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The Arts Intel Report

Humphrey Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes

The movie poster for Humphrey Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes.

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Most people are familiar with the work of Humphrey Bogart. He was a superlative character actor in the 1930s and hit his stride as a leading man in the 1940s—the sly private eye in The Maltese Falcon (1941), the tough yet lovelorn Rick in Casablanca (1942), and Harry “Steve” Morgan in To Have and Have Not (1944), the wartime adventure movie that put Bogart and Bacall together. The 50s would bring The African Queen, Sabrina, and The Barefoot Contessa. Bogart had four wives, two children, and won an Oscar for The African Queen. He died of cancer, in 1957, and in 1999 was named the greatest male star of classic American cinema. The first official feature documentary on Bogart is organized through his relationships with women. “There was something that made him able to be a man of his own, and it showed through his work,” Lauren Bacall once said, “There was also a purity, which is amazing considering the parts he played.” —Elena Clavarino

Photo courtesy of the Humphrey Bogart Estate