Bogie

The life of Humphrey Bogart, mainly during his marriage with the alcoholic actress Mayo Methot and with Lauren Bacall, is presented in a shallow biography. The movie looks like a soap opera and does not show, for example, how he became a great actor, or his problems with the Joseph McCarthy communist witch-hunters. The good points are the selection of Kevin O'Connor, perfect in the role of Humphrey Bogart, having inclusive the same voice and movements, and the gorgeous and elegant Kathryn Harrold in the role of Lauren Bacall. I believe that the great Humphrey Bogart deserves a better homage than this film. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): 'O Outro Lado de Humphrey Bogart' ('The Other Side of Humphrey Bogart')

Kevin O'Connor is as much like Humphrey Bogart as Victor Buono was like Marlon Brando. What were they thinking when they cast this thing? Okay, I'll give you Kathryn Harrold as Bacall. She's not perfect, but she can act and is fetching enough ("fetching" is a word that isn't used nearly enough) but this boring, by-the-book shallow TV biography is as tacky as a coin operated TV set in a hotel room. The best things about this turkey was the work of Anne Wedgeworth as Mayo Methot (who doesn't look a thing like the real Methot, but how many of you even know what she looks like? She only did a few small parts in Warner Brother flicks so...) and the actor who played Peter Lorre for about a hot second.

If you want a bio of Humphrey DeForest Bogart, there are plenty of good books out there, especially the latest and the Lauren Bacall autobiography from a few years back, but this hackneyed mess is about as pathetic as they come. Who ARE these people that think O'Connor was well cast anyway? And I thought MY vision was bad. Not to mention, the man sounds and acts nothing like the real thing. One day, they'll do this story right and cast the perfect guy so I can say in characteristic Bogie fashion, "You're good, kid. Real good!" This ain't the one, folkies. I'm gonna get a good belt of scotch now and watch the real Bogart in "Casablanca" or "The Maltese Falcon" and wash this bad memory from my mind.

Having read Joe Hyams' book on his friend Humphrey Bogart, I found the film interesting and entertaining, as I am a fan of Old Hollywood bio pics.

Unlike another reviewer noted, I found O'Connor's portrayal spot on and his voice and looks to be remarkably similar to Bogart's. However, Harrold, though attractive, looked and sounded nothing like Lauren Bacall, nor did the scene she re-enacted from "Have and Have Not" contain any of the nuances or appeal of Bacall's impressive debut.

Additionally, while I could not recall what Methot sounded like in the few movies I've seen with her, I thought Wedgeworth looked pretty close in appearance. She also acted exactly like she was portrayed in Hyams' bio too, which was an alcoholic explosive (yet sad) ticking time bomb. You felt sorry for her weakness and ruination of her marriage to Bogart.

The married couple portrayed in the film, Zelma (O'Neal) O'Moore and Patrick O'Moore, were real friends of Bogart's and were also in movies of his time period, and the two actors playing the couple acquitted themselves nicely. Patricia Barry (Zelma) was barely recognizable (except for her voice) after seeing her play a man eater in "Dear Heart" with Glenn Ford.

If you are a long-time TCM viewer, as am I, you have probably seen the director Vincent Sherman interviewed. He must have been a friend of Bogart's too and did a sympathetic portrayal of him. I always thought Sherman seemed like a class act in his interviews and will make an effort to seek out more of his directorial efforts.

Overall, if you are a fan of Humphrey Bogart, you will enjoy this leisurely movie. I do agree with another reviewer that O'Connor's teeth were a tad distracting. Not sure if they were his actual teeth or a mouthpiece to emulate Bogart's mouth. Bogart was definitely more handsome.

Sadly, O'Connor died at 53, an even earlier age than Bogart at 57, both of cancer. RIP gentlemen and God bless.

A really good film biography of Humphrey Bogart would have concentrated on his difficult rise to stardom during the 1930s and early 40s. However, this pedestrian movie emphasizes his battles with Mayo Methot and his marriage to Lauren Bacall. Kevin O'Connor tries, but cannot come close to matching the real Bogart; Kathryn Harrold is much, much better as Bacall, and turns in a fine performance. Bogart's final battle with throat cancer is portrayed as a shallow soap opera, and the inconclusive ending (Bogart sailing in his boat) is particularly bad. Might be worth watching on a slow night, but don't confuse this movie with a good biographical film...it's not even close.

Bogie (1980)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Vincent Sherman directs this bio of screen legend Humphrey Bogart, which is interesting since Sherman directed several Bogart pictures including The Return of Dr. X and All Through the Night. Kevin O'Connor gets the part of Bogart as we see the star struggle in Hollywood but eventually take off into a major star. We also see his personal life including his troubled marriage to Mayo Methot (Ann Wedgeworth) and eventual love Lauren Bacall (Kathryn Harrold). I think the hardest thing for an actor to do is try and play another legendary character and that rings true here. O'Connor really doesn't look like Bogart, certainly doesn't sound like him and he never perfectly captures the Bogart feel but there's not an actor alive who could capture Bogart except Bogart himself. With that said, O'Connor really isn't too bad here and overall I could put aside the obvious differences and enjoy his performance. Wedgeworth is a tad bit over the top as the alcoholic Mayo but Harrold isn't too bad as Bacall. For the most part the film looks at the two marriages of Bogart, which is fine but I wish they had paid more attention to Bogart the actor. There are a couple great scenes with Bogart in the office of Jack Warner arguing about roles and I wish there were more of this.