I friggin' love Humphrey Bogart. In fact he tops my Top 10 list of greatest actors. He played cold-blooded villains, cynical but good-hearted tough guys, down on his luck schmucks and romantic leads with the same grace and passion. It doesn't hurt that he's been in some of the greatest movies ever made. With a resume that includes Casablanca, The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, the Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and the African Queen, it's no wonder Bogart comes out as the actor starring in the most films on the AFI top 100 films list.
In fact, until now, I've loved all of the films I've ever seen starring Humphrey Bogart. I do my very best to catch any film in which he had a role. Being that he acted in some 74 movies during his career, I've still got a bit to go.
It is with great anticipation that I watch any Bogart film. You just can't go wrong with a Bogie movie, I often say. Recently, I grabbed a worn out VHS copy of his last film, The Harder They Fall. It pains me to say, but I can no longer claim that I've never seen a Humphrey Bogart picture that was less than wonderful.
It's not that The Harder They Fall is a bad film. In fact, there were some rather good moments. It's just that when compared to the other Bogart films I have seen this one falls well below the bar.
What pains me even more is that some of its failure lies in the hands of Bogart himself. Yet before we take the man off of his pedestal, I must remind the reader that at this point in his life, the man was dying of cancer. It had not been diagnosed yet, but there is little doubt that Bogart's insides were being eaten alive during filming. Legend has it that a sound alike dubbed his lines in during postproduction.
His illness shows through the performance. He looks tired, and haggard throughout.
But you say, "The character is tired and haggard, so shouldn't the actor act that way?"
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
very nice Mat, and I like th concept a lot - if you're going to do it weekly, contact Phillip about adding it to the Recurring Features list
2 - Mat Brewster
Thanks Eric. This is my third installment of the weekly series. If I make it to a fourth I will contact Phillip. I kind of want to make sure I can keep up with the concept before I start getting added to sidebars, and what-not.
3 - Eric Berlin
Great job, Mat. I friggin' love a review that begins, "I friggin' love Humphrey Bogart."
Also love Maltese Falcon. Was he not in Key Largo as well? Got into that film as my ex-girlfriend's great grandfather was none other than Edward G. Robinson.
4 - Mat Brewster
Thanks Eric. Bogart was indeed in Key Largo, which is a terrific film. I'm telling you Bogie has the best resume in the history of cinema. That rules that you dated a relation to Edward G. That man was about as badass as it comes.
5 - Eric Berlin
Unfortunately his descendants are a bit on crazy side of the fence, but it makes a cool story!
6 - Chris Kent
A great blog on a film which I have always enjoyed. It's certainly not Bogart's best, and has never really been highly regarded. What I liked about The Harder They Fall was the great period detail, the teaming of Steiger and Bogart and a story which oddly enough, continues to this day in boxing. The palooka had a good punch but a glass chin, and he's literally carried towards the big payday. As happens in the sport today, everyone makes money except the boxer, who retires into obscurity with little to show for his efforts.
In The Harder They Fall, Bogart says "bullshit," and gives the palooka his cut and tells him to get out of town. As far as boxing films go (a genre unto itself), The Harder They Fall ranks a bit higher, though not anywhere near the level of Raging Bull, The Set-Up and John Huston's own Fat City.
The film should have been seedier, and the exploited palooka probably should have been a black man to give it more social relevance. I think the beauty of The Harder They Fall is that even a sick Bogart (and it's pretty clear the man was ill while making this film) is still a very tough and formidable presence. He could have "aced" some of his buds out of the payday, but chose not to, further continuing his tough-guy-with-his-own-set-of-ethics persona. As far as final films for actors go, Bogart could have done far worse....
7 - Mat Brewster
Thanks for the comments, Chris. Indeed the film is not bad at all. It's just when you compare it to so many other Bogart films this one pales in comparison. And as I closed the post with, Bogart may have been ill, and it shows in the performance, but he still out acts a lot of todays' *stars*