits and has to figure a way to get himself clear of a frame-up. Ridges frames him while posing as his lawyer and Bogart gets sent to prison for a life term.

The prison break scene is the highlight of the drama and rescues the film from a slow pace that only steams up toward the conclusion. Bogart has a moral problem. A good guy (RICHARD TRAVIS) who tried to prevent Bogie and friend from making a jail break, gets accused of being mixed up in the escape. When a prison guard dies during the attempt, Travis has to take the blame.

The plot takes a turn when Bogart decides he can't let Travis, an innocent man, take the rap.

Summing up: Worthwhile for Bogie fans, but we've all seen this kind of crime drama before.

A very exciting fast paced gangster saga, It's interesting seeing Bogart reverting back to his 30's style tough guy persona one more time immediately after his acclaim as Sam Spade in "The Maltese Falcon" & just before his next triumph as Rick Blaine in "Casablanca". This was a transitional period in his career when his image was being redefined from gangster to anti hero. This movie was released at the wrong time, it was seen either too late or too early. Had it been made & seen in the 1930's or had it been withheld & shown in the postwar years along side of "White Heat" it might've went over like gangbusters. But not in 1942 during World War II? We had much more pressing concerns & worries with the Japanese & the Germans. This movie is every bit as good as "High Sierra" if not better, the car chase scene down the slippery slope is exciting & well done. This film literally puts the pedal to the metal & never let's up once. The story moves at lightening speed & will blast you right out of your seat. The Big Shot marked the last time Humphrey Bogart would appear as a gangster, he would not play a gangster for another 13 years until he appeared in a television production revival of "The Petrified Forest" recreating his famous Duke Mantee character. Bogart returned to the movies bringing Duke Mantee with him as escaped convict Glenn Griffin in the William Wyler directed suspense thriller The Desperate Hours in 1955. The Big Shot is essential viewing for fans of old gangster movies & for Bogart fans as well, I like both. So get your tommy guns & tear gas out & enjoy this shoot em up farewell send off to an exciting genre!

Here we Have a film headed in the cast by that now cultural icon Humphrey Bogart. I grew up watching films from him, cagney and Edward G Robinson.

It tells the story of a gangster on his deathbed telling us of his end years and what put him in that bed. What you have is a very good story and like all classics not a cgi filled film but a masterpiece. Bogart with his wry giggle and square chin shines through and is at a time where his leading role was very well deserved.

The film chops through romance, revenge, jealousy and Bogart the bad guy ends up being the good guy all to his demise.

You won't be disappointed with this film, and although the genre is not Film Noir it's close to it.

This lost little bit of film noir featuring Bogart in his usual tough guy role (this film being made just previous to Casablanca) is not a bad watch for a lazy afternoon. There is nothing stellar about the plot, the performances, or the action, and some of it is even quite funny. Watch as the camera is pushed in at the actors' faces at key moments time and time again. Another fun part is the snowy car/motorcycle chase, a danger anyone who has fish-tailed their car on the way to work on a cold winter morning can relate to. If you haven't seen "Casablanca" or the "The Maltese Falcon," make sure you've seen those first, but you could certainly do worse than "The Big Shot."

You can't be mistaken by a Warner Brothers yarn from the forties or thirties, especially a gangster, crime flick. This one has no Jimmy Cagney nor Edward G Robinson as the lead, but Humphrey Bogart. He was then rising to the stardom, to the top, but he had not reached it yet...The director is Lewis Seiler, whith whom Bogie already made CRIME SCHOOL and KING OF THE UNDERWORLD. Seiler was a solid director, maybe unfairly negmected, forgotten, who gave us good war movies. However he was not Raoul Walsh nor Michael Curtiz. Bogart is here impressive, nearly terrific in a gangster role, a rough, tough hoodlum for whom the audiences can feel the greatest empathy.

Even struggling with Warner Bros for best roles "The Big Shot" is another gangster movie which Bogie wanted avoid, however still under contract only remained fulfill his end of contract to be able take off new paths, what will be happens next.

The Big shot seems a B-grade Noir, about a criminal Duke Berne (Bogart) after be catch by the law went to the jail several times, each one increased his sentence, until the last one after fulfilling five year on prison, back at street, no money, no job stayed adrift for a while always with teammates at his neck to be on the old business due the lack of options even faltering he accepts.

However the mastermind behind of whole operation to armored car robbery is a well-regarded lawyer Martin Fleming (Stanley Ridges) which takes Duke Berne's former girl Lorna (Irene Manning) due Duke spending fiver years locked up, meanwhile Ruth and Duke are in touch trying an atonement, Ruth meets Duke in his cheap hideout in the day of the robbery and hold him under a gunpoint, then he didn't get attend the operation, even so Duke was mistakenly impeached by an witness pressed by rogue cops.

At first glance Bogie plays a similar role as in "High Sierra" a sympathetic and bleeding heart criminal, who knows why, but he really is, actually this picture be obscure by mostly including myself even being a hard Bogie's enthusiastic I'd never saw this hidden picture, God blessing him to because the magnificent Casablanca was near where own hero became a higher star!!

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First watch: 2022 / Source: DVD / How many: 1 / Rating: 7.25.

Criminal Joseph 'Duke' Berne (Humphrey Bogart) faces substantial time if he's caught again. His crooked lawyer is planning an armored truck robbery. Duke backs out but the robbery is executed anyways. He has no alibi and gets sentenced to life.

Bogie is doing more gangster with a heart. He's the best at this kind of role. I would consider staying in the prison. It's a few too many turns. I want to stay in one place where he can develop some connections. The other characters need some time. It's a basic gangster movie. I would give it a basic grade. I also have to warn that this has a black-faced section.

Flashback film.

Not the typical gangster role for bogart.

Blackface.

"The Big Shot" is a very good gangster film, but it represents a bit of a milestone for Humphrey Bogart. Up until that time, he made a living out of making B-movies and appearing in a lot of gangster films. However, with the success of "Casablanca" in 1942, he soon began getting better and mostly more heroic roles as he was now an A-lister in Hollywood. That same year, he also made "The Big Shot"...and it represents the last of his older period films.

Bogart plays Duke Berne...a career criminal and two-time loser. When the film begins, he's trying to go straight but finds the going very difficult. He finally succumbs to the lure of a life of crime and agrees to help with an armored car robbery. But his old girlfriend, Lorna, convinces him not to do this. Even though she has married a lawyer, she still cares about him and her convincing him NOT to get involved with the crime ends up biting him in the butt! How? Well, the police mess with the only witness in the case. But Duke's lawyer insists to him that he has nothing to fear and Duke turns himself in to the police since he knows they are looking for him. What Duke doesn't know is that the lawyer THINKS Duke and hid wife, Lorna, are having an affair and he deliberately throws the case. Duke is given a life sentence and he seems royally screwed. But there's MUCH more to the story...and you'll just have to see the film to know what's next.

This is a dandy film. Much of it is because Bogart does NOT play the typical sort of villain. He's rather sympathetic and decent, in his own way, and he does really well in the role. I also appreciate that for 1942, the film is ultra-violent and rather film noirish...with some great camera angles and a sense of foreboding. A truly excellent film...and, sadly, one seldom shown on TV.

Now here you'll find reminders of past prejudice, things you just don't find today, and things you just don't miss, characters painting up black face, is just an absolute disgrace, as for the partner of the dancer, there is no place. Apart from that it's just an ordinary ruse, an ex-felon finds a caper to refuse, but he gets caught out and tricked, has to return as a convict, doing time that he quite clearly wasn't due. It's all predictable and often quite a chore, but two films later lucky Bogey would then score, Irene Manning's a delight, but you just can't forget the blight, which is why you have to give, such a low score.

Big Shot, The (1942)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

B-grade gangster film from Warner features Humphrey Bogart as a three-time hood who gets out of prison and tries to go straight because one more mess up will get him life in prison. After not being able to make a straight living he sets up a heist for a crooked attorney but gets double crossed. Once back in prison Bogart must find a way to escape and get revenge. This really isn't anything we haven't seen in countless other prison/gangster films from Warner but as usual Bogart makes it worth watching. He plays the tough guy perfectly and his image as a tough guy can never be questioned. He even gets a few funny moments including one segment where he's on the hideout in the deep woods and can't get use to cutting wood for a fire. The supporting cast includes Richard Travis, Susan Peters and Irene Manning as Bogie's love interest. Manning isn't too good in her role and it probably would have been better with a stronger actress here but either way, if you're a fan of Bogart then this is worth checking out. It's also worth noting that there's a scene in the prison where Bogart is pitching a baseball, which is filmed pretty much shot for shot like a scene in The Shawshank Redemption.

Actor Humphrey Bogart appeared in three films between the two of his biggest movies, 1941's "The Maltese Falcon" and 1942's "Casablanca." With the exception of his last film, his final portrayal of a gangster was in June 1942's "The Big Shot." For years Bogart played bad-guy parts, but in this hard-nose Warner Brothers picture his character actually has a conscious when he discovers the wrong man has been indicted for a prison guard's murder during a jail break.

"What we get is Bogart in his prime," observes film reviewer Joe Torvicia, "playing the type of role that first brought him stardom, in a film that pushes the imposed censorship boundaries of the period." When viewers compare the level of acting between "The Big Shot" and Bogart's breakout role as a criminal on the run in 1936's "The Petrified Forest" as Duke Mantee, which he reprised in a 1955 TV program of the same name, the veteran actor displays exponentially a greater sophistication of emotional complexities in his characterization of Duke Berne. He wants to go straight after three incarcerations, only to be rebuffed at every turn by employers looking at his record. He secures a job as a member of robbing a bank truck, but is hampered from showing up by his former girlfriend, Lorna Fleming (Irene Manning), now the wife to the ringleader. She literally sticks a gun in Duke's face to delay him for his appointment with the others. Nonetheless he's framed by a confused witness to the robbery, and is found guilty.

Playing gangsters in the past was Bogie's bread and butter, topped by 1941's "High Sierra," just before his stirring presence as detective Sam Spade in "The Maltese Falcon." Like "High Sierra," Bogart replaced a disgruntled George Raft, who was originally scheduled to play Duke but refused the part. Humphrey wouldn't totally avoid anti-hero roles, finding himself as an unhinged Fred Dobbs in 1948's "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" as well as his last movie, 1955's "The Desperate Hours." He found himself thankfully departing from the repeated gangster roles, and moving towards detective and other positive pictures. Bogart still carried a bit of an edge on the set, as his co-star Irene Manning recalls. "He was basically all business, not really my kind of guy," the actress wrote in her autobiography. "He used a lot of four-letter words, which shocked me. Still, he was always prepared and professional, and he did give me some good advice." One bit of advice Manning remembered him saying was, "Never mind the camera, never mind the lights. Just get to the set, and say the lines."

There's some great shots and remarkable cinematography in this film that almost make it worth watching for that alone. Bogart is also very good as Duke. But I found the script had major flaws.

Bogart is recruited for the bank robbery because he is supposed to be some sort of mastermind in planning jobs. Trouble is the plan they come up with to rob the armored car is crap. It's a crappy plan! There's nothing that makes it very clever or likely to succeed. And I think they would need a spotter to be able to tell just when the armored car is coming down the street to know when to go. From their starting position they couldn't possibly see the armored car coming.

Then Bogart makes a plan to break out of prison. Again the plan is crap! Its a terrible plan and again with nothing clever that would make it likely to succeed.

And as far as their hiding place goes, its pretty but wouldn't the first thing Duke would have asked (if he's such a mastermind) is "does anybody else know about this place?"

There's also the embarrassment of fellow convict Dancer dressing in blackface and dancing with a black doll that makes this film probably unairable in most markets today.