The Phenomenon of Humphrey Bogart

What is it about?

In addition to being determined by the most obvious factors - such as film reviews, prestigious awards, box-office statistics, ranking lists and the number of published biographies - Humphrey Bogart’s fandom and high position in the movie industry has been corroborated by the unmatched abundance of references and allusions to his name and films encountered in literary works, both American and international. The data collected during my research for the book Four Hollywood Legends in World Literature: References to Bogart, Cooper, Gable and Tracy (1916) and supplemented with those discovered for my current project, Great Hollywood Films and Directors: A Study in Reception and Impact, show references to Bogart’s name in more than two hundred and fifty books and as many as fifty-one of his movies referenced, both records absolutely unsurpassed by any Hollywood celebrity. Thus, after an attempt at grasping the phenomenon of the actor’s exceptional legacy based on his spectacular performances in movies directed by some of the greatest filmmakers - such as John Huston, Michael Curtiz, Raoul Walsh and Howard Hawks - ingenious examples of such references are presented and analyzed. Their contexts range from predominantly enthusiastic comments about Bogart’s portrayals, image and persona to insightful remarks regarding specific scenes and lines from his movies. A surprising number of works make a point of alluding to the actor’s name or film in the title or subtitle, or even using him as one of the major characters. They include Play It Again, Sam (1968) by Woody Allen, A Bullet for a Star (1977) by Stuart M. Kaminsky, plus a couple of mysteries by Andrew J. Fenady, The Man with Bogart’s Face (1977) and The Secret of Sam Marlow: The Further Adventures of the Man with Bogart’s Face (1980), and a couple by Stephen Humphrey Bogart (the actor’s son), Play It Again (1995) and The Remake: As Time Goes By (1997).

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Photo by Randy Laybourne on Unsplash

Photo by Randy Laybourne on Unsplash

Why is it important?

While the study of Bogart’s performances in select films proves him to be the quintessential private investigator and testify to his great talent and diversity, the few references chosen out of many convincingly illustrate the megastar’s enormous impact on and unparalleled appeal to several generations of writers (from James A. Michener to Charles Bukowski to Fannie Flagg; from Martha Grimes to Lawrence Block to Ace Atkins) and, indirectly, moviegoers, some born decades after his demise. Together with the evaluation criteria addressed earlier, the references unambiguously substantiate the general opinion among the movie critics and the actor’s fans worldwide that Bogart’s position among Hollywood stars is at the very top and his legacy absolutely unique.

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