Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes

Greetings again from the darkness. In 2022, Kathryn Ferguson released a documentary on singer and activist Sinead O'Connor. It was Ms. Ferguson's first feature-length documentary, after a few shorts and videos. This time out, her focus is on renowned actor Humphrey Bogart. Now, opening on your subject's funeral might be an unusual way to begin a profile, but the star-studded service drives home the point that Bogart's life touched many. He was true Hollywood royalty.

One would expect the profile of one of the biggest movie stars of all time to provide a chronological rundown of his films. Although his film resume is certainly not short-changed, the director takes a more personal approach by structuring Bogie's life according to how the five most influential women impacted him. Those five are: his mother, Maud Humphrey, and his four wives (in order), Helen Menken, Mary Philips, Mayo Methot, and of course, Lauren Bacall. We are guided through each of these relationships, with neither good nor bad being withheld.

Much of the time is spent with narrator Kerry Shale reciting Bogart's own words from writings, journals, letters, etc. Shale offers neither a mimic of Bogie's distinctive voice nor a smooth sound for our ears. Still, there is heft and meaning to Bogart's words, especially when they are synchronized with an incredible bounty of archival footage, film clips, and photographs. Numerous interviews are included from son Stephen Bogart, directors Howard Hawks and John Huston, and actress Kathryn Hepburn, as well as others. There is also plenty from Lauren Bacall, who famously met Bogart when she was a 19-year-old actress on the set of TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1944). The two were married from 1945 through 1957 (his death). It was a true love story, and not nearly as tumultuous as his time with third wife Mayo Methot, who shot at him and stabbed him!

There is a segment on Bogie's first career - a baby model - and his own words describe this relationship with his mother as he looks back at his childhood. We hear about his time in the Navy, as well as his love of chess and the water ... especially time spent sailing on his boat, Santana. We also hear about his quick temper and his alcoholism, and it's fascinating to learn that it was actress Greer Garson who heard his cough and insisted that he see a doctor - a visit that resulted in a cancer diagnosis.

After years as a contract player in the studio system, it was HIGH SIERRA (1940) that set him on the road to superstardom. Bogart's career included such iconic roles as Sam Spade (THE MALTESE FALCON, 1941), Rick Blaine (CASABLANCA, 1943), Philip Marlowe (THE BIG SLEEP, 1946), and Lt Commander Queeg (THE CAINE MUTINY, 1954). One of my personal favorites was his role as Dixon Steele in Nicholas Ray's IN A LONELY PLACE (1950) with Gloria Grahame. When they hear the name Humphrey Bogart, many movie fans picture the trench coat, hat, and cigarette ... or the broken love story that begins a friendship. But there was much more behind the scenes. After directing Bogie to his only Oscar in THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951), director John Huston delivered the eulogy at the funeral for his friend, also putting the final touches on this in-depth profile.

Opens in select theaters on November 15, 2024.

I thought this documentary was superb and much of this is due to the structuring of the film and the absence of talking heads. Without the talking heads we had Bogart and his co-stars on screen the whole time and it was blessed to watch his evolution from a very bad and almost self conscious actor, to a supremely confident one. The commentary was very cleverly done with an actor capturing his voice and contributions from others as voice overs, so there was no interruption to the flow of the narrative.

You can witness these transition yourself when viewing Casablanca, the Maltese Falcon and the African Queen - and Casablanca does it for me.

An upcoming theatrical documentary about one of the greatest actors of Hollywood's golden era, one Humphrey Bogart. Using archival interviews w/his co-stars & primarily the love of life, Lauren Bacall we trace his roots where his family was fairly well off (his father had money while his stern mother was a well-known magazine illustrator), he became a theater actor abandoning Hollywood after getting typecast a lot in his early roles but when he was cast against John Leslie in 1936's The Petrified Forest, his path was set where in roles in Casablanca, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon et al he excelled playing the tough guy w/a heart. Through the following years even in bad films just his presence was enough to elevate the material even though he'd get an Oscar for The African Queen but after hitting the trifecta as it were, being at the top of his game, married w/a pair of children, life caught up to him when he got cancer w/the ironically titled The Harder They Fall being his last film. A lot of food for thought on ol' Bogie which will hopefully entice viewers to watch (or rewatch) his classics (I still find myself getting excited over the prospect of seeing a film of his which I never saw before) as this presentation becomes the choice 'go to' to find out about the man.

Really enjoyed this documentary. Showing Bogart through his relationships with his mother then his wives I think was well done. I liked hearing his own words throughout. I just honestly wish the documentary was longer! I think with an actor as influential as Bogart there is a lot more material to mine so speak. I think I can ask any adult in any generation 'who was Humphrey Bogart' and they know! Casablanca makes every list of greatest movies of all time in every decade since it was made, and in my opinion, largely due to Humphrey Bogart. He created the incredible characters that made him an icon and his films absolutely memorable. I wish we'd had a little more of that flushed out...I also didn't like that it started with his funeral. I would have rather it started with people playing tribute/talking about his influence. I think the Elvis documentary Return of the King did that very well for example. Still I do recommend this documentary and think it's definitely worth watching.