Humphrey Bogart Buying Guide
In Entertainment Weekly's book of The 100 Greatest Stars of All Time, Humphrey Bogart is featured on the back cover, while Audrey Hepburn gazes delicately out at you from the front. Several pages in, you find that EW has chosen Bogie as the number one star of all time. They ain't foolin'. Read on to find out what gave Bogie the cult (and even sex symbol) status that he enjoys today, along with our picks to get started on your future Bogie obsession.
The Making of a Myth
You know how they say some men are like wine, and they get better with age? That was certainly the case for Bogie.
* From birth til Broadway, Bogie established his sullen indifference to pretty much everything early on. It might have been his coddle-free upbringing or his stint with the US Navy.
* The origins of Bogie's wicked lip scar are disputed. Some say it was caused by a scuffle with his father, or with a wartime prisoner, or even in a speakeasy brawl.
** It is believed that studios claimed the scar was acquired while serving in the war, to further build up his mystique.
** Actress Louise Brooks noted the scar in the mid-'20's, when the wound was still fresh.
** Bogie himself told a friend that it was from a childhood accident.
** It doesn't matter that none of this adds up, anyway.
* After the war, Bogie found work through a friend in show business. While dallying in directing, screenwriting, and production, he found himself on stage with a one-liner, awkwardly executed.
** He went on to play "White Pants Willie" roles on stage, unwillingly and with loathing.
* Emerging from the bright lights of Broadway when Depression hit, Bogie, without the trademark good looks and charm, was cast as goons in several B films.
** When life hands you lemons, you gotta make a sour martini. It was at this time that Bogie perfected his future screen persona of a cynical, dry, detached, and quietly vulnerable fella. It was the foundation of his famous future image.
** Sure, it took two decades of disillusionment in show business for him to figure it out, but it made him the legend he is today.
* High Sierra was the last major film for Bogie to play a gangster, and it wasn't until after playing Chandler's hard-boiled gumshoe in the Maltese Falcon that he struck gold with an Oscar nod for Casablanca.
** As a romantic lead, he finally fought his way out of the goombah roles and established himself as an irresistible force on the silver screen. The rest, they say, is Hollywood history.
Bogie's Bests
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