Humphrey Bogart as Star (Discussion)

Robert Sklar

1. Group 2: Skar comments, "Actors who create surprise, embody contradiction, impel the spectator to hold two conflicting ideas in the head at the same time, stand a better chance." What contradictions does Bogart embody? (Sklar also calls it “doubleness.”) Are they in evidence in The Maltese Falcon, Dark Victory, or The Petrified Forest?
   • Student response: Sklar talks about Bogart's ability to portray characters in an icy manner, "unextravagant" on the one side, but on the other he discussed Bogart's capacity to project "savagery ad sentimentality, fatalism and aspiration." This mostly points to Bogart's strength in playing the anti-hero, also described as the good bad guy or bad good guy. Bogart's ability to portray a character that effectively embody two conflicting ideas is what eventually projected him to stardom.
2. Group 3: According to Sklar, how had Bogart been typecast up until the time of Maltese Falcon? Is this evident in Dark Victory and The Petrified Forest?
   • Student response: Bogart had been typecast as a "b" gangster up until Maltese Falcon. The producer and director of Maltese Falcon recognized Bogart's "menace" and "punch" as the defining characteristics of Bogart's on screen persona and wanted to carry that over into their film. People and reviewers knew ahead of time that Bogart didn't play any kind of villain in Maltese Falcon but they were confused by his restrained performance. Bogart wasn't so much typecast in a role as he was as a hammy sort of character that we think lends itself to crime.
3. Group 4: In The Big Sleep, what does Bogart bring to the noir private eye besides toughness? Do you see the same things in Maltese Falcon? How does Bogart’s romantic aspect change with The Big Sleep? How does Sklar characterize Bogart’s on-screen persona, as embodied in The Big Sleep?
   • Student response: Bogart blended himself with the Phillip Marlowe character, where his actions said more than his words. He relied heavily on gestures and body language. Sklar feels this is Bogart’s most complete screen persona, a man of many traits, funny and tough, committed and vulnerable, sexy and loyal.
4. Group 1: What connection does Skar see between violence and romance — especially in In a Lonely Place? Is this evident in Petrified Forest, Dark Victory (the clip we viewed), The Maltese Falcon, or other Bogart films you've seen?
   • Student response: Skar discusses the contrasting themes of eroticism and romance vs violence. In "In a Lonely Place" violence and eroticism are linked in the characters actions which casts a shadow over the character's romantic happiness for the rest of the movie. In "A Lonely Place" Bogart's victims do not make him a hero, instead he is a sadist. This movie brought on a demystification of the classic Bogart hero and skewed the traditional lines between romance and violence.
5. All Groups: What performance signs (although he does not call them that) does Sklar see in Bogart’s work? And what significance do they have?
6. All Groups: What does Sklar see to be the importance of comedy to Bogart’s roles? Is this evident in The Petrified Forest, Dark Victory (the clip we viewed), The Maltese Falcon, or other Bogart films you've seen?

Bibliography

1. Robert Sklar, City Boys: Cagney, Bogart, Garfield (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992).