WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.120 Welcome back to The Deep Dive, where we take 00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:04.339 the source material you've shared with us, throw 00:00:04.339 --> 00:00:07.080 it into the deep end, and pull out the surprising, 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:10.060 critical insights you need to be thoroughly informed. 00:00:10.500 --> 00:00:12.900 Today, we are immersing ourselves completely 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:16.460 in the life and legend of Humphrey Bogart. When 00:00:16.460 --> 00:00:19.219 we talk about classic American cinema, the conversation 00:00:19.219 --> 00:00:23.530 really starts and often ends with bogey. It really 00:00:23.530 --> 00:00:25.850 does. I mean, the American Film Institute cemented 00:00:25.850 --> 00:00:28.850 that legacy back in 1999. They named him the 00:00:28.850 --> 00:00:31.390 greatest male star of classic American cinema. 00:00:31.510 --> 00:00:33.469 And that's a title that implies so much more 00:00:33.469 --> 00:00:37.060 than just star power, right? It implies... Cultural 00:00:37.060 --> 00:00:39.700 permanence. Exactly. And our mission today is 00:00:39.700 --> 00:00:42.320 to unpack the colossal journey of this cultural 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:45.280 icon, the man behind the enduring image of the 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:48.100 trench coat, the fedora, and the endless cigarette. 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:50.219 We need to move beyond the image of Rick Blaine 00:00:50.219 --> 00:00:52.880 in Casablanca, as iconic as it is. We want to 00:00:52.880 --> 00:00:55.560 trace the evolution from the, well, the highly 00:00:55.560 --> 00:00:58.079 contradictory beginnings of a privileged but 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.420 often miserable child. All the way to the creation 00:01:00.420 --> 00:01:02.539 of the quintessential antihero we know today. 00:01:02.960 --> 00:01:04.780 And this is where the paradox becomes a whole 00:01:04.780 --> 00:01:08.599 story. On screen, he defined that cynical, wounded, 00:01:08.799 --> 00:01:13.420 stoical loner who deep down adheres to a rigorous 00:01:13.420 --> 00:01:15.920 code of honor. But off screen, the sources paint 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:18.540 him as this intellectual, fiercely independent. 00:01:19.150 --> 00:01:22.430 often abrasive but profoundly loyal man who spent 00:01:22.430 --> 00:01:24.810 his life fighting pretension in all its forms. 00:01:25.030 --> 00:01:27.170 And the sources deliver some genuinely unique 00:01:27.170 --> 00:01:30.510 facts that illuminate these contradictions. For 00:01:30.510 --> 00:01:31.969 instance, we'll be talking about the mystery 00:01:31.969 --> 00:01:34.870 around his exact birth date. A piece of trivia, 00:01:35.049 --> 00:01:38.549 Warner Bros. Literally tried to rewrite. That's 00:01:38.549 --> 00:01:40.609 incredible. We'll also cover his naval service, 00:01:40.790 --> 00:01:43.109 his surprising past as a tournament -level chess 00:01:43.109 --> 00:01:45.750 hustler in New York Parks, and the story of his 00:01:45.750 --> 00:01:47.870 incredible quest for career independence against 00:01:47.870 --> 00:01:50.140 the Hollywood... studio system. And we will finish 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:52.879 with perhaps the most poignant detail, the small 00:01:52.879 --> 00:01:55.260 gold object he was buried with, referencing that 00:01:55.260 --> 00:01:57.739 iconic whispered line delivered by his fourth 00:01:57.739 --> 00:02:00.439 wife, Lauren Bacall. It's quite a story. Okay, 00:02:00.480 --> 00:02:02.599 let's unpack this journey, starting right at 00:02:02.599 --> 00:02:05.620 the unexpected root of the tough guy image, his 00:02:05.620 --> 00:02:08.819 incredibly privileged yet emotionally cold beginnings. 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:11.500 Humphrey DeForest Bogart's background completely 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:14.310 contradicts the hard -boiled image. He wasn't 00:02:14.310 --> 00:02:16.930 a product of the Depression or the street. He 00:02:16.930 --> 00:02:21.430 was born on December 25, 1899, in a wealthy area 00:02:21.430 --> 00:02:24.009 of New York City. But even that birth date is 00:02:24.009 --> 00:02:26.430 contested, which I found fascinating. Warner 00:02:26.430 --> 00:02:29.110 Bros. was so worried about his villainous image 00:02:29.110 --> 00:02:31.210 that they actually tried to change his biography. 00:02:31.669 --> 00:02:34.710 They did. Bogart himself always celebrated on 00:02:34.710 --> 00:02:36.789 Christmas Day, and it's on all his official records. 00:02:37.240 --> 00:02:39.740 But early studio publicity, specifically the 00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:41.800 Warner's department, started circulating the 00:02:41.800 --> 00:02:45.879 date of January 23, 1900. Why? Just to soften 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:48.759 his image? Precisely. They truly thought the 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:50.699 public would believe a man born on the ultimate 00:02:50.699 --> 00:02:53.479 holiday couldn't be a convincing murderer or, 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:55.719 you know, a heel. It's kind of absurd, isn't 00:02:55.719 --> 00:02:58.099 it? It is. As one biographer noted, the studio 00:02:58.099 --> 00:03:00.199 wanted to foster the view that a man born on 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:02.259 Christmas Day couldn't possibly be as inherently 00:03:02.259 --> 00:03:04.680 wicked as he appeared on screen in his early 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:07.580 gangster roles. This level of image manipulation 00:03:07.580 --> 00:03:10.599 is something only a star of the studio era would 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:12.360 have faced. And it really sets the stage for 00:03:12.360 --> 00:03:15.099 the formal, somewhat artificial world he came 00:03:15.099 --> 00:03:18.400 from. A world dominated by his parents, Belmont 00:03:18.400 --> 00:03:21.759 and Maude Humphrey. His father was a successful 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:25.039 cardiopulmonary surgeon, but his mother, Maude, 00:03:25.080 --> 00:03:27.939 was the real financial and cultural powerhouse 00:03:27.939 --> 00:03:30.189 of the family. Maud Humphrey was extraordinary 00:03:30.189 --> 00:03:32.909 from what I've read. She really was. She'd studied 00:03:32.909 --> 00:03:34.849 art in New York and Paris, even with Whistler, 00:03:34.930 --> 00:03:37.009 and became this highly successful commercial 00:03:37.009 --> 00:03:40.110 illustrator. Later, she was the art director 00:03:40.110 --> 00:03:43.550 of The Delineator magazine. But the key nugget 00:03:43.550 --> 00:03:45.810 here is her income. Right. At the peak of her 00:03:45.810 --> 00:03:48.509 career, she was earning over $50 ,000 a year. 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:50.879 And we need to put that into context for you. 00:03:51.219 --> 00:03:54.400 $50 ,000 in the early 1900s, when his surgeon 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:57.599 father was making around $20 ,000, was an enormous 00:03:57.599 --> 00:03:59.680 sum. Just a staggering amount of money. What 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:01.860 does that financial dominance tell us about the 00:04:01.860 --> 00:04:04.400 household dynamics? It was almost unheard of. 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:06.900 The average household income for a middle -class 00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:10.840 family was often less than, say, $1 ,500. Maud's 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:13.159 income placed the family firmly within the top 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:15.539 fraction of 1%. So she was the dominant force 00:04:15.539 --> 00:04:17.949 in the house. Absolutely. She was also a militant 00:04:17.949 --> 00:04:20.470 suffragette. So this was a household led by a 00:04:20.470 --> 00:04:23.050 strong working woman with very specific artistic 00:04:23.050 --> 00:04:25.930 sensibilities. And yet this massive success, 00:04:26.029 --> 00:04:29.050 this privilege, it created a profoundly cold 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:32.009 and formal home life for him. Completely sterile. 00:04:32.509 --> 00:04:34.949 The sources repeatedly mentioned that the parents 00:04:34.949 --> 00:04:37.930 fought frequently and were profoundly unsentimental 00:04:37.930 --> 00:04:40.709 toward their children. Bogart famously recalled 00:04:40.709 --> 00:04:44.430 that a kiss in our family was an event. He also 00:04:44.430 --> 00:04:46.610 said his mother insisted that children call her 00:04:46.610 --> 00:04:49.269 Maude, not mother. That's right, which shows 00:04:49.269 --> 00:04:50.930 you the kind of emotional distance we're talking 00:04:50.930 --> 00:04:53.170 about. Little physical affection beyond maybe 00:04:53.170 --> 00:04:55.730 a formal pat on the shoulder. I think this is 00:04:55.730 --> 00:04:57.990 the psychological key to understanding the Bogart 00:04:57.990 --> 00:05:00.949 persona. He was raised in this hyper -refined, 00:05:00.990 --> 00:05:03.689 successful, yet emotionally empty environment. 00:05:04.050 --> 00:05:06.250 And that instilled in him that famous lifelong 00:05:06.250 --> 00:05:09.319 disdain for pretension and hypocrisy. He was 00:05:09.319 --> 00:05:12.180 teased mercilessly as a child, not just for his 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:14.459 curls and his first name, Humphrey. But because 00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:17.040 Maude dressed him in those elaborate little Lord 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:19.899 Fauntleroy clothes? And used his image in advertising 00:05:19.899 --> 00:05:22.779 for Mellon's baby food and other products. He 00:05:22.779 --> 00:05:25.620 hated the superficiality, the coddling, and the 00:05:25.620 --> 00:05:28.339 emotional distance. His later tough guy persona 00:05:28.339 --> 00:05:31.660 wasn't just an act, it was a deep, visceral rebellion 00:05:31.660 --> 00:05:34.680 against the softness of his gilded cage. And 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:36.839 that rebellion started early with his education. 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:38.980 They tried to steer him toward the Ivy League, 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:42.279 sending him to prestigious schools, Delancey, 00:05:42.279 --> 00:05:44.959 Trinity. And then Phillips Academy in Andover, 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:48.699 aiming for Yale. But he was an indifferent, sullen 00:05:48.699 --> 00:05:51.379 student. The whole plan just collapsed in 1918. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:54.800 He failed four out of six classes. He did. The 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:57.420 question is, did he fail out or was he expelled? 00:05:58.089 --> 00:06:00.209 The stories are great. One version claims he 00:06:00.209 --> 00:06:02.029 was expelled for throwing a groundskeeper, or 00:06:02.029 --> 00:06:04.389 maybe he was a headmaster, into Rabbit Pond on 00:06:04.389 --> 00:06:06.910 campus. Which sounds very Bogart, actually. It 00:06:06.910 --> 00:06:09.410 does. But the other, perhaps more likely story, 00:06:09.569 --> 00:06:11.949 is that his deeply disappointed father simply 00:06:11.949 --> 00:06:14.050 withdrew him because of the drinking, the smoking, 00:06:14.209 --> 00:06:16.850 and the terrible academic performance. Either 00:06:16.850 --> 00:06:19.050 way, the path to Yale was slammed shut. So instead 00:06:19.050 --> 00:06:20.629 of going to college, he does something completely 00:06:20.629 --> 00:06:23.050 different. He enlists in the Navy. With no other 00:06:23.050 --> 00:06:25.970 viable career path. He enlisted in the U .S. 00:06:25.970 --> 00:06:29.189 Navy in 1918. He was only 18. And he actually 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:31.329 seemed to enjoy it, calling the wartime atmosphere 00:06:31.329 --> 00:06:35.350 great stuff. Paris, sexy French girls, hot damn. 00:06:35.410 --> 00:06:38.069 So he saw it as an adventure. A huge adventure. 00:06:38.389 --> 00:06:40.649 He served most of his time after the armistice, 00:06:40.670 --> 00:06:42.850 ferrying troops back from Europe, and he left 00:06:42.850 --> 00:06:46.930 in June 1919, noted as a model sailor. He even 00:06:46.930 --> 00:06:49.370 tried to reenlist during World War II, but by 00:06:49.370 --> 00:06:52.100 then he was rejected due to his age. This period 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:54.300 is crucial because it leads us directly to the 00:06:54.300 --> 00:06:57.139 great unsolved Hollywood mystery, the origin 00:06:57.139 --> 00:06:59.480 of his trademark lip scar and the characteristic 00:06:59.480 --> 00:07:02.399 lisp that defined his voice. It truly is a case 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:04.939 of conflicting sources. The shrapnel story that 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:07.300 his lip was cut when his ship, the USS Leviathan, 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:09.420 was shelled is highly unlikely. Why is that? 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:11.540 Well, for one, the ship was never shelled, and 00:07:11.540 --> 00:07:13.319 it's not clear he was even at sea during active 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:16.139 combat. But the studios love this heroic origin, 00:07:16.199 --> 00:07:18.480 of course. It just lacks evidence. So that leaves 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:20.180 the Boston incident with the prisoner, which 00:07:20.180 --> 00:07:22.839 seems more plausible. It has more anecdotal support. 00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:26.000 A longtime friend claimed that while Bogart was 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:28.339 transporting a handcuffed prisoner to a naval 00:07:28.339 --> 00:07:30.699 prison, the prisoner asked him for a cigarette. 00:07:31.459 --> 00:07:33.899 When Bogart lowered his guard to light a match, 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:36.839 the prisoner allegedly smashed him across the 00:07:36.839 --> 00:07:40.180 mouth with the handcuffs. Ouch. There's an alternate 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:42.480 version where Bogart was struck while trying 00:07:42.480 --> 00:07:45.019 to free the man. These stories tie the injury 00:07:45.019 --> 00:07:47.459 directly to his naval service and a moment of, 00:07:47.459 --> 00:07:50.000 you know. Genuine misfortune. But then you have 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:52.620 David Niven who offers a totally different explanation, 00:07:52.680 --> 00:07:56.139 placing the injury much, much earlier. Niven 00:07:56.139 --> 00:07:58.459 claimed Bogart told him it was a childhood accident 00:07:58.459 --> 00:08:01.519 that was just stitched poorly by a goddamn doctor 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:04.160 leading to the scar tissue we see later. Niven 00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:06.480 insisted all the naval and wartime stories were 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:09.370 fabrications invented by the studios. What makes 00:08:09.370 --> 00:08:11.589 this so confusing is that his post -service physical 00:08:11.589 --> 00:08:13.810 didn't specifically mention the lip scar, though 00:08:13.810 --> 00:08:16.509 it noted other smaller scars. Right. So if the 00:08:16.509 --> 00:08:18.670 prisoner incident happened, it must have been 00:08:18.670 --> 00:08:21.009 treated quickly or was just deemed minor at the 00:08:21.009 --> 00:08:23.889 time. It's a real puzzle. But regardless of the 00:08:23.889 --> 00:08:26.310 physical origin of the scar, the actress Louise 00:08:26.310 --> 00:08:28.750 Brooks brings up a fascinating point about the 00:08:28.750 --> 00:08:32.149 lisp itself. This is the real insight. Brooks, 00:08:32.309 --> 00:08:34.950 who knew him well in the mid -1920s, acknowledged 00:08:34.950 --> 00:08:38.409 the scar tissue, but flatly stated that the lip 00:08:38.409 --> 00:08:41.330 wound gave him no speech impediment, either before 00:08:41.330 --> 00:08:44.129 or after it was mended. So what does that suggest? 00:08:44.470 --> 00:08:47.470 It strongly suggests that the voice that clipped 00:08:47.470 --> 00:08:50.549 world -weary delivery, that slight lisp, was 00:08:50.549 --> 00:08:53.169 not a physical necessity, but a calculated performance 00:08:53.169 --> 00:08:55.610 choice. It was something he developed during 00:08:55.610 --> 00:08:57.960 his time on the stage. It's the first piece of 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:00.139 evidence that the Bogart persona was an artifice 00:09:00.139 --> 00:09:01.860 he crafted, not just something that happened 00:09:01.860 --> 00:09:04.460 to him. Precisely. After the Navy, he returns 00:09:04.460 --> 00:09:06.500 home to find his family in financial collapse. 00:09:06.779 --> 00:09:09.200 His father's medical practice was failing and 00:09:09.200 --> 00:09:11.500 the family wealth was gone due to poor investments. 00:09:11.820 --> 00:09:15.039 His father died in 1934 deep in debt. And Bogart, 00:09:15.179 --> 00:09:18.259 the sullen, rebellious son, spent years diligently 00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:21.440 paying it all off. That act of loyalty is such 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:23.879 a powerful early sign of that internal code of 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:26.700 honor he would later embody on screen. He drifted 00:09:26.700 --> 00:09:29.159 into acting almost reluctantly, didn't he? He 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:31.620 took an office job with World Films, hoping to 00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:34.100 write or direct. Yeah, he admired writers so 00:09:34.100 --> 00:09:35.980 much, he only stepped onto the stage because 00:09:35.980 --> 00:09:39.240 of friendship connections. His debut in 1921 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:42.500 was as a nervous Japanese butler in a play called 00:09:42.500 --> 00:09:45.399 Drifting. No, and he had a pretty cynical attitude 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:48.110 about it. Oh, completely. He said later, I was 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:50.250 born to be indolent and this was the softest 00:09:50.250 --> 00:09:52.830 of rackets. It was an easy way to make a living 00:09:52.830 --> 00:09:54.730 without the rigors of his father's profession 00:09:54.730 --> 00:09:58.549 or the expectations of his mother's world. But 00:09:58.549 --> 00:10:01.450 before he found real success on stage, he had 00:10:01.450 --> 00:10:04.350 this crucial side hustle that perfectly encapsulates 00:10:04.350 --> 00:10:06.549 the intellectual depth and rebellious spirit 00:10:06.549 --> 00:10:09.669 of his character. The chess hustler. He wasn't 00:10:09.669 --> 00:10:11.870 just a casual player. He was a brilliant tournament 00:10:11.870 --> 00:10:14.990 level chess player. Just one division below master 00:10:14.990 --> 00:10:17.289 status. That's incredible. He used this skill 00:10:17.289 --> 00:10:20.250 to hustle players for dimes and quarters in New 00:10:20.250 --> 00:10:22.870 York parks and Coney Island to fund his outings 00:10:22.870 --> 00:10:25.240 and his heavy drinking and speakeasies. That 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:27.940 paints such a vivid picture. This refined young 00:10:27.940 --> 00:10:30.899 man, highly intelligent, dressed maybe a bit 00:10:30.899 --> 00:10:33.580 too nicely, sitting in a park manipulating strategy 00:10:33.580 --> 00:10:36.840 for beer money. That's the real Bogart. Far more 00:10:36.840 --> 00:10:39.379 complex than a simple stage actor. It absolutely 00:10:39.379 --> 00:10:42.679 foreshadows the strategic, detached, yet highly 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:45.220 intelligent characters he would play. rick blaine 00:10:45.220 --> 00:10:47.919 and sam spade chief among them he was honing 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:50.000 his wits against strangers learning how to read 00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:52.559 people all while playing these effeminate roles 00:10:52.559 --> 00:10:54.779 on broadway and those broadway roles were terrible 00:10:54.779 --> 00:10:57.899 he spent over a decade between 1922 and 1935 00:10:57.899 --> 00:11:01.120 playing romantic juveniles and drawing room comedies 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.240 this is the era of white pants willie white pants 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:07.100 willie sums up everything he despised softness 00:11:07.100 --> 00:11:09.759 pretension emotional availability he was the 00:11:09.759 --> 00:11:12.240 first actor reportedly to deliver the famous 00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:15.059 stage line Tennis, anyone. He must have hated 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:17.440 that. Hated it. He played these parts because 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:19.840 they paid, but they contradicted his deep -seated 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:22.799 desire to be seen as tough and serious. His early 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:25.159 marital instability divorces from Helen Menken 00:11:25.159 --> 00:11:27.419 and Mary Phillips reflect that unsettled period 00:11:27.419 --> 00:11:29.519 where he was dissatisfied and drinking heavily, 00:11:29.679 --> 00:11:32.179 just desperate to escape this typecasting trap. 00:11:32.419 --> 00:11:35.779 So he was a miserable, intellectual snob stuck 00:11:35.779 --> 00:11:39.100 playing parts he hated. He needed a role that 00:11:39.100 --> 00:11:41.639 could finally leverage that inner cynicism and 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:44.980 toughness. And that deliverance arrived in 1934 00:11:44.980 --> 00:11:48.379 on the Broadway stage with Robert E. Sherwood's 00:11:48.379 --> 00:11:51.360 play The Petrified Forest. He was cast as Duke 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.139 Mantee, the escaped murderer. The story of his 00:11:54.139 --> 00:11:56.120 casting is great because it shows how pervasive 00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:59.559 his white pants willy reputation was. The producer, 00:11:59.740 --> 00:12:02.539 Arthur Hopkins, initially scoffed at the idea. 00:12:02.679 --> 00:12:05.620 He did. But Bogart read the lines with that new 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:08.519 dry and tired. voice he'd been developing and 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:10.799 it immediately clicked. Bogart recognized this 00:12:10.799 --> 00:12:13.299 as his ticket out. He called it his deliverance. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:16.419 It was. The play was a success and the critic 00:12:16.419 --> 00:12:18.799 for the New York Times, Brooks Atkinson, noted 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:20.899 that this was the best work of his career as 00:12:20.899 --> 00:12:23.240 an actor. But when Warner Bros. bought the screen 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:26.000 rights in 1935, they planned to replace him with 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:28.299 Edward G. Robinson. They did and this is where 00:12:28.299 --> 00:12:30.840 the legendary loyalty of Leslie Howard, the play's 00:12:30.840 --> 00:12:33.720 star and rights holder, steps in. Bogart cabled 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:35.820 Howard with the bad news. And Howard sent back 00:12:35.820 --> 00:12:37.720 one of the most career -defining telegrams in 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:48.200 history to Jack Warner. It read, That's the definition 00:12:48.200 --> 00:12:50.899 of leveraging power for a friend. Warner Bros. 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:54.419 capitulated, and the 1936 film was a huge commercial 00:12:54.419 --> 00:12:57.139 success. It instantly made Bogart a recognized 00:12:57.139 --> 00:13:00.820 star in Hollywood. And he never ever forgot that. 00:13:00.940 --> 00:13:04.080 He later named his only daughter, born in 1952, 00:13:04.259 --> 00:13:07.200 Leslie Howard Bogart in his friend's honor. It's 00:13:07.200 --> 00:13:09.539 a wonderful direct connection that shows the 00:13:09.539 --> 00:13:11.720 depth of his gratitude. But the studio system 00:13:11.720 --> 00:13:13.919 immediately tried to crush him, right? Despite 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:16.340 the success, Warner Bros. locked him into this 00:13:16.340 --> 00:13:19.360 very tepid, restrictive contract. For only $550 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.309 a week. and they proceeded to relentlessly typecast 00:13:22.309 --> 00:13:24.129 him. This is a crucial point about the studio 00:13:24.129 --> 00:13:26.370 system. That salary relative to the money the 00:13:26.370 --> 00:13:28.370 film made and the star power he now held was 00:13:28.370 --> 00:13:30.570 insulting. It was, and they forced him into B 00:13:30.570 --> 00:13:32.870 -movie crime dramas, San Quentin, Racket Busters. 00:13:33.090 --> 00:13:35.330 He was a workhorse, averaging a film every two 00:13:35.330 --> 00:13:38.610 months between 1936 and 1940. Sometimes he was 00:13:38.610 --> 00:13:40.789 working on two at once. That level of production 00:13:40.789 --> 00:13:43.190 must have been brutal, but you argue it was necessary 00:13:43.190 --> 00:13:46.629 to forge the Bogart persona. Absolutely. The 00:13:46.629 --> 00:13:49.230 sources confirm this is the relentless grind 00:13:49.230 --> 00:13:52.009 that gave him the raw material. He was constantly 00:13:52.009 --> 00:13:54.389 feuding with Warner Bros. over the quality of 00:13:54.389 --> 00:13:57.230 the scripts, the salary. He often wore his own 00:13:57.230 --> 00:13:59.590 suits in his films, right? Did, because he felt 00:13:59.590 --> 00:14:01.590 the studio wardrobe department was cheap and 00:14:01.590 --> 00:14:04.429 lacked taste. During this period, he gave that 00:14:04.429 --> 00:14:07.629 famous cynical self -assessment. In the first 00:14:07.629 --> 00:14:10.769 34 pictures, I was shot in 12, electrocuted or 00:14:10.769 --> 00:14:13.860 hanged in 8, and was a jailbird in 9. So he was 00:14:13.860 --> 00:14:16.360 weaponizing his dissatisfaction. He really was. 00:14:16.500 --> 00:14:19.100 He took these terrible, shallow gangster roles 00:14:19.100 --> 00:14:21.740 and through sheer force of performance began 00:14:21.740 --> 00:14:24.080 adding the layers of depth, the cynical surface, 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:27.340 the wounded eyes, the stoical posture. The studio 00:14:27.340 --> 00:14:29.779 wanted a stock villain. He gave them a man with 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:32.440 a moral center under duress. While he was fighting 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:34.600 the studio professionally, his private life was 00:14:34.600 --> 00:14:36.919 defined by the chaos of his third marriage to 00:14:36.919 --> 00:14:39.399 actress Mayo Method. They became the infamous 00:14:39.399 --> 00:14:42.259 battling Bogarts. This was a deeply volatile 00:14:42.259 --> 00:14:45.100 and destructive relationship. Method, when sober, 00:14:45.200 --> 00:14:47.200 was friendly, but when drunk, she was highly 00:14:47.200 --> 00:14:49.460 paranoid and aggressive. The stories are shocking. 00:14:49.620 --> 00:14:52.220 Throwing plants. Cockery. Didn't she stab him 00:14:52.220 --> 00:14:54.779 with a knife at one point? She did. And she repeatedly 00:14:54.779 --> 00:14:57.500 slashed her own wrists. It was incredibly dark. 00:14:57.820 --> 00:14:59.759 And yet Bogart seemed to invite the confrontation. 00:15:00.460 --> 00:15:03.019 He did. He reportedly enjoyed the drama and would 00:15:03.019 --> 00:15:05.360 needle her, sometimes resulting in violence from 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:08.700 his side as well. The sources suggest he thrived 00:15:08.700 --> 00:15:11.320 on the intensity. He told one friend, I like 00:15:11.320 --> 00:15:13.919 a jealous wife. We get on so well together because 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:15.720 we don't have illusions about each other. He 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:18.960 even nicknamed his boat Sluggy after her. Which 00:15:18.960 --> 00:15:21.679 tells you everything you need to know. The actress 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.080 Louise Brooks had a complex take on this period. 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:27.399 She believed that, except for Leslie Howard, 00:15:27.679 --> 00:15:30.519 no one contributed as much to Humphrey's success 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:34.139 as his third wife, Mayo Method, implying that 00:15:34.139 --> 00:15:36.679 the intense, volatile, emotional reality of his 00:15:36.679 --> 00:15:39.580 marriage somehow fueled the intensity and simmering 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:42.179 danger he brought to the screen. It was a relationship 00:15:42.179 --> 00:15:44.340 that certainly proved he could handle confrontation 00:15:44.340 --> 00:15:47.480 and channel chaos. No question. Fortunately, 00:15:47.639 --> 00:15:50.240 the mediocre roles ended in 1941 when he hit 00:15:50.240 --> 00:15:52.679 a streak of three consecutive masterpieces that 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:55.120 finally gave him the depth he craved and vaulted 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:57.679 him to superstardom. The breakthrough trio, High 00:15:57.679 --> 00:16:01.360 Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca. Each 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:04.720 won a major professional turning point. High 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:07.340 Sierra was his final... Major gangster film. 00:16:07.539 --> 00:16:09.980 And here again, he was rescued by other actors' 00:16:10.059 --> 00:16:13.080 refusals. Paul Muni, George Raft, James Cagney, 00:16:13.139 --> 00:16:15.399 and Edward G. Robinson all passed on the lead 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:18.519 role of Mad Dog Earl. And that opened the door 00:16:18.519 --> 00:16:21.120 for Bogart to play a gangster with real tragedy 00:16:21.120 --> 00:16:23.529 in depth. thanks to the screenplay written by 00:16:23.529 --> 00:16:26.509 his close friend John Huston. This film really 00:16:26.509 --> 00:16:28.850 cemented their working relationship. Then came 00:16:28.850 --> 00:16:30.830 The Maltese Falcon later that same year, the 00:16:30.830 --> 00:16:32.889 film that essentially defines the entire noir 00:16:32.889 --> 00:16:35.070 movement. This was John Huston's directorial 00:16:35.070 --> 00:16:37.009 debut, and again, George Raft turned it down. 00:16:37.090 --> 00:16:39.889 He didn't want to appear in a remake. Bogart's 00:16:39.889 --> 00:16:42.909 Sam Spade became the quintessential private detective. 00:16:43.110 --> 00:16:46.330 Cynical. Sharp, morally ambiguous, and highly 00:16:46.330 --> 00:16:49.230 strategic. The perfect role to showcase the intellectual 00:16:49.230 --> 00:16:51.809 depth he had been suppressing. It was. Bogart 00:16:51.809 --> 00:16:53.929 was uncharacteristically proud of it, calling 00:16:53.929 --> 00:16:56.549 it practically a masterpiece. But the role that 00:16:56.549 --> 00:16:59.289 turned him into a global legend and finally gave 00:16:59.289 --> 00:17:02.350 him his first romantic lead was Rick Blaine in 00:17:02.350 --> 00:17:06.119 Casablanca. Casablanca in 1942 was the moment 00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:08.819 he surpassed his peers. It vaulted him to the 00:17:08.819 --> 00:17:11.559 number one star position at Warner's, doubling 00:17:11.559 --> 00:17:13.859 his salary overnight and earning his first of 00:17:13.859 --> 00:17:16.519 three Oscar nominations. But it's important to 00:17:16.519 --> 00:17:18.539 remember the reality behind the chemistry with 00:17:18.539 --> 00:17:21.700 Ingrid Bergman. Oh, completely. Despite the intense 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:24.740 on -screen romance, their relationship was purely 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:27.839 professional. Bergman famously said, I kissed 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:29.839 him, but I never knew him. They barely spoke 00:17:29.839 --> 00:17:32.559 off set. Which is a powerful comment on the manufactured 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:35.740 nature of Hollywood chemistry. It is. And speaking 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:38.279 of manufacturing, there's the famous detail that 00:17:38.279 --> 00:17:41.059 because Bergman was taller than Bogart, he had 00:17:41.059 --> 00:17:43.380 to wear three -inch blocks on his shoes in some 00:17:43.380 --> 00:17:46.200 scenes to manage the height difference. And here 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:48.059 we finally connect back to the chess hustler 00:17:48.059 --> 00:17:50.680 from part one. Bogart himself insisted on one 00:17:50.680 --> 00:17:52.480 of Rick Blaine's most defining characteristics. 00:17:53.019 --> 00:17:55.460 He was the one who suggested Rick should be portrayed 00:17:55.460 --> 00:17:58.779 as a chess player. It's a stroke of genius, turning 00:17:58.779 --> 00:18:00.839 the character into a metaphorical chess master, 00:18:01.099 --> 00:18:03.740 detachedly managing all the complex relationships 00:18:03.740 --> 00:18:06.259 in Casablanca. It provides an intellectual weight 00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:08.710 that simply wasn't in the original script. And 00:18:08.710 --> 00:18:11.789 that real life hobby had a completely unexpected 00:18:11.789 --> 00:18:14.910 and frankly hilarious consequence involving the 00:18:14.910 --> 00:18:16.549 U .S. government. This is where it gets really 00:18:16.549 --> 00:18:19.529 interesting. Because Bogart was a genuine tournament 00:18:19.529 --> 00:18:22.309 level chess player, he started correspondence 00:18:22.309 --> 00:18:25.089 chess games playing by mail with American GIs 00:18:25.089 --> 00:18:27.470 deployed overseas during the war. And the FBI 00:18:27.470 --> 00:18:29.170 got involved because they thought the chess moves 00:18:29.170 --> 00:18:32.220 were code. Exactly. The letters, which included 00:18:32.220 --> 00:18:34.539 algebraic notation to describe the moves, were 00:18:34.539 --> 00:18:37.039 intercepted and briefly investigated by the FBI. 00:18:37.539 --> 00:18:40.059 They were genuinely concerned that the notation 00:18:40.059 --> 00:18:42.859 was encrypted messages, a form of espionage. 00:18:42.920 --> 00:18:45.369 It's the ultimate aha moment. The FBI suspected 00:18:45.369 --> 00:18:48.009 Humphrey Bogart was a spy simply because he was 00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:50.869 too proficient at chess. By 1944, Bogart was 00:18:50.869 --> 00:18:52.869 arguably the biggest star in the world, and his 00:18:52.869 --> 00:18:54.849 life changed again when he met Lauren Bacall 00:18:54.849 --> 00:18:57.789 while filming To Have and Have Not. He was 44. 00:18:58.069 --> 00:19:01.150 She was only 19. The sources suggest he was instantly 00:19:01.150 --> 00:19:03.630 captivated by her poise, her maturity, her green 00:19:03.630 --> 00:19:07.009 eyes, and, crucially, her earthy, outspoken honesty. 00:19:07.289 --> 00:19:10.259 He nicknamed her... baby. And despite the 25 00:19:10.259 --> 00:19:12.500 year age gap, their relationship was an intense 00:19:12.500 --> 00:19:15.440 mentor student dynamic that rapidly turned romantic. 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:18.359 This shift caused huge tension on set with the 00:19:18.359 --> 00:19:21.400 director, Howard Hawks, who felt possessive of 00:19:21.400 --> 00:19:24.299 Bacall. Hawks saw himself as Bacall's discoverer 00:19:24.299 --> 00:19:27.359 and mentor. And when Bogart effectively took 00:19:27.359 --> 00:19:30.400 over that role, Hawks grew furious. He actually 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:32.779 threatened to ruin Bacall's career. By loaning 00:19:32.779 --> 00:19:35.700 her out to a Poverty Row studio. Exactly, to 00:19:35.700 --> 00:19:37.900 monogram pictures to try and break up their relationship. 00:19:38.339 --> 00:19:41.019 But Bogart calmed Bacall and ensured the dispute 00:19:41.019 --> 00:19:43.779 was settled by Jack Warner, which really demonstrates 00:19:43.779 --> 00:19:46.079 his new level of clout at the studio. Hawks' 00:19:46.119 --> 00:19:48.420 famous comments suggest Bogart fell in love with 00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:50.380 a manufactured image rather than the real woman. 00:19:50.500 --> 00:19:53.029 He said, Bogie fell in love with the character 00:19:53.029 --> 00:19:54.809 she plays, so she had to keep playing it the 00:19:54.809 --> 00:19:57.349 rest of her life. That's a powerful but possibly 00:19:57.349 --> 00:20:00.829 bitter observation. Bacall strongly refuted it 00:20:00.829 --> 00:20:03.029 in her memoir, asserting that their love was 00:20:03.029 --> 00:20:06.049 genuine and based on mutual respect and his integrity. 00:20:06.349 --> 00:20:09.269 She said he was very strong and very sure about 00:20:09.269 --> 00:20:11.430 what he believed in. She believed he saw her 00:20:11.430 --> 00:20:14.400 as an equal. Bogart divorced Mayo Method and 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:17.700 married Bacall in May of 1945. They became the 00:20:17.700 --> 00:20:19.900 ultimate Hollywood power couple, immediately 00:20:19.900 --> 00:20:22.200 following up with the equally iconic The Big 00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:26.160 Sleep in 1946. The Big Sleep, based on the Raymond 00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:29.539 Chandler novel, is legendary for its dense, almost 00:20:29.539 --> 00:20:33.259 incomprehensible plot. It's fascinating how successful 00:20:33.259 --> 00:20:36.000 it was, despite being so confusing. And the fact 00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:38.099 that the creators themselves didn't understand 00:20:38.099 --> 00:20:40.579 the plot is one of the best anecdotes of the 00:20:40.579 --> 00:20:43.559 era. It is. The sources confirm director Howard 00:20:43.559 --> 00:20:46.500 Hawks and Bogart genuinely couldn't agree on 00:20:46.500 --> 00:20:49.180 who killed the chauffeur. They even telegraphed 00:20:49.180 --> 00:20:51.099 Raymond Chandler, the novelist. Who admitted 00:20:51.099 --> 00:20:53.119 he couldn't remember either. It just demonstrates 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:56.799 the power of Bogart and Bacall's chemistry. The 00:20:56.799 --> 00:20:58.480 audience didn't care about the plot. They were 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:00.660 simply captivated by the dynamic between the 00:21:00.660 --> 00:21:03.160 stars. Offscreen, Bogart found his sanctuary 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:05.559 on the water. He bought the 55 -foot sailing 00:21:05.559 --> 00:21:08.460 yacht, the Santana. The sea was his escape valve, 00:21:08.660 --> 00:21:11.599 his place of equilibrium. He spent 30 weekends 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:14.440 a year sailing, describing it as something to 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:17.339 stabilize his personality. The marriage was happy. 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:20.200 despite his drinking and Bacall's crippling seasickness. 00:21:20.279 --> 00:21:22.619 The power shift continued with Key Largo in 1948, 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:25.299 directed by Houston, where he worked with Edward 00:21:25.299 --> 00:21:28.640 G. Robinson again. And this film marked the moment 00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:31.759 of absolute professional triumph for Bogart over 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:34.960 his old typecasting peers. In their four previous 00:21:34.960 --> 00:21:37.680 films together, Robinson had always received 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:40.599 top billing. But in Key Largo, Bogart finally 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:43.759 received the coveted top position. He did. The 00:21:43.759 --> 00:21:46.460 rivalry was so intense that even though Bogart 00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:49.359 was billed first, the studio still ensured Robinson's 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:51.519 image was substantially larger on some of the 00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:53.759 promotional posters. But Bogart wasn't satisfied 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:56.500 just being the top -billed contract star. He 00:21:56.500 --> 00:21:59.160 wanted control over the material. This is a key 00:21:59.160 --> 00:22:02.380 move. He leveraged his new Warner contract to 00:22:02.380 --> 00:22:04.400 co -found his own independent production company, 00:22:04.640 --> 00:22:08.180 Santana Productions, in 1948. And this infuriated 00:22:08.180 --> 00:22:10.799 Jack Warner. Deeply. Because it directly chipped 00:22:10.799 --> 00:22:13.160 away at the dictatorial power of the studio system. 00:22:13.450 --> 00:22:15.849 Bogart was saying, I will make films on my terms. 00:22:16.049 --> 00:22:18.190 He named the company after his yacht, symbolizing 00:22:18.190 --> 00:22:20.569 his independence. Before we delve into Santana's 00:22:20.569 --> 00:22:22.529 films, we have to look at his major political 00:22:22.529 --> 00:22:25.210 stand of this period, his opposition to the House 00:22:25.210 --> 00:22:28.380 Un -American Activities Committee, HUAC. Yes. 00:22:28.740 --> 00:22:31.619 This is a crucial area where his code of honor 00:22:31.619 --> 00:22:34.059 manifested politically. He was a liberal Democrat, 00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:36.380 and he organized the committee for the First 00:22:36.380 --> 00:22:38.799 Amendment, leading a high -profile delegation 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.880 of stars, including Bacall and Danny Kaye to 00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:45.200 Washington, D .C., to oppose HUAC's harassment 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:48.140 of Hollywood figures. But the backlash was immense. 00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:51.099 He couldn't sustain that fight. The negative 00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:53.440 publicity, particularly the implication that 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:55.720 he might be supporting communist sympathizers, 00:22:55.880 --> 00:22:58.869 was immediate and damaging. He was forced into 00:22:58.869 --> 00:23:01.710 a painful retreat, publishing an article in Photoplay 00:23:01.710 --> 00:23:05.130 magazine in 1948 titled I'm No Communist. He 00:23:05.130 --> 00:23:07.349 later regretted the whole thing. He did. It was 00:23:07.349 --> 00:23:09.329 a clear example of a principled man entering 00:23:09.329 --> 00:23:12.029 a political fight unprepared for the public relations 00:23:12.029 --> 00:23:14.410 fallout and having to quickly manage the damage 00:23:14.410 --> 00:23:16.529 to maintain his position in Hollywood. Turning 00:23:16.529 --> 00:23:18.650 back to Santana, the company may have eventually 00:23:18.650 --> 00:23:21.269 lost money, but it produced two of his most important 00:23:21.269 --> 00:23:23.650 films, starting with The Treasure of the Sierra 00:23:23.650 --> 00:23:27.299 Madre in 1948. Directed by Houston, this was 00:23:27.299 --> 00:23:29.539 an intentional departure from traditional Hollywood 00:23:29.539 --> 00:23:33.799 fare. A dark, cynical tale of greed, no romance, 00:23:34.119 --> 00:23:37.539 and a profoundly unhappy ending. The studio considered 00:23:37.539 --> 00:23:40.900 it a major commercial risk. But critically, it 00:23:40.900 --> 00:23:43.759 was hailed as a masterpiece. James Agee said 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:46.460 Bogart did a wonderful job, miles ahead of the 00:23:46.460 --> 00:23:48.779 very good work he has done before. Houston won 00:23:48.779 --> 00:23:51.039 Best Director in Screenplay, and his father, 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:53.829 Walter Houston, won Best Supporting Actor. But 00:23:53.829 --> 00:23:55.589 Bogart complained that the public turned a cold 00:23:55.589 --> 00:23:58.630 shoulder on it. Its mediocre box office results 00:23:58.630 --> 00:24:01.730 confirmed his suspicion that his artistic taste 00:24:01.730 --> 00:24:04.309 didn't always align with the mainstream. The 00:24:04.309 --> 00:24:06.549 film that biographers believe gets closest to 00:24:06.549 --> 00:24:08.809 the core of the man was also a Santana production 00:24:08.809 --> 00:24:13.269 in a lonely place in 1950. Absolutely. He plays 00:24:13.269 --> 00:24:16.240 Dixon Steele. an embittered, often violent screenwriter 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:18.500 suspected of murder. This role allowed him to 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:20.740 channel the emotional turmoil, the intellectual 00:24:20.740 --> 00:24:23.279 snobbery, and the flashes of violence that characterized 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.319 parts of his private life. Louise Briggs said 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:27.579 his performance was very close to the real Bogart. 00:24:27.700 --> 00:24:31.519 She did. She noted his pride in his art, his 00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:34.180 selfishness, drunkenness, were shared by the 00:24:34.180 --> 00:24:37.599 real Bogart. It's a masterful film noir, where 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:40.599 the antihero is genuinely unstable and potentially 00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:43.380 dangerous. Yet his defining professional achievement, 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:46.099 the one that earned him his only Oscar, came 00:24:46.099 --> 00:24:48.460 outside of Santana, proving he still knew how 00:24:48.460 --> 00:24:52.150 to pick a hit. The African Queen in 1951. Co 00:24:52.150 --> 00:24:54.309 -starring Katharine Hepburn, who absolutely insisted 00:24:54.309 --> 00:24:56.869 on him for the role of Charlie Allnut and directed 00:24:56.869 --> 00:24:59.910 by Huston, this was an absolute ordeal to film. 00:25:00.089 --> 00:25:02.329 It was shot on location in the Belgian Congo, 00:25:02.529 --> 00:25:05.089 and the conditions were horrific. Jungle heat, 00:25:05.329 --> 00:25:08.569 boat fires, illness, army ants. I can't imagine. 00:25:08.890 --> 00:25:10.829 It was pure survival. Almost everyone in the 00:25:10.829 --> 00:25:12.769 cast and crew developed dysentery except for 00:25:12.769 --> 00:25:15.569 Bogart and Huston, the two notorious hard drinkers. 00:25:15.710 --> 00:25:17.990 Their survival tactic has become legendary. They 00:25:17.990 --> 00:25:20.250 subsisted entirely on canned food and alcohol 00:25:20.250 --> 00:25:22.509 as the boiled water. was apparently still contaminated. 00:25:22.910 --> 00:25:25.269 Bogart's famous quip sums it up. Whenever a fly 00:25:25.269 --> 00:25:27.609 bit Houston or me, it dropped dead. And Bacall 00:25:27.609 --> 00:25:30.029 was there too, making herself useful. She was 00:25:30.029 --> 00:25:33.049 the chief cook and nurse. Bogart joked, I don't 00:25:33.049 --> 00:25:34.950 know what we'd have done without her. She looks 00:25:34.950 --> 00:25:37.849 my undies in darkest Africa. It just shows the 00:25:37.849 --> 00:25:40.250 resilience of their partnership under extreme 00:25:40.250 --> 00:25:44.509 duress. The grueling shoot paid off. Bogart won 00:25:44.509 --> 00:25:47.470 his only Academy Award for Best Actor, and he 00:25:47.470 --> 00:25:49.450 considered it the best performance of his career. 00:25:49.900 --> 00:25:52.200 He delivered a very gracious acceptance speech, 00:25:52.420 --> 00:25:56.359 emphasizing collaboration. But his lasting, cynical 00:25:56.359 --> 00:26:00.319 advice after winning was perfectly Bogart. The 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:02.299 way to survive an Oscar is never to try to win 00:26:02.299 --> 00:26:05.400 another one. Too many stars. Win it and then 00:26:05.400 --> 00:26:07.470 figure they have to top themselves. They become 00:26:07.470 --> 00:26:10.150 afraid to take chances. Moving into the mid -50s, 00:26:10.150 --> 00:26:12.410 Bogart was still immensely active and successful, 00:26:12.690 --> 00:26:14.710 earning his third and final Oscar nomination 00:26:14.710 --> 00:26:17.730 for The Kane Mutiny in 1954, where he played 00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:19.930 the paranoid Captain Queeg. He had to swallow 00:26:19.930 --> 00:26:22.250 his pride slightly to get that role, having to 00:26:22.250 --> 00:26:24.170 lower his asking price, which definitely brought 00:26:24.170 --> 00:26:25.890 back some of his old bitterness about the studio 00:26:25.890 --> 00:26:28.509 system. But he delivered a magnificent performance. 00:26:29.130 --> 00:26:30.750 The brilliance of that performance is how it 00:26:30.750 --> 00:26:33.910 connects back to the instability we saw him explore 00:26:33.910 --> 00:26:37.089 in a lonely place. He had mastered portraying 00:26:37.089 --> 00:26:40.009 men whose internal pressure leads to total collapse. 00:26:40.250 --> 00:26:42.490 Absolutely. The famous scene where Queeg breaks 00:26:42.490 --> 00:26:45.089 down on the witness stand, endlessly rolling 00:26:45.089 --> 00:26:47.609 the metal ball bearings, is considered one of 00:26:47.609 --> 00:26:50.289 the great... cinematic portrayals of an unraveling 00:26:50.289 --> 00:26:52.509 command. His other significant film from that 00:26:52.509 --> 00:26:55.309 year was Billy Wilder's romantic comedy Sabrina, 00:26:55.670 --> 00:26:58.130 famous primarily for the terrible relationship 00:26:58.130 --> 00:27:00.769 Bogart had with the director. Sources confirm 00:27:00.769 --> 00:27:04.329 the shoot was miserable. He openly despised Billy 00:27:04.329 --> 00:27:07.309 Wilder's precise, controlling directorial style. 00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:11.039 He famously called Wilder a Prussian German with 00:27:11.039 --> 00:27:13.759 a writing crop and felt the picture itself was 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:16.099 a crock of crap. It's a fascinating disconnect, 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:18.579 though. He hated the project, yet the finished 00:27:18.579 --> 00:27:21.599 product was beloved and critics praised his performance. 00:27:21.960 --> 00:27:24.220 It speaks to his professionalism. Once the camera 00:27:24.220 --> 00:27:26.079 was rolling, he could set aside the external 00:27:26.079 --> 00:27:29.420 friction. Wilder's meticulous style clashed with 00:27:29.420 --> 00:27:31.880 Bogart's more improvisational, instinctual approach, 00:27:31.980 --> 00:27:34.220 but it resulted in a very controlled, excellent 00:27:34.220 --> 00:27:37.329 performance. This period also truly cemented 00:27:37.329 --> 00:27:40.609 the generous, loyal side of Bogart. He was known 00:27:40.609 --> 00:27:43.349 for helping actors who were struggling or blacklisted. 00:27:43.589 --> 00:27:45.549 He was incredibly principled in that regard. 00:27:45.990 --> 00:27:48.509 During the filming of The Left Hand of God, he 00:27:48.509 --> 00:27:50.769 noticed his co -star, Jean Tierney, was struggling 00:27:50.769 --> 00:27:52.450 with mental illness and couldn't remember her 00:27:52.450 --> 00:27:55.890 lines. He personally coached her, fed her lines, 00:27:56.069 --> 00:27:58.970 and insisted she seek proper treatment. And he 00:27:58.970 --> 00:28:01.829 also stood up for Joan Bennett. Yes. Bennett 00:28:01.829 --> 00:28:04.420 was facing a major scandal. and the studio was 00:28:04.420 --> 00:28:07.599 reluctant to cast her in We're No Angels. Bogart 00:28:07.599 --> 00:28:10.440 insisted she be his co -star, using his leverage 00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:12.440 to push back against the studio's moralistic 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:15.700 resistance. Alongside his late career triumphs, 00:28:15.700 --> 00:28:18.059 he also embraced fatherhood relatively late. 00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:21.559 He became a father at age 49. His son, Stephen 00:28:21.559 --> 00:28:23.819 Humphrey, was born in 1949, and his daughter, 00:28:24.000 --> 00:28:27.359 Leslie Howard Bogart, in 1952. Bacall notes these 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:29.640 were genuinely happy years centered around their 00:28:29.640 --> 00:28:32.349 home and the Santana. But his later years are 00:28:32.349 --> 00:28:34.609 perhaps best remembered for cementing his place 00:28:34.609 --> 00:28:36.809 as the original leader of the ultimate Hollywood 00:28:36.809 --> 00:28:39.710 social group, the Rat Pack. Bogart was the founding 00:28:39.710 --> 00:28:42.069 member and the intellectual gravitational center 00:28:42.069 --> 00:28:44.910 of the original Hollywood Rat Pack, which began 00:28:44.910 --> 00:28:48.250 in the spring of 1955 in Las Vegas. The sources 00:28:48.250 --> 00:28:50.630 confirmed the name came from Bacall. She looked 00:28:50.630 --> 00:28:52.630 at the group after a long party and quipped, 00:28:52.670 --> 00:28:55.630 you look like a goddamn Rat Pack. And they loved 00:28:55.630 --> 00:28:58.210 it and formalized it. Bogart was the original 00:28:58.210 --> 00:29:00.750 director of public relations, Sinatra was president, 00:29:00.930 --> 00:29:03.670 and Bacall was the den mother. It's important 00:29:03.670 --> 00:29:06.809 to differentiate this bogey -era Rat Pack from 00:29:06.809 --> 00:29:09.849 the later, more famous Vegas -era one, right? 00:29:09.930 --> 00:29:12.509 Completely different. Bogart's version was less 00:29:12.509 --> 00:29:15.109 about synchronized stage routines and more about 00:29:15.109 --> 00:29:17.710 camaraderie, late -night philosophical conversations, 00:29:18.069 --> 00:29:20.789 and heavy drinking. When asked about the group's 00:29:20.789 --> 00:29:23.750 purpose, Bacall's reply was perfect, to drink 00:29:23.750 --> 00:29:26.559 a lot of bourbon and stay up late. Sadly, the 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:28.720 intense drinking and heavy smoking took a rapid 00:29:28.720 --> 00:29:31.720 toll. Bogart was diagnosed with esophageal cancer 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:34.920 in 1955. His health declined rapidly. Despite 00:29:34.920 --> 00:29:38.180 undergoing major surgery in March 1956, the cancer 00:29:38.180 --> 00:29:40.480 had already spread. He became weak and frail, 00:29:40.480 --> 00:29:42.359 losing an enormous amount of weight. But even 00:29:42.359 --> 00:29:45.200 as he became too weak to walk, his wit, that 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:48.480 famous Bogart cynicism, remained intact. Absolutely. 00:29:48.640 --> 00:29:50.599 When he could no longer manage the stairs at 00:29:50.599 --> 00:29:52.539 home, he joked, put me in the dumbwaiter and 00:29:52.539 --> 00:29:55.089 I'll ride down to the first floor in style. And 00:29:55.089 --> 00:29:57.349 they actually did it. They modified the dumbwaiter 00:29:57.349 --> 00:29:59.329 to fit his wheelchair. The end was poignant. 00:29:59.509 --> 00:30:01.970 Frank Sinatra, Catherine Hepburn, and Spencer 00:30:01.970 --> 00:30:06.309 Tracy visited him on January 13, 1957. Hepburn 00:30:06.309 --> 00:30:08.089 recounted the moment with heartbreaking clarity. 00:30:08.589 --> 00:30:11.130 As they were leaving, Tracy patted Bogart on 00:30:11.130 --> 00:30:14.089 the shoulder and said, Good night, Spence. Bogart 00:30:14.089 --> 00:30:16.869 quietly, knowing the finality of it all, covered 00:30:16.869 --> 00:30:19.029 Tracy's hand with his own and replied, Goodbye, 00:30:19.170 --> 00:30:22.289 Spence. Tracy knew he was saying a final farewell. 00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:26.480 He died the next day, January 14, 1957, at age 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:29.599 57, weighing only 80 pounds. John Huston delivered 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:32.539 a magnificent eulogy. Huston said Bogart regarded 00:30:32.539 --> 00:30:34.859 the gaudy figure of Bogart, the star, with an 00:30:34.859 --> 00:30:37.539 amused cynicism, but held Bogart, the actor, 00:30:37.680 --> 00:30:40.759 in deep respect. He said, he is quite irreplaceable. 00:30:40.759 --> 00:30:42.500 There will never be another like him. He was 00:30:42.500 --> 00:30:45.339 cremated and interred in California, but the 00:30:45.339 --> 00:30:48.160 single detail that secures his romantic and cultural 00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:51.940 legacy is the small, final item he was buried 00:30:51.940 --> 00:30:54.420 with. He was buried with a small gold whistle 00:30:54.420 --> 00:30:56.720 from a charm bracelet he had given Bacall before 00:30:56.720 --> 00:30:59.420 their marriage. He was inscribed, if you want 00:30:59.420 --> 00:31:02.160 anything, just whistle. A direct reference to 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:04.880 the iconic line from To Have and Have Not. You 00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:06.500 know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just 00:31:06.500 --> 00:31:09.059 put your lips together and blow. That one small 00:31:09.059 --> 00:31:12.460 object links his greatest romance, his most famous 00:31:12.460 --> 00:31:15.619 film line, and his eternal persona. His legacy 00:31:15.619 --> 00:31:17.960 is now recognized everywhere. From his Hollywood 00:31:17.960 --> 00:31:20.359 Walk of Fame star and the U .S. Postal Service 00:31:20.359 --> 00:31:23.839 stamp issued in 1997 to a street renamed Humphrey 00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:26.700 Bogart Place in New York City in 2006. So what 00:31:26.700 --> 00:31:28.720 does this all mean when we synthesize the entire 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:31.480 life? From the intellectually minded boy who 00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:34.400 hated pretense to the chess hustler to the top 00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:37.799 Hollywood star. Bogart's enduring power stemmed 00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:40.140 from his radical capacity to portray vulnerability 00:31:40.140 --> 00:31:43.140 and a profound code of honor beneath that world 00:31:43.140 --> 00:31:45.839 -weary, cynical exterior. The genius of Bogart 00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:48.680 was in the contrast. He was the perfect anti 00:31:48.680 --> 00:31:51.240 -hero for the mid -20th century because he represented 00:31:51.240 --> 00:31:54.500 a skepticism about institutions, a deep distrust 00:31:54.500 --> 00:31:57.000 of sentimentality, while still holding on to 00:31:57.000 --> 00:31:59.740 a core moral compass. But Call captured this 00:31:59.740 --> 00:32:02.759 dichotomy perfectly. She said, there was also 00:32:02.759 --> 00:32:05.730 a purity, something solid too. I think as time 00:32:05.730 --> 00:32:08.609 goes by, we all believe less and less. Here was 00:32:08.609 --> 00:32:10.890 someone who believed in something. It's the ultimate 00:32:10.890 --> 00:32:13.569 paradox of his career. He spent years hating 00:32:13.569 --> 00:32:15.609 the effeminate white pants Willie typecasting 00:32:15.609 --> 00:32:17.930 and constantly battling the Hollywood machine 00:32:17.930 --> 00:32:20.329 for better material. But the toughness he cultivated 00:32:20.329 --> 00:32:23.609 to escape that soft image, the cynicism and stoicism, 00:32:23.809 --> 00:32:26.690 is precisely what became his enduring iconic 00:32:26.690 --> 00:32:29.880 brand. The fight was the foundation. The shift 00:32:29.880 --> 00:32:32.319 from the romantic juvenile to the wounded anti 00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:34.660 -hero in the petrified forest didn't just give 00:32:34.660 --> 00:32:36.960 him a single role. It gave him the strength and 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:39.200 the clout to fight for the intellectual, challenging 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:41.880 material he truly believed in. Which leads us 00:32:41.880 --> 00:32:44.500 to our final provocative thought for you to consider. 00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:47.599 Bogart's story demonstrates how our greatest 00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:50.599 professional struggles. The roles we hate, the 00:32:50.599 --> 00:32:53.240 battles we fight against being mislabeled, sometimes 00:32:53.240 --> 00:32:56.079 become the necessary grinding foundations for 00:32:56.079 --> 00:32:58.700 our most authentic and greatest triumphs. You 00:32:58.700 --> 00:33:00.380 might be fighting your typecasting right now, 00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:02.980 but perhaps that fight is actually defining the 00:33:02.980 --> 00:33:05.539 brand you will eventually take control of. Look 00:33:05.539 --> 00:33:08.059 for the turning point where your dissatisfaction 00:33:08.059 --> 00:33:10.880 stops being a burden and starts being your essential 00:33:10.880 --> 00:33:12.859 character. That's a powerful thought to chew 00:33:12.859 --> 00:33:15.000 on. Thanks for joining us on this deep dive into 00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:17.059 the irreplaceable legend of Humphrey Bogart. 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:17.980 Until next time.