Humphrey Bogart is the Man

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 2000)

One thing is for certain: Humphrey Bogart is the man who speaks for himself. I just watched this movie at last, after trying to find an opportunity to watch it for quite some time now. I've never watched Bogart before, and Casablanca was as good a start as any. Let me say that I am quite impressed! We are living in a world today where men try to emulate and women are quite taken by those men who are the paragon of the tough, solid man, often with an attitude, which is all the while a somewhat thin front for a sense of sentiment and nobility. Or, to put it another way, we love the bad-ass with a heart and a sense of right. With all the actors that we see nowadays, and all the characters that they portray, it's easy to forget who many of these Hollywood molds owe their respects to. And, in this movie, Bogart is the man, one of the originals, a 1942 tough act, class act, a man who shows others how to be a man.
This is his movie all the way, and he makes it a man's movie. Don't get settled in on Ingrid Bergman too much, however beautiful she may be. She's plays a tough woman, but Bogart is control. And nevermind Paul Henreid, taller and perhaps more handsome than Bogart. He may have the heroic reputation, but Bogart's cynicism makes him identifiable. The things that Bogart's character, Rick, went through, and the new situation he is presented with, were very familiar to me and, I'm sure, to others. What do you do when the one you love is with another? What do you do when there is nothing wrong or, worse yet, it is the better thing to do for her to be with the other? What do you do when the power then lies within you to decide whom she will then belong to, you or him? Weaker men would fold. Bogart takes the situation and tells it where it can go.
I was quite happy with what I saw as the movie finished up. It was a movie, as others have boasted in its name, that required no special effects, no fancy twisted storyline, and no distracting side plots. It's a tight package, wrapped up nicely and presented almost as straightforward as could be. Best of all, though, it's a story told about the strength of one character, and one character alone. It's about his point of view, his dilemma, his solution. It's about Rick, and only Bogart could have pulled off Rick in this memorable way. This is Bogart's movie. Watch the screen portray the strength of the man.