San Quentin (1937)

I've been watching a lot of Bogie lately.  Just finished San Quentin starring O'Brien, Bogie and Sheridan.  Not a bad little movie, storyline is a bit week but it's not bad.

The prisoners of San Quentin are getting out of hand under the iron fist and cruel treatment of the Captain of the yard (Barton Maclane).  The Warden sees this as a problem and hires a new Captain of the yard, Captain Stephen Jameson (O'Brien) to clean things up and regain the trust of the prisoners.


Bogie plays Joe 'Red' Kennedy, a mouthy little punk criminal who gets time in Quentin.  His sister is May (Ann Sheridan) a singer who believes her brother has just gotten a bad break in life.  O'Brien works with Bogie and for a while Bogie tries to reform but when the other prisoners lie to him telling him Jameson is only treating him good because he likes his sister, Bogie breaks out of Quentin to get back at O'Brien.

In the end Bogie gets shot trying to escape the police, but not before realizing that Jameson is "all right".

If you enjoy Bogie like I do, this is a pretty good movie.  If you are trying to turn someone on to Bogie, I wouldn't start them out on this movie.

Incredible Bogie in Petrified Forest (1936)

Like many actors of old, Bogie started in the theater not in Hollywood movies.  In fact he spent many years working hard in theatrical productions making very little.  It was while working these theaters that he landed the role of Duke Mantee in the theatrical performance of Petrified Forest.

If you can imagine, Playwright Robert Emmet Sherwood had originally suggested Bogart for the part of Boze Hertzlinger, the ex-football player who can't quite let go of his past and grow up, but producer-director Arthur Hopkins had a better idea that turned out to be genius.  Hopkins who made a point of seeing everything on Broadway each season and had seen Bogart in the play "Invitation to a Murder" noticed his silent moments in the play more than his actual speeches, "when he was quiet, time seemed to stand still" he said.

Well Bogie was cast as Duke Mantee the escaped convict and from there the rest is, as they say, history.  The part of Duke Mantee that he played in the theater and later in the Hollywood movie production shaped the type of character that Bogie would play for the rest of his life.  He may have wanted to do "more desirable" acting parts but he was good at the menacing gangster and his fans loved him that way.  I too am glad he stuck with the character because one of my favorite genres is the Gangster movie and that genre would not have been the same without the larger than life Bogie!

This is really a fun movie with actually some very good acting.  Treat yourself to this little gem, Petrified Forest, Bogie, Buttery Popcorn and an ice cold pop!  Oh Yeah!