Another Humphrey Bogart bio-doc, but the first to come out since all the principals in his life have died. (Other than his two children, but the oldest only seven when Bogart died.) So, it’s disappointing to get boilerplate cable-ready fare that adds little to what we’ve seen before. Some new home-movie clips hardly revelatory and narration from an uncomfortable Bogie impersonator reading from a purported memoir feels chintzy. All in all, a missed opportunity to get under the surface of a difficult man often voted Hollywood’s greatest star. Perhaps it has some use as a primer for movie mavens born this century; but would they watch? The only fresh insight comes from silent star/film essayist Louise Brooks who rightly points to Bogart’s soul-flaying work in Nicholas Ray’s IN A LONELY PLACE/’50 as a possibly revealing personal portrait.* Elsewise, this is a largely hagiographic work. No surprise with his still living son on as exec-producer for co-writer/director Kathryn Ferguson. But why not a fresh look at Bogart’s first try at Hollywood? His prison/baseball pic with Spencer Tracy for John Ford a delightful nut-job of work. (https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/07/up-river-1930.html) Or an honest appraisal of how stagey his breakthru in THE PETRIFIED FOREST now looks. (Or for that matter, how narrow his range was and how he couldn’t quite hide his displeasure at having to play second fiddle to Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis & James Cagney in his first decade at Warners.) Fine as a DVD extra, but don’t expect much more.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: *Take your pic of our Bogie pic posts (the main iconic titles start in 1940) by typing Bogart in the MAKSQUIBS Search box. (Upper left corner on the Main Site.) But first check out the truly unnerving IN A LONELY PLACE. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2011/07/in-lonely-place-1950.html
No comments:
Post a Comment