Bogart

Rating:
Summary: Could not put the book down.Took it on vacation!
Review: I enjoyed Bogart a great deal.One correction how ever,on page 153 you have Elisha Cook Jr.playing the punk Wilmer in The Maltese Falcon.Actually I beleive the part was played by Louis Jean Heydt.Heydt died just a few years ago at age 91 in a nursing home.He also played Harry Jones with Bogie in The Big Sleep.Sincerly,Thor Evensen

Rating:
Summary: Great Book About The Greatest Actor
Review: If you go by the poll by the American Film Institute[...],Humphrey Bogart was the greatest actor EVER, numero uno. Iwholeheartedly agree, having seen just about all of his movies overthe years. I used to catch some of them on the Late Show(or even Late Late Show)while babysitting back in high school days, then over the years I've started collecting his films. Bogie was a very complex, highly intelligent man-considering he hated school, he was one smart, tough cookie(sorry-couldn't resist). Expertly researched and detailed, the book is chock full of photos & filmography info at the end. Of the Bogart biographies out there, this one stands out from all the rest. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book About The Greatest Actor
Review: If you go by the poll by the American Film Institute[...],Humphrey Bogart was the greatest actor EVER, numero uno. Iwholeheartedly agree, having seen just about all of his movies overthe years. I used to catch some of them on the Late Show(or even Late Late Show)while babysitting back in high school days, then over the years I've started collecting his films. Bogie was a very complex, highly intelligent man-considering he hated school, he was one smart, tough cookie(sorry-couldn't resist). Expertly researched and detailed, the book is chock full of photos & filmography info at the end. Of the Bogart biographies out there, this one stands out from all the rest. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT - TOOK YEARS OF WORK BY TWO PEOPLE.
Review: No question, by the time you finish this book, you are whirling with knowledge of Humphrey Bogart, whom no one can ever really know because he was so complex with a mixture of his shadow and light side that it seems he was the most confused of all about himself. One thing is certain: He had a great, great talent, and his films are as much loved today as when he was in his prime.

Several things are left out of the book, and I wonder why. One is the fact that Mr. Lax states that Bogart's sister was a great financial responsibility for him as she was in a private sanitarium for mental illness. In 1955 Frances Bogart Rose was a patient in the Metropolitan State Hospital (for the mentally ill) at Norwalk, California. She was allowed occasional visits to the Bogart home, but her return was always a concern because of the heavy drinking at Bogart's home and its effects on her. Perhaps it was at an earlier time that she was in a private sanitarium, but Mr. Lax gives the reader the impression it was for life. Since Bogart, who died in 1957, left her no bequest in his will (in spite of leaving small bequests to the household cook and his secretary), one can assume he knew she in some way would be cared for during her lifetime

Another issue not covered is Bogart's involvement with women during his mariage to Bacall, which even Bacall speaks of in her autobiography, stating she did not find out about some of the women until after Bogart's death (perhaps the best documented claim is about the young lady who cut his children's hair, a total opposite from Ms. Bacall). Yet the author points out Ms. Bacall's attractions (and in the case of Adlai Stevenson, she obviously had fallen in love). As Bacall states in her book, she did not have an actual affair because she knew that Bogart would leave her if she did. This is not to say they did not love each other deeply. Perhaps if she had not rejected another great love of his life, his yaught and sailing, and snooted the crew, preferring instead to attend Hollywood parties, the time and experiences they could have shared there would have resulted in a more close-knit bond. On the other hand, she was only twenty when she married him, and the fact that she lived with such a complex and difficult man until his death says something for her.

This book packs you with a wallop because it is so well written, very well researched and documented, the photos are great. Remember, he was an extremely heavy drinker and all his activities were lived under a cloud of alcohol or the affects of alcohol, even his greatest preformances. A gentleman and a boor. crude and erudite. kind and cruel. But talented, talented, talented!

Rating:
Summary: A must for Bogart fans
Review: This is a very readable, comprehensive look at Bogart's life, with particular attention paid to the film industry, the Hollywood studio system of the 1930's-50's, and Bogie's many film roles (both great and forgettable).

At its best, the book chronicles Bogart's rise from Warner Bros."B" films to stardom and recognition as more than just a tough-guy gangster. The book effectively and lovingly details the making of early classics like The Maltese Falcon, and takes a humorous look at early efforts by the studio to publicize Bogart as a tough guy and Nazi hater. His struggles to rise above hack roles are sympathetically told, along with corresponding accounts of how major studio players like George Raft and Paul Muni declined crucial roles and were fazed out by the studio.

Sperber and Lax chronicle the actor's early involvement in politics, his support of President Roosevelt, and his involvement with HUAC.

The book also attempts to portray Bogart's personal life, including a glimpse at his many marriages to such actresses including Mayo Methot and Lauren Becall. However, in detailing the many problems and battles fought with Mayo, for example, the authors spend little time informing the reader just what attracted Bogart to her in the first place. In some cases the wives are ushered in and out of the story without any real sense of them as human beings, just as topics for discussion over drinks with buddies like John Huston.

All told, for readers interested in Bogart's life in Hollywood, and for film buffs interested in a fascinating glimpse of Warner Bros from the 1930's on, this book is enthusiastically recommended.