I know many , many people were looking forward to seeing this . The British TV audience had just been treated to a story featuring Christopher Eccleston regenerating into David Tennant at the end of Parting Of The Ways , one of the most beautiful , heart touching scenes the programme has ever or will ever succeeded in doing . Would Russell T Davies be able to keep up the momentum ? Yes is the answer but I shouldqualify this by saying The Christmas Invasion is wonderful in someplaces and rather mediocre in other places

Without doubt RTD knows what makes the show work - imagery . If you're my age you'll remember peers discussing the show with phrases like " I remember the one with the giant maggots ...the giant spiders ...the monsters that came out of the sea " In years to come this story will be remembered as " The one where the Christmas tree comes to life and tries to kill Rose , Jackie and Mickey " . This is a great and amusing scene and as Jackie screams " I'm gonna be killed by a Christmas tree " you'll be totally amused . Almost as good is the scene where Rose and Mickey dodge the killer Santas with their ray guns . If you find all this bizarre and far fetched then I'm afraid you just don't understand the spell DOCTOR WHO has cast over generations of audiences for decades and I pity you

There are problems and like the successes they're down to RTD . Why is it he has to give a ridiculous name for an alien race ? In this case it's the Sycorax who come across as bad pantomime pirates . Another point is the continuity where the Doctor gets his hand sliced off but is able to grow a new one because several hours after a regeneration a time lord can do this which sounds like cheating and I don't believe for a moment RTD envisaged the severed hand as a plot point for season three of the show . Tennant spends most of his debut in bed which in hind sight is something I'd wished he'd do in all of his stories . I certainly didn't take to him as he falls out of the TARDIS bellowing " I dunnit " in his irritating mockney geezer accent but while being better in latter stories he is often quite worse so The Christmas Invasion deserves at least seven out of ten


I love this episode. It's one of my favorites. Here we see David Tennant for the first time as the tenth doctor( excluding the thirty seconds at the end of the parting of the ways). And he is brilliant. He is totally natural. The rest of the cast are very good as well. Billie Piper is also very natural as the doctor companion. The script is good, with some brilliant lines (see quotes page). The pass of the episode is good, with a good lot of action ( the crash landing tardis, the attack of the father Christmases and the Christmas tree, the sword fight..) but not too much, and there is no excessive violence. In fact there is practically no violence, in less you include the sword fight, and even there everything is kept proper: no blood. We also hear what I think are is the first reference to Torchwood. The episode keeps up until the very end To sum it up, i say go and watch this episode as soon as you can.


It is hard to believe now but there was a time when, if you were a 'Dr.Who' fan, you kept quiet about it. Mention its name in the pub on a Saturday night and you would be certain to attract laughter. All that changed in 2005. Thanks to Russell T.Davies, Julie Gardner and Mal Young, the long-dead show became a pop culture phenomenon all over again.

Following the departure of the 'fantastic' Christopher Eccleston, a replacement had to be found. Luckily the producers did not have to look too far. Davies had just written the B.B.C. series 'Casanova', starring a charismatic young Scottish actor by the name of David Tennant. He made his debut as the Time Lord in the closing moments of 'The Parting Of The Ways', then appeared in a short sketch for 'Children In Need' in November, but his first full episode was this special, the first Christmas 'Who' since 1965's 'The Feast Of Steven' with William Hartnell.

'The Christmas Invasion' begins with the Tardis executing a rough landing on the Powell housing estate in London. As Jackie ( Camille Coduri ) and Mickey ( Noel Clarke ) look on in bafflement, a stranger wearing the Doctor's clothes steps out, wishes them a Merry Christmas, and collapses. While the new Doctor lies in a coma in Rose's bed, out in space the British probe 'Guinevere' is taken aboard an alien craft that resembles a huge chunk of coal. The warlike Sycorax use the information aboard to locate Earth, with the intention of taking over.

Rose and Mickey are out Christmas shopping when a brass band wearing Santa Claus suits suddenly goes berserk, attacking the crowd with weaponry disguised as musical instruments. Back at the Tyler flat, a Christmas tree comes to life, spinning madly like a carousel.

Using mind control, the Sycorax have forced entire families onto rooftops the world over. Only the Doctor can put things right, but he is still out cold...

Tennant spends most of the programme asleep, but as soon as he wakes up, assumes control of the situation. It is a masterful performance, switching from funny to angry and back again in the blink of an eye. Not only does he defeat the Sycorax leader in a well-staged sword fight, but also brings down a British Prime Minister ( Penelope Wilton ) who has had the aliens killed as they retreated from Earth ( an effective if none-too subtle dig at Margaret Thatcher's sinking of the Belgrano in the Falklands War ). The Doctor is furious, and undermines her authority with a mere six words - "Do you think she looks tired?". If only he had been here in the '80's when we needed him! At the end, when he selects his new clothes and sits down to turkey dinner with the Tylers, its as if he had always been there. No-one is in any doubt that this is the Doctor.

With him incapacitated for most of the action, Billie Tyler's 'Rose' gets to dominate the proceedings, and does so splendidly. 'Torchwood', the mysterious organisation set up to conquer alien threats using alien technology, is mentioned here for the first time. The Sycorax, while hardly the most terrifying aliens to ever appear in the show, make for a suitable opponent, certainly more so than the Slitheen and the Adipose.

Over the years, comedians have tried to guy the show, but come away looking rather foolish because they made the mistake of sending up what they think the show is. Witness Ricky Gervais' blinkered and astonishingly narrow-minded 'spoof' in 2007's 'Extras' Christmas special. "I do not want to appear in 'Dr.Who'!", he stormed. I do not want you in it, mate! Talking slugs out to rule the cosmos went out with Colin Baker. Not even the presence of Tennant could convince me I was watching even a vague approximation of the real thing. Russell T.Davies has attracted odium from some of the more obsessive fans, mainly of his penchant for subversive humour which seems to suggest he does not take 'Dr.Who' seriously as they would wish him to. It will be interesting to see in 2010 whether Steven Moffat, his successor, can come up with anything as remotely entertaining as this. It proved so popular that two more Christmas shows were made, and a new one - 'The Next Doctor' - is lined up for this year.

The hilarious image of the Royal Family teetering on the brink of the roof of Buckingham Palace made Christmas Day 2005 a particularly joyous one for me!


One of the best Shows on television and One of the best episodes EVER! The new doctor is Witty as he is Hyper active! The Doctor fresh from regeneration is helpless as earth is invaded! But Rose is in the center stage as the aliens invade! She finds her self facing down the alien leader. And has to over come her fears and doubts as the man she come to love has been reborn as a total stranger! This episode more than any other establishes the future of the show!Lots of references in future episodes will come back to this show even up to current 3/13! So do not miss it! Or you will be wondering about the hand! Not to mention how vengeful a Time Lord can be with 7 WORDS!


I just rediscovered this show that I used to watch when I was in elementary school and have to say that it's held up really well. The three brothers are so great together and the story lines are always hilarious for people of all ages. This show is enjoyable even if this is the first time you've seen it. Unfortunately, it's very difficult to find. The relationship between Lou and Joe is well developed, and Andy is one of the most realistic kids I've seen on TV. Overall, if you ever have a chance to see the show, I would. My family ranges from 2-40 and every person in my family adores this show. The concept is different than the family shows that come out today.


The prior reviewer is right about one thing and that is that the lead actress just doesn't carry this off. FYI to that reviewer...she DIDN'T survive. Didn't you notice that the cab driver's name is Peter (as in SAINT PETER) and she for no apparent reason starts telling him all her sins on this ride to no where in particular? Then in the end Peter just says it's "time to go" when all along they've been going no where and in no hurry. She's dead dude and that's supposed to be the big "revelation" at the end as to why "Peter" talks her through her sins and gets her to admit them and feel bad about them so she can enter heaven. Anyway it's pretty corny and let's face it the plot is just downright odd with far too many over reactions by all the characters within the story to be believable. I don't care how much that woman wanted a baby, one look at these people should give anyone pause about whether those are the genes you really want in a child you raise. Hate it, though, because Jeffrey Donovan definitely should get better uses of his skills than this wreck.


I watched this movie and totally enjoyed the premise. I have not seen to many movies about pregnant women fighting off the would be baby snatcher. But I was left hanging at the end. No way she could have survived this onslaught to her body without immediate medical help. So flash to what is happening between her and the old guy in car. He picks her up and the story is told to him. He advises her and gives her some guidance as to rationale of both sides involved etc. We never know who he is or where he is taking her. Could the reality of the film be that he is a spiritual envoy taking her soul somewhere because she in actuality died? This is just a thought because otherwise how the heck did she get out of that situation alive. I really deplore movies that have no ending explanation.


This film has very well-written script. The characters are nicely-paralleled, simultaneously mirroring one another in their fundamental psychological struggles and diverging in their drives, desires, and ideals. The whole storyline is a psychotic eruption of social inadequacies combined with the ever-present question of whether or not our actions are to be judged by an absolute morality.

With regards to character development, the script may have been better carried by stronger acting -- the internal development was present, but was not sufficiently layered within the characters.

Overall, the film is sufficiently suspenseful to hold the attention of the audience.


This movie was a big surprise! The premise is very original and the script, the direction and the overall acting is actually very good.

It's about two couples. There's this vagabond and petty-criminal couple that all of a sudden is confronted with an unwanted pregnancy and come up with the plan to make some money out of it by offering to sell the baby to as much high bidders as possible, with the obvious intention to cheat them all by running off with the down payments. And then there's this counterpart couple, very well to do yuppies that are desperately in need of a baby and are ready to do anything to get it. Both couples meet, and what starts off as a friendly and business-like confrontation eventually deteriorates into a psychological and physical battle to the death.

The story is hung up on an afterwards "confession" that the woman of the first couple does to a stranger (Peter) who picks her up at the start of the movie as she is seen hitch-hiking along a deserted road in the middle of nowhere. She tells him her side of the gruesome story (which we see illustrated in flashbacks) and he comments on it in a more or less moralistic and stern, but on the other hand open-minded way, by which she is forced to reflect on her own deeds. Hence of course the title "Hindsight".

After the movie I was a bit puzzled by this chosen form. What did they mean by it? A sort of catharsis for this woman? A moral judgment? Problem was, that the woman could hardly have survived the deadly attack on her that we witnessed in the last flashback. So how come we see her walking safe and sound along the road? Well, I like to see myself as an intelligent and experienced movie-watcher, but I had to read some of the comments here on IMDb to see the light: the woman was already dead and while she was on her desolate way to afterlife she was picked-up by Peter (!) who gave her the opportunity to relief herself of the burden of her bad deeds and choices. Wow, I felt so dumb and instantly I liked this movie even better for this very subtle twist!

The movie is made with an obvious low budget, with only four actors (five, if you count the Peter character in), and most of the action takes place within the confinement of the second couple's house in the period of one and the same evening, so it's more or less like you're witnessing a theatre play. This feeling is enhanced by the sparkling and very clever dialogues between both couples.

I was impressed by all actors. Leonor Varela is stunningly beautiful but at the same time a solid actress with perfect timing and a great feeling for subtle comedy. Jeffrey Donovan was very convincing as the young yuppie: self-assured and condescending, protective of his wife and wealth and ruthless when things got out of hand. Waylon Payne was equally convincing as the slightly psychopathic con-man, charming and full of bravado but also dangerously impulsive and rough. About Miranda Bailey much has been said in the comments here, and I can understand the reservations: she is not a beauty and her role is the least sympathetic of all, so as an audience it's almost impossible to relate to her and her motives. But in my opinion she played her character very well: in her "hindsight"-dialogues she's the unappealing, street-wise and cocky white-trash bimbo who doesn't give a damn, yet her self-reflections on the comments of Peter impress as genuinely sincere. And when, at the start of their meeting with the other couple, she tries to win them over with a performance of a sweet mother-to-be, she's equally convincing; and likewise when she later on in the movie is under heavy attack and has to fear for her life, so to me it proves that she's a great actress too.

My only little and rather practical piece of criticism as to the script is: how come that the yuppie-couple didn't have or use a cell-phone?!? They are so well-to-do and modern, that it's totally unbelievable that at least the guy wouldn't have walked around with a cell in his pocket, so that they could have sent for help.

Anyway, this movie gives a very convincing and in many ways disconcerting image of four intelligent people who try to act as if they care for each other, but in the end let themselves only be guided by greed, suspicion and selfishness. And don't bother too much with the moralistic setting, if that's not your cup of thee, just see it as an interesting extra, that at least is equally clever done as the rest of the movie.

I rank it 9 out of 10.


Paul Holahan's HINDSIGHT has a unique premise presenting us with the theme of being blinded by one's hidden agendas. When Dina and her boyfriend, Ron decide to sell their unexpected baby to desperate Maria and her husband, Paul, all four of them allow their wants to take over them and lead them to an unethical dark side in themselves. The film had a chance to be a thriller with substance, rather it showcased its theme repeatedly giving the thrilling moments less sting so tonally the film bordered on drama. Cutting back to Dina in the present, her narration and freeze frames made the situations at hand less frightening and less significant. Peter, the driver that picks Dina up in the beginning, states the theme through dialog even though the action in the past works as subtext to show us what the theme is. Further, Dina speaks so casually when she narrates and no one screams when they are victimized (except for when Maria and Paul argue over cutting Dina's belly open). It seems as if the musical cues that lead up to these big moments (like when Paul first attacks Ron) lead up to nothing because the tension is lost when important events happen. After Paul attacks Ron, there is a cut back to the present in which Peter tells Dina she thinks nothing is her fault. Then Dina repeats that statement by narrating that we probably think this is her fault. The attack on Ron should have been the turning point in which everyone turns against each other, but it is downplayed. Foreshadowing should cause tension in a thriller, but foreshadowing is lost when Dina says what is going to happen next. There is good parallel action placing Dina and Ronnie versus Maria and Paul and there is a good arch for each of the characters in which they change when their sight is narrowed in on their desires. The most exciting scene is when Paul taunts Maria to cut open Dina's belly. It put everyone against each other singularly and it revealed character, especially Maria's, using a kind of suspense where one must look away. It then gave reason for Maria's character to choose to do what she did at the end. It is well-written, but the form of the film takes away from the story. The film has depth and is intelligent unlike many thrillers, but the thrill is lost.


Totally violates suspense writing 101. You already know she survives the ordeal in the beginning of the movie.. duh ???

And having seen the scenes in the trailer and the poster,, there was NO surprises whatsoever..

The actors did okay with the material before them and I could look at Miranda Bailey anytime. (smile)

Why is it that almost every movie with a pregnant heroine always seem to fall into a sense of her unavoidable doom. From "Rosemary's Baby" to last year's bloodbath "Inside". Just once I would love to see a different approach. ( I don't count "Cord/Hide and Seek" or "Hush" as I never even bought the premise that the heroine was even pregnant, they acted more like a pillow was stuffed under her shirt") At least in this film, you do feel she is due any second.. Maybe someone will make a movie about a 9 month pregnant Sarah Brady who fought a knife-wielding female maniac for 20 minutes and won. :)


Dina and Ronnie are a couple that live a carefree life taking what they want from others. They don't pay their rent, they steal cars, and don't seem to care about the consequences. All of their fun comes to a screeching halt when Dina discovers that she is pregnant. They have no way to provide for a child, so they decide to sell their baby to a desperate couple they find online. Paul and Maria live the perfect suburban lifestyle with a brand new model home and expensive cars, but what they really want has always been denied to them. They cannot have children. The action begins when the couples meet for the first time. Immediately it becomes clear that nothing is what it appears to be. Tension builds as ulterior motives are uncovered on both sides of the deal, and what was supposed to be an easy con for Ronnie and Dina spins violently out of control.

The film opens with Dina hitching a ride with Peter, and she recounts her tale through a series of flashbacks. It's a interesting choice for a thriller. If not handled carefully this kind of narrative structure can ruin the momentum of a film, especially one that relies on thrills. However, this film has something more to offer. The best kind of horror film is the one that focuses on social issues or stigmas and turns them around to show us what we are really afraid of. Hindsight is about choice and the consequences of materialism. How much is one baby worth? Or that boat in Florida? How far will you go to get what you want? And why do you want it in the first place? That last question is the most important. It all comes back to morality, and, of course, a nice little twist ending to tie things off.

Technically the film is sound. It has some great thrills, built up by creative use of sound and lighting design. The actors deliver well enough and the plot has enough turns to keep people guessing. There's enough gore to keep the spatter crowd entertained, and some depth for those of us who like to look in to film a little more deeply. All in all, definitely worth your time.


This movie is about an irresponsible young couple that live in their car with no means of support. When they find out they are expecting, they see their unborn baby as a way to make money. They research many couples on the internet (how do you have internet with no place to live?) and visit a prospective couple. A couple they have seemingly chosen as the adoptive parents. The couples come together and things go well as long as the baby's biological father can keep his true nature under control. He gets angry and slaps his pregnant girlfriend which makes the adoptive father question whether or not they are making the right choice with this adoption. It is from this point that things start beginning to take twists and turns. You may be able to predict how the movie is going to end, but the trip to the end is an enjoyable one.


Here is one of the reasons I love old movies so much - intriguing writing, great acting, and interesting characters hold our attention throughout the movie without needing to resort to desperate all-out action, explosions, and computer effects.

Leslie Howard is a gentle intellectual roaming the Arizona desert who happens upon a quaint little cafe/gas station in the middle of nowhere, amidst sand and cactus. He immediately stirs the emotions of big-eyed waitress, Gabby (played by an adorably youthful Bette Davis), who holds a dream of going to France and finding herself in the world. But despite their quick and mutual adoration for one another there is impending tension hovering around their introduction, as news continually escalates about a killer named Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart) who's on the run and not far from the diner. Eventually, the infamous gangster shows up with some thugs and takes over the cafe, holding an array of wonderfully colorful characters hostage.

This was originally a play with Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart, and leading man Howard reportedly refused to do the picture without Bogie being in it. As a result, this is noteworthy also as Bogart's big breakout movie, and it would only be a few more years before he would hit super-stardom all on his own. Humphrey seems to put a lot into his gangster character, investing Duke with the necessary evil demeanor, yet also with a hint of heart and soul.

Leslie Howard and Bette Davis make a wonderful pair, and both give fine performances; which makes the potentially talky twenty minute scene where they first get acquainted actually completely captivating. Charley Grapewin is delightful and funny as Davis' chattering grandpa.

Dick Foran, playing a strapping and comical football star who pumps gas while always trying to woo Gabby, was very good in this film and it's probably the best work I've seen him do in movies, before he wound up as a "B" player for Universal. His character here is in complete contrast from the heroes and "singing cowboys" I've been used to seeing him play.

At first watch I wasn't completely satisfied with the ending (which I will not reveal) but after thinking about it I came to the decision that it really fit the story well after all, and is actually very poetic.


Directed by Archie Mayo, "The Petrified Forest" gave a tremendous boost to Bogart's screen career by providing him with a ready-made showcase for his talent

The movie was a very faithful adaptation of the play as it told of a group of diverse personalities who find themselves held at bay in a small service-station-restaurant by a ruthless gunman and his gang on the run from pursuing police There were heavily symbolic overtones involving the overrunning of the doomed intellectuals by corruptive brute force

Into this truly fragile framework, the screenplay weaves a tapestry of penetrating character studies First there is Alan Squier (Leslie Howard), a disillusioned writer and intellectual who realizes he is a member of a vanishing breed of men whose visions of a Utopian existence have given way to the oppressive realities of a world that no longer has any room for his type of dreamer Frustrated and quietly despairing, he meets a dreamer of another type, Gabrielle Maple (Bette Davis). She shares Squier's love of beauty and poetry and dreams of fleeing her repressing entrapment at the restaurant and traveling to France

Into their world of fanciful idealism enters Humphrey Bogartthe reality, the brute force which threatens not only the dreamers but all of society It is a finely truthful portrait of ultimate evil, magnificently played by Bogart with all the uncompromising ferocity the role demanded It was one of Bogart's finest portrayals and it was the model, although considerably restrained, he would follow for the next years of his career

Final note: Duke Mantee was a killer on the run He was not a big-shot businessman The assumption put into the audience's mind was that this mobster was a bank robber, a hold-up artist, an escaped convict... but never a wealthy criminal controlling an empire of corruption from plush offices on the 18th floor

Approximately twenty years later, Bogart recreated his original role in a television production of "The Petrified Forest." Directed by Delbert Mann, the play featured Lauren Bacall in the Davis role and Henry Fonda in Howard's part... After all those years, Bogart still had the character down perfectly and received excellent notices


This movie needs better spokespeople! So here goes: take Bogart, Howard, Davis. Classic story with modern undertones. Stage play that works on screen. Clever dialog. Bittersweet longing for a better place. Missed chances for love. Violent gangsters. Quaint desert cafes. Mix in blender: out comes a classic from 1936 which still tastes good today.

Don't miss it. You can't talk about American cinema until you've seen this one, too.


Based on the stunningly emotion play of the same title Petrified Forest is the tale that Acting great Leslie Howard will always be remembered for.He is at the heart of this film as a disillusioned intellectual whose personality never survived the war. Bette Davis is also strong as the waitress who Howard shares his secrets with. Humphrey Bogart made an impressive screen debut repeating the role of Duke Mantee at Howard's insistence. Howard and Bogart played the roles on stage and it is a treasure to see these two actors performances preserved for posterity. Those on this page who have questioned Howard's portrayal of his role are obviously missing the entire emotional through line of his role. Howard was far ahead of his time, an extremely naturalistic actor in a Hollywood obsessed by type casting. Watch this film and be moved by the story. you won't regret it.


The best context to look at "The Petrified Forest" is through the context of the first great disaster of the 20th Century: World War I (or, as it was known then, "The Great War"). I had just finished reading a long, thorough history of World War I when I saw this one and even though this is some twenty years after that awful catastrophe (all wars usually are, but this one especially), one can still feel it's aftershocks rolling through that desolate landscape. Maybe that's why Leslie Howard's character, Alan Squier, wound up wandering through there, as it probably reminded him of more than a few days and nights in No Man's Land (a term invented by the Great War to describe the space between enemy lines). A lot of non-American WWI veterans came out of it really messed up. The whole foundation of the 19th century's ideals had been laid to waste by this new and brutal world that WWI brought about. So it's not very suprising to me that Squier feels "obsolete", as he puts it; the role he had hoped to take with his world doesn't even exist. The best he can do is give Gabrielle Maple the chance he can never have.

Duke Mantee (played by Bogie in a superb, breakthrough performance) is also a relic, but from a different period, that of the Roaring Twenties. Not for nothing were such outlaws as John Dillenger and Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow glamourized during this period; one could possibly point to our current fascination with serial killers as this phenomenon's modern equivalent. But by 1936, the period of the romantic outlaw was drawing to a close if it wasn't already over (a point made five years later in "High Sierra"). Mantee is totally without hope of escape or even a reprieve. He sees his fate as clear as day and doesn't kid himself about his chances of eluding it forever. That, more than anything, would explain his rapproachment with Squier and perhaps his reluctance to shoot him until Squier gives him no choice. Mantee may know his own fate well enough, but he has no wish to inflict that fate on someone in the same position.

Granted, there's a lot more layers and angles going on in "The Petrified Forest" than what I've just mentioned here, but this was the one that grabbed the most. Because human nature doesn't change that much, perhaps that's why this brilliant stage piece still holds my respect.


Robert Sherwood's The Petrified Forest had a run in 1935 on Broadway for the first half of that year. Warner Brothers bought the film rights and shot it the following year. Leslie Howard and at his insistence, Humphrey Bogart, came west to repeat their stage roles.

For Bogart it was a return to bigger acclaim than he had gotten in his first trip to Hollywood in the early Thirties. He hadn't made much of an impression then, but he was in Tinseltown to stay after The Petrified Forest and his frightening characterization of criminal on the run, Duke Mantee.

The Petrified Forest takes place in a filling station/greasy spoon truck stop on the edge of the Arizona desert. About as desolate a place as you'll find. Three generations of the Maple family own and operate the place. Grandpa Charley Grapewin, Father Porter Hall, and daughter Bette Davis who dreams about the fact there's more to life than this nowhere place. Bette also has to contend with former college football star Dick Foran and his clumsy efforts at courtship.

Along comes Alan Squier played by Leslie Howard who's a blase world weary vagabond who's seen better days. He and Davis hit it off and she comes to realize that there is a great big world out there.

The first third of the movie involves the two of them and I have to say that in the mouths of players less skilled than these two, Robert Sherwood's dialog would have sounded like so much romantic drivel.

For Davis, Gabrielle Maple is a unique part and not one she'd play later on as her features hardened. An intelligent and romantic young girl is not a typical Bette Davis part, but she does bring it off.

As for Howard, Alan Squier is a typical part for him. Not too much different than Ashley Wilkes or Philip Scott from The 49th Parallel.

The remainder of the film is when Duke Mantee and his gang take refuge at the filling station and hold captive anyone who's there or wanders in. A lot of souls are bared under Mantee's guns and the climax is spectacular.

Two other actors who repeated their Broadway roles are Joseph Alexander who's the chauffeur of a rich couple who stop at the filling station and Slim Thompson a member of Mantee's gang. Both of these players are black.

Joseph Alexander is a menial and Slim Thompson really rubs it in to him, telling him the day of liberation has come for some time now. In 1936 that was practically revolutionary.

Alexander had a substantial career, but I have no idea what happened to Thompson. He had no other film credits and only one other stage appearance on Broadway in the original production of Anna Lucasta.

Moviegoers of all generations should thank Leslie Howard for insisting on Humphrey Bogart being in this film and helping to create a screen legend.


"The Petrified Forest" is widely regarded as Humphrey Bogart's breakthrough film, which indeed it was. Bogey had made several forgettable films between 1930-34 before returning discouraged to the New York stage. There, he acquired the role of Duke Mantee in the stage version of "The Petrified Forest" in which Leslie Howard was the star.

When Warner Bros. bought the film rights they wanted Howard but also wanted Edward G. Robinson for the Mantee role. Howard interceded on Bogart's behalf saying that if Bogey wasn't cast as Mantee that he wouldn't do the film either. Bogey never forgot this favor and years later named his daughter Leslie after Howard.

The story takes place in a dusty road side cafe/gas station in the middle of a desert. The film is essentially about a bunch of life's losers with no real future except for the young waitress Gabrielle Maples (Bette Davis) who dreams of leaving the dusty desert for the bright lights of Paris.

A wandering intellectual/writer Alan Squier (Howard) comes to the cafe broke and hungry. He strikes up a friendship with Gabrielle who admires his cultured manner and love of poetry much to the chagrin of would be boyfriend Boze Hertzinger (Dick Foran) a has been football player who now pumps gas. Inside the cafe we meet Gabrielle's father Jason (Porter Hall) who fancies himself as a war hero and Gramp Maples (Charlie Grapewin) a senile old timer who likes to tell stories of his encounter with Billy the Kid.

Into this peaceful setting comes gangster Duke Mantee (Bogart) and his three pals Jackie (Joe Sawyer), Ruby (Adrian Morris) and Slim (Slim Thompson). The gang is on the lam from the law. Mantee holds all of the people in the cafe hostage including travelers the Chisolms (Paul Harvey, Genevieve Tobin) and their chauffeur Joseph (John Alexander). The rest of the film deals with the conflicts between the various characters and the growing love story between Alan and Gabrielle.

Bogey reportedly patterned his Mantee after real life gangster John Dillinger right down to his speech and movements. In fact if you look at photographs of Dillinger, you can see the resemblance. This might explain Bogey's CP3O (the android from "Star Wars") like posture. Notice how he holds his arms and his walk.

The two black actors (Thompson and Alexander) were also in the New York stage production. Dick Foran was appearing as a singing cowboy in a series of "B" westerns for Warners and welcomed this chance at a straight role in a major film.

Although Bogart definitely dominated the film, one can't help but admire the performance of Leslie Howard as Squier. Bette Davis just emerging as a major star has little to do but stare wide-eyed at Howard.

After this film, Warners signed Bogart to a contract. He would play mostly gangster roles in Cagney and Robinson films with the odd lead in a "B" picture such as "Black Legion" (1937) until 1941 when he became a major star after appearing in "High Sierra" and "The Maltese Falcon".


The movie version of Robert Sherwood's play, The Petrified Forest, is an oddity. An outstanding, maybe even great film derived from a basically second rate work. Archie Mayo directs splendidly this story of a poet-drifter who (literally) walks into an eatery in the Arizona desert, where he runs into a desperate, Dillingeresque bad guy who holds him hostage, and in the course of his captivity falls in love with a very naive young woman. Much of the dialogue is dated (though clever) and is written in the faux-Lost Generation style popular in Broadway plays of the twenties and thirties, which is to say there are hints of Fitzgerald and Hemingway in the attitudes expressed, but little of their artistry and originality. As the drifter, sensitive, pipe-smoking Leslie Howard has never been better or better cast; one almost suspects that the role was written for him. Humphrey Bogart, in his first good movie role, is appropriately menacing; he looks remarkably like John Dillinger, and shows even at this stage of his career much of the charm and charisma that later propelled him to superstardom. Watch him closely: he more than holds his own with Howard. Bette Davis is somewhat silly as the love interest; this was not a good part for her. There are no demons for her to unleash in this shy school-girl, and she seems at a loss as to how to play her. The supporting cast is superb, down to the smallest bit player. Mayo and Company worked wonders with the desert set, with its cacti, tumbleweeds and air of rustling menace. We know it's not a real desert, but it doesn't matter; the state of mind is all. This is how the real desert would feel in the mind of such a man as Howard plays, and this is all that matters. The shack-like eatery, with its blinking barbeque sign, is a great creation; with its creaking floorboards and dry as sand tables and chairs, one can almost smell the chili. Also, the transition from day to night is exceedingly well done and quite subtle; it just happens. You know it's dark outside without actually having to see the darkness just beyond the door. The feeling of stars and huge sky above is conveyed by dialogue only and is yet palpable nonetheless; there in spirit if not fact. Inside, the claustrophobia is well-managed; even with several camera shifts there is a strong sense of confinemnt in the film. Mayo did a better job here, with this threadbare, wildly ambitious play, than Wyler ever did with much better material, and I'm not sure why. Mayo's career drifted downward in the late thirties and forties, and of his later work the less said the better. But in 1936 he proved that with great actors, outstanding cameramen and art directors, small miracles could be wrought right on the Warner Brothers back lot, and for a while at least the desert bloomed.


"The Petrified Forest" is set in a diner in the Arizona desert, and focuses on the characters there prior to and during the take-over of the diner by a notorious killer and his gang. The film is based on a play, and it is not surprising given that all but one scene is set at the diner.

Bette Davis gives a fine performance as an idealist young waitress that is enchanted by a vagabond that happens upon the diner, Alan Squier. My favorite performance of the film was from Leslie Howard as Alan Squier, the directionless, weary and philosophizing intellectual. All of the dialogue in this film was well-written, but Squier's lines are particularly eloquent and his references to books and historical figures are interesting. Humphrey Bogart is also great in his breakthrough role as Duke Mantee, the notorious killer. Mantee is gruff, controlling and at times sarcastic, but he has a slow, piercing voice and a methodical manner. The supporting performances are also of note too, particularly that of the excited grandfather often ready with invented tales.

The film's premise is simple, so this film relies on its characterizations and dialogue to retain viewer interest. Both are equal to the task, the dialogue remains engaging as the characters share their innermost thoughts and the film considers American society of the time, and especially love and self-sacrifice.


Who would be the best actor to play a failed writer, a romantic dreamer? Yeah, Leslie Howard seems to be a nice choice... And what if we take this pretty and young Bette Davis (before she becomes the best villain in the story of cinema) and make her play a rebel girl that's longing for a new life far away from that dusty Arizona hole she lives in? Lastly we give Humphrey Bogart the role of a bloodthirsty gangster that walks like a bulldog... Now that we have the perfect cast we just have to write a simple film-noir script, full of humor and with some touches of poetry and romanticism. That's it, a 80 minutes long wonder.

This is cinema, my friends. Quite a lesson of how to create characters and how to make a great movie with a few sets and with six or seven actors. "Petrified Forest" is 70 years old, but it'll remain magnificent for ever and ever.

*My rate: 9/10


I'm not a big fan of Leslie Howard but THE PETRIFIED FOREST is his best film, in my book.

He was great in THE 49th PARALLEL and OF HUMAN BONDAGE, and he's great here too. In this film, he is a lazy writer gone awry, trying to live out his dreams in Bette Davis' character (who is a painter).

In a way, he's totally opposite of Humphrey Bogart's Duke Mantee character, and the dichotomy really is the justification of 'classic' given to this film.

Bogart's and Davis' performances are just average in this film - although at the time of the release, this was Bogart's best film.

I think the old man - Charley Grapewin - and Genevieve Tobin (as Mrs. Chisholm) do a great job with their small parts. Tobin is also a very attractive lady!

I enjoyed the banter between the two drivers as well, both African-Americans cast in a "white" movie at WB in '36. It's a shame they weren't given larger roles.

Talky and melodramatic - and certainly unbelievable (the middle-of-nowhere desert gas station is almost always FULL of people, for starters), this stagy, yet classic film is not for everyone. Your kids will hate this film. But to me - this is good stuff.

This **is** prototypical 1930's cinema.


When you hear it said that "they don't make movies like that anymore", you can rest assured that "The Petrified Forest" fits into that category. Though set in the sparse, almost barren confines of Black Mesa, Arizona, the film comes to life with sparkling and intelligent dialog that underscores it's mission to give meaning to the lives of it's two protagonists - Allan Squier (Leslie Howard) and Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple (Bette Davis). Squier is a "tourist afoot", hiking his way across the desert to the Pacific Ocean, when he finds himself in an out of the way diner populated by it's owner Jason Maple (Porter Hall), daughter Gabby, Gramp Maple (Charley Grapewin) and an itinerant gas jockey named Boze (Dick Foran).

Most will find the film's tension in the presence of escaped killer Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart), on the run from the law, and with his gang the object of the "greatest manhunt in history". Delving deeper, it's the conflicting world views expressed by Allan and wistful dreamer Gabby that deliver the film's resonance, even as the immediate life or death threat of Mantee's muscle overtakes the film's second half.

"There's something in me that wants something different" is Gabby's lament to Allan, he a world traveler who has given up his dreams as a writer and poet. Penniless, he seems almost trapped in a futile existence, though his brief visit to the Black Mesa Bar-B-Q will soon offer a grand moment of glory. Gabby magically and quickly finds herself head over heels in love with Allan, finding him worldly and intelligent, though to him, intelligence is "brains without purpose". Squier's presence deflates the ego of Gabby's would be boyfriend Boze, who effectively delivers the film's defining comment when viewed in retrospect - "Everybody's entitled to their own way o' thinking".

With a handful of films already to his credit, Humphrey Bogart finally gets his hands on a meaty role in the figure of Duke Mantee. By the time his gang makes it's way to Black Mesa, you know he's the man in charge. So does Gramp Maple, who's prior brushes with celebrity include Billy the Kid and Samuel Clemens. Though generally not taken seriously by his diner companions, he's vindicated by the appearance of the Duke - "You can't tell a killer except by his chin". For his part, Bogey affects an odd posture, one that won't be seen again in any other film; he bows his arms across the front of his body in an almost ape like stance giving added menace to his authority.

Earlier, Mantee and his cohorts hijacked the vehicle of a wealthy businessman named Chisholm (Paul Harvey). Representing industrializing America, he's everything his wife detests, hating herself for a loveless marriage and denouncing his timidity in the face of danger. As Allan and Gabby share a passionate conversation, director Archie Mayo poignantly frames their face to face encounter around the background features of Mrs. Chisholm, dramatizing the lost purpose and vitality of a woman who gave in to her family's wishes instead of her own.

Ultimately, Allan Squier strikes on the one defining idea that will give his life some meaning and purpose, he will sign over his five thousand dollar life insurance policy to Gabby so she can use the proceeds to return to France to live out her artistic dream. To make it come true, Duke Mantee will have to kill Allan. Mantee has no qualms about the proposal, but has no personal quarrel with Allan and seems rather to almost enjoy his company. Squier must force the issue, so that "As long as I live, I'll be grateful to the Duke".

"The Petrified Forest" covers a lot of ground, and even manages to reflect on racial constructs in the exchange between the two black men in the film. Slim Thompson is Duke's driver, but a man in his own right freely challenging and offering advice to his boss. On the other hand, Chisholm's chauffeur Joseph is typecast as the subservient employee, who has to ask permission to have a drink when offered by Slim. The scene lasts only a few seconds, but long enough for the symbolism to jump out and grab the viewer.

Having just viewed "The Petrified Forest" for the fourth time, I'm even more in awe now of the film's powerful story and the director's deft use of it's principals and supporting characters. There's not a wasted moment, and every scene seems to have a purpose, even if it's a rolling tumbleweed across the desert landscape. They just don't make them like that anymore.

Bette Davis made her film debut in 1931 in "The Bad Sister", a movie that also included Humphrey Bogart. The two would team up again an incredible five more times by 1939, in order - "Three On A Match", "The Petrified Forest", "Marked Woman", "Kid Galahad", and "Dark Victory". Davis was top billed each time over Bogey; oddly Bogart usually wound up in supporting roles in most of his Warner Brothers films when teamed with fellow contract players Davis, James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson.


"The Petrified Forest" at the time of this review is 71 years old. It has some painted outdoor sets, a very young, pretty Bette Davis, with Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard repeating their stage roles as, respectively, a Dillinger type criminal and an idealistic dreamer. It's less a film than a filmed play - and it's obviously a play, by Robert Sherwood. And guess what, it holds up with some wonderful acting and surprisingly refreshing themes.

Davis is Gaby Maple, who works in the desert café owned by her grandfather. It's there that she waits on Alan, who speaks loftily and listens to her dreams of leaving the hated Arizona desert, joining her mother in France and becoming an artist. In a short time, they fall for one another, but Alan has to move on. He hitches a ride with a wealthy man and his wife, the Chisholms, but on the way out of the desert, they run into the escaped murderer Duke Mantee and his gang, whose car has broken down. They steal the Henderson's car. While their chauffeur is attempting to fix the Mantee vehicle, Alan realizes that Duke and the gang are heading toward the café, and he walks back there. There, Duke holds everyone hostage, including the returning Chisholms, during which time, Alan comes to an important decision about Gaby, himself, and what his life means.

The film has two unusual aspects, the first being the surprising treatment of the black characters. One of the black men is part of Duke's gang and an equal member of it. When the chauffeur asks his boss if it's okay to have a drink, the gang member scoffs at his subservience. "Haven't you heard about the new liberation?" he asks him, shoving a drink in his hand. The second aspect is Mrs. Henderson's feminist counseling of Gaby. Mrs. Henderson urges Gaby not to suppress her dreams for someone else, in this case her grandfather, but to become an individual and know who she is and what she wants. She explains that she was in Europe and offered a stage role by the great Max Reinhardt, but acquiesced to her parents when they demanded she return to the states. She is now unhappily married to a selfish man and has no identity of her own. This is 1936, and acquiescing to what one's family expected of you and losing yourself in your husband's identity went on long, long after that.

Unlike today's films, "The Petrified Forest" is rich in dialogue with only a few action scenes. Nevertheless, it holds one's interest due to acting and wonderful atmosphere of this broken-down café with the wind whipping outside.

With his finely drawn, handsome features and British accent, Leslie Howard excelled at playing dreamers and philosophers, culminating in his role as Ashley Wilkes in "Gone With the Wind." As Alan, he's above it all, speaking of poetry and art to the wide-eyed Gaby and throwing even Duke Mantee off-balance. Mantee was Bogart's breakout film role, and he's fantastic. He studied John Dillinger's mannerisms to prepare for his stage role. Here he's fierce and angry as a man who knows he hasn't got a chance in hell of making it to Mexico but he's going to go down fighting. As Gaby, Davis conveys the character's fantasies, hope for the future, naive ambition, and love for Alan. Neither one of them belong in the desert, but while Alan is through with life's struggles, and Duke knows he's about to be through, Gaby is looking forward to them. Like the gas jockey who's in love with her (Dick Foran) she's willing to take risks for what she wants. Mr. Chisholm, the fat cat, just hopes nothing upsets his status quo. Mrs. Chisholm is stuck but vicariously roots not only for Gaby but Duke and Alan.

Allegorical in its themes, with no special effects, "The Petrified Forest," its title referring to the nearby dead forest where several characters are figuratively heading, is a real treat for lovers of classic film, classic actors, and our country's history of depression and classism. I treasured every minute of it.


For people who like the stage and enjoy a lot of "talk," this film is right up their alley, but it is not a "gangster movie" as we know it, and as advertised and put out as such as part of a DVD set in January of 2005. Yes, there is a gangster (Humphrey Bogart) involved in the story, but really this is just a play where all the action is in one room and it is talk, talk, talk with just a little action in the end.

The best part of the film, to me, was Bette Davis, who I have found very alluring when she was young. After 1940, she lost her physical appeal and began playing a lot of ruthless characters. Anyway, she looked good and her character was interesting. I enjoyed watching her.

The worst part of film was the star of the movie: Leslie Howard, whose character just rambled on and on and on about his Liberal viewpoints of the world on numerous subjects. Some of the stuff he was interesting but most of his statements were just plain annoying and idiotic.

This was Bogart's first "starring role," if you want to call it, as some have. The truth is he didn't enter the film until over halfway through and even then didn't have many lines. He was so primitive looking I almost didn't recognize him. His voice, however, gave him away. As usual, "Bogie,"" was riveting when on screen.

In all, a liberal-feminist gabfest. For those who enjoy this sort of thing: great; for those looking for "gangster" movie, skip this one.


Bette Davis and Leslie Howard give classic 30's performances while Humphrey Bogart gives one for all ages around the interior of a roadside dirty spoon and filling station in the American South West. Meanwhile director Archie Mayo stays out of the way in filming what is basically a two set stage play.

Based on the Sherwood Anderson Depression era play about a hostage situation and the cross section of people it brings together it's a touch dated but nearly the entire cast is flawless with Bogart's Duke Mantee holding center stage. He's one of the darkest villains in film history but by risking everything to meet up his moll becomes every bit the romantic the well versed wandering dreamer Allan Squier is. Leslie Howard is charmingly, fatalistic, Bette Davis has never been more cute and innocent and this could be 100 plus film actor Charlie Grapewin's finest performance.

Interspersed between the hostage situation and the romance of the star struck lovers is a socially conscious message that mocks a rising fascism with a buffoonish para-military local group and raises questions regarding other ills plaguing the country at the time. One minor but intriguing scene between the black gang member and the very staid black chaueffeur of the wealthy hostages raises an interesting message about equality.

One could argue that if they'd moved this play off the stage and given it to Milestone and his tracking obsession it might have made a finer film. It would be impossible to get better performances however.


A fine adaptation of Robert Sherwood play about a group of people held hostage by gangsters at a roadside diner in the Arizona desert. The terrific cast includes Howard as a failed writer, Davis as a waitress with big dreams, Grapevine as Davis's sauce-loving grandfather, and Bogart in his breakthrough role of gangster Duke Mantee. The actors work well together, with Tobin and Harvey rather amusing as the bickering rich couple (he refers to her as "my dear idiot wife"). It is is very nicely directed by Mayo. We get an early glimpse of the tough-guy persona that Bogart would parlay into super-stardom. Unfortunately it got him typecast in gangster roles for years until his star turn as a "good" gangster in "High Sierra."


....and everyone's heard of the 'Duke Mantee' role which helped put Bogie onto the road to stardom. He is quite convincing, obviously modelled on Dillinger--sitting, glowering, pointing w/ his gun and ruling the second half of the movie as he does the BBQ w/ ease. The first half--is kinda slow and talky, w/ Foran, Davis and Howard trading jobes, dreams and stereotypical commentary back and forth 'til you really are just hoping someone comes by and pushes Howard out the door.

I agree w/ the strikingly modern portrayal of Slim Thompson-seen almost as an equal in the Mantee clan as 'Jackie Cooper',( it's a better part than Sam Jackson had in Goodfellas, for example._ Contrast it w/ the Uncle Tom limo driver and you see what I mean.

Porter Hall by the way looks an awful lot like Mel Blanc doesn't he? I enjoyed how these three strutting 'vigilantes' are completely at a loss when actually confronted by Mantee. That was funny.

Overall an obvious talky play was the source, but it's well handled, fakey cloud painting backdrop and all.

*** outta ****


Petrified Forest (1936)

To say that Leslie Howard is perfect is to explain why Petrified Forest is sometimes a great movie. It's a movie about performances in words more than deeds, and his, among the three famous leads, is the most leading. Howard's sense of ease, his struggle for meaning without getting pompous, and his understanding of the other people from the inside is truly the meat, and the potatoes, of the movie.

And the play, which he starred in the previous year. The movie remains a play, set mostly in one colorful (black and white) roadside restaurant and water stop on the edge of the desert. For an action picture, it sometimes talks too much, and it lacks what you would call action. But that's because it isn't an action picture, it's a literate exploration of the end of the frontier. This is exemplified by everyone, including Howard as a footloose and heartbroken loner aptly named Alan Squire, escaping the culture of civilization in Europe for the real thing, the old wild west. And he discovers that the wild west doesn't really exist any more, and that he's a man out of step with the times.

Except that for a brief moment, the past resurfaces, namely as a gangster, a true "desperado" in the form of Humphrey Bogart, representing the end of the romanticized outlaw. Like Howard's bookish romantic, Bogart's character, Duke Mantee (another great name), is out of step. And Duke knows it just as much as Alan, but his way of showing it is with grunts and violence. Still, the two men, opposites in some ways, are in the same dilemma, and they understand it, and acknowledge it in each other.

The witnesses for this meeting of minds and of poetry, both fine and rough, are all characters and caricatures of various kinds--the old timer who is both funny and blind to the truth of what's happening, the rich man who is so above it all he can't take the time to be afraid, and his wife, who sees the romance of Alan's position, and who see how her own life is a tragedy. The other star, of course, is Bette Davis, still fairly new to Hollywood (just five years in) but nevertheless well established with almost thirty movies made. She shines here in a role that only demands a kind of honest and starry attitude that she nails. She might not have the more moving innocence of, say, Olivia de Haviland, she provides a more likely spark and frontier spirit, repackaged for the 1930s.

The year of the movie's release was the depth of the Depression, with Roosevelt running for reelection and the American West known more for its hardship than any sense of hope. But it's now four years after the end of prohibition and the real gangsters of earlier Warner Brothers films (including Bogart as a thug, along with Davis, appearing briefly in the great pre-code 1932 film, Three on a Match) are mostly gone from real life. Likewise, the western villains like Dillinger (the model for Duke Mantee) and Ma Barker, and of course Bonnie and Clyde, were all dead by 1934 and 1935.

So the play, written in 1935 by multiple-Pulitzer winner Robert Sherwood, was a timely success before being adapted for film, with Leslie Howard producing for Warner Brothers. The result was almost bound for success, and though the movie is known now mostly as Bogart's breakthrough movie (his earlier films had him typecast as a second-string villain), it is really not Bogart who dominates it, but Howard. And of course, the writing, the play itself, which sounds sometimes dated to our ears. But imagine the themes of redemption, and love, and escape (in all senses) and you can hear something powerful for its time.


Bette Davis always had a unique way of really making her character. Gabby Maple (Bette Davis) is a beautiful diner waitress with big dreams of moving to France to be an artist. She works with a football player named Nick (Eddie Acuff), who is taken with her. Gabby Maple makes a statement early on about always wanting to be free. Not married, not tied down. You can see that part of her means it, and the other part of her is begging to fall in love. An "intellectual" named Alan Squier (Leslie Howard) flies in and falls in love with complicated Gabrielle Maple, who falls in love with him, and within 10 minutes of the start of the movie you see the tension and drama of a classic love triangle. It doesn't last because Alan Squier is a wanderer with no money, and hitches a ride with a wealthy couple, Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm (Genevieve Tobin & Paul Harvey). The fact that Mr. Squier has no money seems only to make Gabby love him more! Gabby and Alan clearly adore one another. Each seems to be jealous of the other's life. There's a perfection about this movie that's hard to put into words. It's romantic in the word's native definition. Once Alan leaves, their car is hijacked by 3 gangsters who are on a killing spree. Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart) is the chief gangster. Humphrey Bogart's performance in this movie is fantastic. He's brought great depth to this character. He's not a heartless gangster, nor will he hesitate to kill you. He calls the women "ma'am" and you can clearly see his respect for them. As you also see his respect for the elderly in one moment where he chastises Alan for speaking poorly to Gabby's grandfather. Alan is a failed author with a failed marriage which he stole from his publisher. He remains that Gabby is the only one he's ever truly been in love with. Classic movies have a way of making a 5 minutes relationship seem like true love, despite the relationships they each had prior. The Petrified Forest is an example of this. It briefly discusses the meaning of life, and death. Death is glorified, and you see the deeper theme of a person being enlightened upon death.


The Petrified Forest was the movie that made Humphery Bogart a star. He plays a gangster in this.

An English tourist calls for refreshments at a remote café in the middle of the desert and falls in love with the waitress who works there. A group of three then come in and they take the tourist with them to their destination, which they never reach. Their car is hijacked by a gang of four crooks, including murderer Duke Mantee (Bogart), who is wanted all over the States. The tourist makes his own way back to the café and the crooks are not far behind and then they go into the café and hold everyone hostage in there to be joined by the group of three later on. Duke shoots the tourist at the end, escapes and is finally caught by the police just after.

The Petrified Forest has very little, if any background music but it doesn't need it as it is gripping enough.

Joning Bogie in the cast are Leslie Howard as the tourist, a young Bette Daivs as the waitress, Dick Foran and Joe Sawyer. All play excellent parts, especially Bogie.

I enjoyed watching The Petrified Forest and have seen it a couple of times now. Excellent.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5.


This is one of the most profound films of the thirties. Made from an extremely literate play by Robert Sherwood, it explores the mind of the idealist. Leslie Howard was born to play the part of the disaffected English writer. He speaks his poignant lines with conviction... Bette Davis shows her dreamy side and this film, and it's just as compelling as her bitchy aspect... and Bogart, well, this is the first film in which he really IS "Bogart". A good/bad man in an impossible situation, he is, Howard calls him, "the last great apostle of rugged individualism". SEE THIS movie! It's one of the great romances of all-time!


The Petrified Forest - what that title means, aside from its actual geographic location, I'm not sure. It's about a little bar on the outskirts of civilization (Arizona or New Mexico) where its run by an old man and his daughter or granddaughter (Bette Davis) who keeps getting courted by a football veteran. Enter Alan Squier (Leslie Howard) who has those "book-smarts" and has been around to places like Paris and wrote a book but is now at a crossroads in his life - just the moment to meet a very curious-minded girl like Gabrielle, who, as happens in movies of the period, gets smitten with the guy immediately. But there's a snag when a notorious gangster, Duke Mantee (Bogart), has to hold up at the bar with his fellow gangsters and holds everybody hostage while they wait. This doesn't stop the drama from unfolding, however, nor the talk about wealth and power, first with old man at the bar and then when an upper-class couple who got stranded in a sandstorm come in and also get in on the conversation.

This is one of those "talky" movies- meaning very little in the way of action or for ways of Archie Mayo, the director, to try his hand at any special maneuvers with the lens- but it's a good one, and has some challenging little bits from the period. It turns into one of those interesting microcosms that we see sometimes in stage plays or in movies, where a group of people who usually would just say hello/goodbye and be on their way (if that) are thrown together: a smart guy like Alan who becomes heroic after imbibing a few dozen shots; a gruff gangster like Mantee who talks in a way (and by Bogart's performance) where you're not sure what's sarcastic or real; Gabrielle as the girl who two guys are pining for and is not sure what she'll do. Then there's the arrogant jock who ends up getting shot, and the rich couple who have their own sort of long-time-married camaraderie that's mildly amusing. There's even a moment I wasn't expecting where the black gangster in Mantee's group gives some lip to the rich couple's chauffeur for being so "yes, ma'am" and not standing up for himself. Black power in 1936, who knew?!

This is not a great movie really by any stretch, and despite a strong climax it ends up getting deflated somewhat from a last-minute obvious note on the getaway of the gangsters that seems very Hayes-code inspired (ambiguity would've benefited, frankly). But the performances make it something of a must-see, with the three leads of Howard and Davis and especially Bogart a great trio to bounce off of one another. While it was another payday for Howard and Davis, both very charming here, this was Bogart's big break (albeit it would be a while before he could shake his bad-guy act in his roles) and he takes it on for all its worth. Just watch him in that scene where he finds out his other gangster pals and his girl have been arrested and his girl may have squealed and he's "gotta think." It's priceless. 8.5/10


Solid, well written film with fine performances and a menacing, breakthrough acting job by Humphrey Bogart. Set in a desolate, desert cafe in a desolate Arizona town, Bogart and his murderous, violent band of criminals hold up and hold hostage, a various assortment of people. There is an intellectual(Leslie Howard), a waitress with big aspirations(Bette Davis), a jock(Dick Foran), a vigilante(Porter Hall) and a rich, squabbling couple(Paul Harvey and Genevieve Tobin) among others. The action is limited as this is basically a filmed stage play, but the dialog crackles and is crisply delivered by the actors. Director Archie Mayo does a fine job in the film noir style creating dark, shadowy and sombre moments. He also does a great job wringing out the atmosphere as the viewer can really get the feeling that they are in this desolate cafe in the middle of nowhere with a howling wind and blowing sagebrush. The performance by Bogart is astonishing. Unshaven, menacing and brooding. He may have been the screens first truly mean and scary gangster. A fine film.


Here we have three interesting famous artists of all-time cinema, charming Bette Davis, polite and educated Leslie Howard with his English accent, and a terrible Humphrey Bogart as the villain of the film. Howard was an open poem, while Bette felt in love with him, but Bogart (Duke Mantee) came to continue his devastating activity. The Bogart's movements were somewhat different to his usual ones, and he was as terrible as Cagney in "Public Enemy" or Edward G. Robinson in "Little Caesar". It is my understanding that the film tried to demonstrate that smart sentences may be the best way to face a criminal. Normally those gangsters are unable to understand why their lives are so spoiled or why they behave in that way, so with a bit of smartly said words- and that's what Howard did with Bogart- the criminal may reflect a bit of what he is doing or may become lost in his misdemeanours.


Top notch performances from the leads single this out among gangster films of its day as a classic. Howard had to lobby hard to keep Bogart his stage role, for which we should be grateful. While the film still shows its stage origins, it works for the claustrophobic atmosphere to keep locations to a minimum. Furthermore, it was stage dramas like this and Dead End which helped the gangster film bounce back from the censorship that followed Scarface, Public Enemy and Little Caesar. Without films like this, we'd have had no Angels With Dirty Faces or Roaring Twenties.

Bogarts' arrival on scene is a killer, especially considering he's been so well hyped throughout - all we've heard about is how dangerous Duke Mantee is. And the theme of the 'artist' or sensitive type holed up with gangsters is now legendary - reworked in films as diverse as Performance, but perhaps best with Bogart (again) as the good-guy in Key Largo.


The Petrified Forest is a philosophically romantic story of life in the most desolate places, hence the title. It's set in the Petrified Forest area in northern Arizona. An intellectual hitchhiker played by Trevor Howard drifts into a roadside diner run by a proud, traditionalist man, his dreamy daughter Bette Davis, and her grandfather, an old man with a lot of stories about the old days and a fascination with outlaws.

When Davis's mother moved back to France when she was a young child, she felt like everything in her heart moved there with her, leaving her an empty shell of herself living with her stern, purist father. Davis reads poetry, dreams about visiting Bourges and wants to study art. But she's in a dry, dead nowhere working a tedious job and being pursued stubbornly by hunky jocks. When Howard arrives, he is so much more schooled and wise, having been all around the world, and by that mere background, he draws naturally in to conversation with strangers beyond small talk and eventually focuses in on the one fit to enter his adventurous, idealistic, strangely humble existence. That eventual focus is the character of Bette Davis, his lone waitress, out of her element, to whom he expresses interest in seeing her paintings and hearing her recite her favorite poem. To Howard, who appears to sees himself as an unsuccessful writer, she is the future and he finds her enthusiasm and optimism both endearing and revitalizing.

Hurtling headlong into this nonentity of a world is Humphrey Bogart, nailing the rotten-to- the-core persona of his character, a wanted gangster, who with his gang of ruffians, holds everyone in the diner hostage. However, some of life's dead skin has been blistered and peeled back. Trevor Howard gets to the heart of exchanging stimulating words with the stoic villain of Bogart, and makes an agreement with him. With Davis out of the room by chance, Howard signs over an insurance policy to her and asks Bogie to shoot him. His rationalization is that he is of no use to a rose in need of watering like Davis if he is alive. The world simply does not seem as if to work that way. If he is dead, however, she can live her dreams.

Like Howard's individualist protagonist, the film is a profound compromise. It does not settle for a film noir. It does not settle for a love story. Even involving one's subject matter with another's in the same plot may remain within one genre, one conventional environment. By not so much combining the two but rather looking both ways in perceiving an impression of the world, Robert E. Sherwood and those who adapted his play, stages a confrontation between the two outlooks, holding them up side by side and relating their shocking compatibility. That is what is very special about The Petrified Forest. For a picture made in the 1930s, it is exceptionally written and acted, a timeless work of eagerness and tenderness amidst peers which were poles apart.


Based on the stage play by Robert E. Sherwood, The Petrified Forest is a character study revolving around the idea of what it means to be 'American'. Not being American myself, I have to admit that films like this often get on my nerves; but thanks to well defined characters and some great acting; the only thing that this film can be rated as is a true classic. The film takes place mostly in a gas station in the middle of the desert, and what starts out as a rather impromptu tale of romance turns into something more sinister when a gangster on the loose decides to hide out in the station, taking all of its occupant's hostage. The plot centres on the character of Alan Squier; a failed writer looking for a cause. When he happens upon the gas station, he soon notices the tragic 'desert rat', Gabrielle Maple, and it's not long before she's infatuated with his clever observations and mysterious personality. The two share a tangible link, before he decides to leave. But it's not long before he runs into the aforementioned gangster, and the tensions are revved up when they all end up back at the gas station.

The sign behind the bar states that tipping isn't allowed as it's un-American. This idea is rampant throughout the film, and director Archie Mayo makes good use of the capitalist themes. The film works chiefly because its characters are so well defined, and this pays dividends later in the film when their insecurities and motives begin to surface. The film is also a great early showcase for future talent, and although he's not really the star of the film; it isn't surprising that it's Humphrey Bogart's face that adorns the front cover. Bogart is brilliant as the amoral gangster, and his character is brilliantly offset by the likes of Leslie Howard and Bette Davis. Davis would become famous for strong performances in films such as All About Eve and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane, and although her part here doesn't give her that opportunity; she fits into her role well. Leslie Howard gets a little monotonous, but he portrays his character well and delivers a fine lead performance. The desert setting is apt as it conveys the isolation of the situation well and overall this is a perfectly pitched film that makes every aspect work.


I have probably seen this film 10 times in my life, the most recent the DVD version which has some nice extras.

I have been a huge Bogart fan for close to 25 years and this movie defined him right at the start of his second, more mature venture into films. The acting is good all around, although I don't think the football player was that good.

I have to say that I find it interesting seeing the interaction between the black characters; it was very funny and also quite ahead of it's time.

Although some of the references in this film are lost to younger viewers, I still think it has held up well and certainly is worth watching even if you are not a Davis or Bogart fan per se.


Such substance in the movie. Just the dialogue alone keeps you intrigued. The only reason I give this movie a 9 and not a 10 is because Bogies hand position is distracting. He walks like an ape. Even if he is supposedly imitating Dillinger - it's weird to look at. I also enjoyed the married couples side conversations - very comical and a refreshing change from the serious situation with the gangsters. Also loved the relationship between Betty Davis' character and her new love interest- not a sappy love story at all. Very mature feelings on Leslie's character - he is pretty captivating. Deep conversationalist and witty and quick as well.


Is there such a thing as appreciating melodrama while being amused by it? If so, that is what this film does for me. Everything that other users have said about the overacting, wordiness, exaggerated characterizations, etc. is true, but somehow it still works and produces an enjoyable movie.

Bogie is fabulous as always (although he does hold his arms a bit like a primate when he walks), Leslie Howard is playing the watery romantic that Leslie Howard does best, Bette Davis's face actually doesn't frighten me for once (no offense Bette Davis fans, she's a great actress, but I first saw her in "The Nanny" and that is how I will always remember her).

The plot is a little outlandish, but if you don't take it literally (good-for-nothing artist meets waitress and a couple of hours later asks to be shot so that she can take a trip to France) but more figuratively (disillusioned man is willing to sacrifice everything so that someone he loves can fulfill her dreams) it is more poignant. At the literal level the film is entertaining in an almost comedic way (you really don't know what they are going to come out with next) and on a more theoretical level it is a serious drama.


There's no question that Andy Milligan's film work was influenced by Andy Warhol. That doesn't downgrade the late Mr. Milligan at all-- no doubt when he was putting together plays in the 1950s, much of the aesthetic seen in VAPORS and FLESHPOT ON 42nd STREET was already intact. It's as if Warhol influenced the film-making, yet Tennessee Williams influenced the content. I thought Milligan's VAPORS (see my review) was a masterpiece, treating loneliness, desperation, and sexual confusion in a bold and honest way. You don't have to be bisexual or gay to find the humanity and universality in such a film. For me, FLESHPOT is equally fine. If VAPORS was reminiscent of early Warhol, when Andy himself was at the camera, FLESHPOT is reminiscent of the Paul Morrissey era. There's no Joe Dallesandro here, but Milligan was never about "stars" the way Warhol was. This is the story of two people who are sexually confused and sexually frustrated, and find that they have to "hustle" on every level of their existence. They may be in the gutter, but they both have somewhere inside them a spark of romance and dreams of a better life...somehow, somewhere. Neil Flanagan (aka "Lynn" Flanagan) brings a lot of depth to the role of queen Cherry Lane--sweet one moment, bitchy another moment; kind and considerate, but then thoughtless. Flanagan is, of course, familiar to any Milligan fan because of playing GURU in GURU THE MAD MONK. Diana Lewis's other credits seem to be mostly porn, but she makes the role of Dusty uncomfortably real. Everyone has known a few Dustys--the person who moves in with someone and basically provides sexual favors in return for room and board and some occasional pocket money. A number of people have BEEN Dustys at some low period in their lives. She is hard-bitten, cynical, knows how to manipulate the gullible, but she too has a dream of a better life that even the sleazy New York underbelly has not snuffed out. Some people manage to find a way out, or move somewhere else and reinvent themselves successfully, but many do not, and this is their story. The jumpy 16mm photography of Milligan's legendary Auricon camera almost becomes a participant in the film, and makes everything alive and moving, the way it does in real life. There's a lot of attention to dialogue in Milligan's 60s and early 70s work--the man may have been essentially a playwright. When it works well, Milligan's dialogue works as well as some of the later, less symbolic, more explicit Tennessee Williams plays. This being an Andy Milligan film, there are no happy endings, but this film would be phony and insincere if it offered one. FLESHPOT ON 42nd STREET is an honest look at characters living in an urban jungle, a place where if you don't take advantage of the next person you meet, that person will take advantage of you. Milligan does not judge these characters; he finds the humanity within them. This is equal to the best of the Warhol-Morrissey films, and in its own right is an impressive piece of work that seems more accurate and more rich the older I get and the more I've lived. Don't wait three decades for someone to proclaim this a masterpiece and one of the most significant "windows" into the early 70's, and for it to be shown at some film festival alongside TAXI DRIVER--score a copy now.


Andy Milligan receives a lot of harsh criticism as one of the least talented filmmakers ever. If I had only seen his admittedly lousy horror films, I'd definitely agree. However, after reading "The Ghastly One" (one of the best biographies ever) and seeing this, a sexploitation drama he made, I completely bite my tongue. The man made films on budgets H.G. Lewis would find unthinkable and his misanthropic world view comes through loud and clear. Any Milligan film, even at their worst, makes for a compulsive viewing, especially if you are a bit familiar with the man's background. However, "Fleshpot on 42nd Street" is a legitimately good film, in a really scuzzy kind of way. The acting is good, the characters sympathetic, and it has a really unique vibe.

One of the core reasons for the film's success is the central performance from Laura Cannon. Shes sympathetic and comes across as a naive innocent in a depraved world. For someone as notoriously misogynistic as Milligan, its rather odd to see such a likable female character. Harry Reems (who starred in the legendary "Deep Throat" the year before) is also good as the man who offers her an escape from the street life. Milligan's direction is bland, but he makes great use out of location filming. The man's background was in plays and it shows. "Fleshpot on 42nd Street" would've made a great alternative theater production. (8/10)


For all its technical brilliance, not to mention its finely-crafted script, this film is rather stolen by the mesmerizing performance of Joe Powers (aka Richard Towers - known to us all, of course, as Gaylord St. James). It is difficult to pin down quite what makes him such a screen presence, but I do think he is one of the most criminally under-rated actors Hollywood has produced. He just commands the screen with a quiet but charismatic majesty. He has no Oscars - unbelievable.

The rest of the film is a slick, thoughtful meditation on the nature of identity, sexual freedom, and the radical indeterminacy of language. It poses questions about 1970s urban ennui that other films dared not whisper, and its aesthetics - that hazy, kinetic cinematography and beautifully jarring camera-work - put me in mind of a young Godard. But, in the end, Gaylord St. James trumps all this.


To truly appreciate this film you had to be there (acting?) or have been a crew member.

Yes, I am "Selena", and at the ripe old age of 42, have serious doubts about what we were doing/did.

It all started out to be like a "John Waters" type thing, friends acting badly in bad films. Somewhere along the line,the fun discontinued, people who were supposed to be friends didn't speak anymore, and BAD became worse.

I regret the bad image I might have projected.(Try to fit in size one gold spandex pants,)

Other than that, the film SUCKS so badly, I would not even make my mama watch it.

To my director, cast and crew I say,

"Why can't we just all get along??

It's been OVER TWENTY YEARS, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Three young movie theater employees are given the task of re-opening a long closed old-time theater at which many years before a shocking series of grisly murders took place. It seems many more murders have occurred since then but all of this remains unknown to these three young upstart employees hoping to finally make it big on their own. As they approach the grand re-opening night, things keep getting stranger and more unsettling with items suddenly starting to move around by themselves without any seen aid and a terrifying old man seemingly haunting the premises.

Oh, this is truly horrible. In fact, if it wasn't for Mary Woronov's secretary character being such a fiercely independent outspoken empowered young woman who steals practically every scene in which she appears and the incredibly hot chick who played the unbelievably sleazy yet totally sexy Selina, this would be a total loss. The only other good thing I have to say about this film is some of the movie theater murders are done in truly inventive, albeit not overly gory (a preference for me but not necessarily for others), fashion. The rest just wallows in constant sleaze (so extreme the rare few may actually find humor in it) and runs through the predictable slasher kills annoying characters off one after the other routine.


I agree that Mary Woronov (Murdoch's secretary) is one of the only good things about this film. She is my favorite actress ever, every role she plays is always done so well. Her character is sly, sarcastic, clever, light hearted, funny and cunning. She really pulls this role off well and you get a good feel for what her character is all about.

The rest of the movie is pretty bad. The music is the most entertaining thing left. One of the characters has this really strange circular radio that she brings with her while she wears her tight zebra striped tank top.

One thing that was a little intriguing about the story was the idea that someone hires these three college-aged kids to spruce up an old abandoned theater. He gives them the keys and says - go at it. That would be really fun and I wish someone would give me that chance! Imagine going into an old abandoned theater with two other people and you get to decide how to decorate it, and fix it up. You have total control over the whole building. That would be so fun! Unfortunately, the characters do not think of this as an exciting adventure, they think of it as a big chore. They walk around with long faces and fight with each other the whole time. It's kind of a bummer. But it's fun to think about the possibilities that these people aren't even excited about.

The movie does a pretty good job at making you feel helpless or a little spooked out by the theater itself. However, the acting (besides Woronov.. and possibly Murdoch, the boss - just because makes a really good money hungry fake smiley business man who never has any luck) is really horrible and you just end up feeling unsatisfied. Plus, the random slapstick is a little tacky and kind of ruins the reality that the film tries to create.

Watch this if you dig Mary Woronov, funky 80's Casio keyboard style electronic beats and if you think having a giant spooky abandoned theater to yourself is at all intriguing.


The most hardcore bad film buff will be surprised by the overall ineptness of this grade-z "film". Mary Woronov, a clever actress best known for her roles as Mary Bland in Eating Raoul and Miss Togar in Rock 'N' Roll High School, is by far the best thing about this tripe. This film is almost too bad even for MST3K - honestly!


This movie was so dumb and slow was it ever slow. The only good part of the film was the girl in the tight shinny gold pants. There was no gore whatsover and what is a 80's horror movie without a little gore. Plus the killer wasn't at all scary nor were the murders. But if you like to watch the world's worst horror movie then this is for you. Don't waste your time like I did watching this.


A movie theater with a bad history of past gruesome murders reopens. Of course, the bloody killings start anew. Written, directed, shot, scored and edited with an appalling lack of flair and finesse by the singularly talentless Rick Sloane (who later disgraced celluloid some more with the absolutely atrocious "Hobgoblins"), this horrendously ham-fisted attempt at a slasher spoof strikes out something rotten in every conceivable way: the excruciatingly lethargic pacing, the painfully static, grainy cinematography (there's a stinky surplus of drab master shots featured throughout), an annoyingly droning and redundant hum'n'shiver synthesizer score, the flat (non)direction, a tediously talky and uneventful script, the groan-inducing sophomoric sense of lowbrow humor, the bloodless murder set pieces, a pitifully unscary killer (he's just some wrinkled-up old guy in pasty make-up), the uniformly obnoxious and unappealing characters, a dissatisfyingly abrupt ending, and lifeless performances from a noticeably uninspired cast all ensure that watching this schlocky swill is about as fun and rewarding as eating rancid raw eels drenched with sour vinegar. This crud totally lacks the necessary crude charm and sleazy vigor required to be enjoyable junk. Instead it's just a bland, plodding and meandering stiff that never catches fire or becomes even remotely amusing in a so-shoddy-it's-smoking sort of way. Only a smidgen of nudity and the delightful presence of the always dependable Mary Woronov as a snarky, sardonic secretary provide a little relief from the overall crumminess of this lousy loser.


Dean and Sam go to Hibbing, Minnesota, to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a local. Once there, they realize that there are many missing persons in the place. When Sam vanishes in a parking area, Dean asks for help to Officer Kathleen (Jessica Steen), whose brother also disappear a couple of years ago. Dean and the sheriff disclose that Sam was abducted by a family of deranged hillbillies that hunt human beings.

"The Bender" is the scariest episode of this series up to this moment. In this tense story, the Winchester brothers do not face demons, ghost or fiends, but sick human beings worse than their usual enemies. I liked the open scene when Kathleen kills the father of the Benders; it is not explicit, and each viewer is allowed to have his or her own interpretation. In my point of view, justice worked through the hands of the female sheriff. My vote is ten.

Title (Brazil): "A Família Bender" ("The Bender Family")


Good episode for the simple fact there are no monsters in this one. Well,actually there are but they are human ones, which makes this one of the most scary in the series.

Vampires, zombies, demons and other assorted types of their ilk may make for interesting viewing, but we know in our heart of hearts that they are not lurking around the corner for us. Whereas with human killers, that is not the case. The brothers enter a missing people scenario thinking it the work of the type of creatures they hunt. Only to find it is all too human and with the aid of a almost friendly female sheriff, they discover the depths of evil that people can sink to.

A good 'Deliverance' type plot on dry land and a satisfying conclusion make this an excellent addition to the ongoing series.


One of the first shows where the brothers go against humans instead of the supernatural. Benders storyline was too condensed for a one hour show; a possible second part could have been warranted. The writers could have given more character development of the deranged farm family. The motive or build up of the family could create great story tension. Benders is a homage of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and other similar films such as Wrong Turn. Every time the viewer sees the chilling farmhouse, he or she can remember a similar movie/story with the vacant and lonely rural house. Dean and Sam show the brother's bond growing stronger with Dean going out on a limb to save his brother Sam. In the end the female officer lets the brothers disappear to carry on with their important mission.


Great great episode, i wondered when are they gonna make a tribute to movies like 'Wrong Turn' and 'Hills Have Eyes', and they really delivered it with 'The Benders'.

I had no clue that this episode will be the one about deranged sick family who hunts people for sport, because its title 'The Benders' would suggest that it's about some supernatural beings who can maybe change their look, like shape-shifters or something like that.

Anyway the episode is very well directed, aided by very good acting performances, specially from Dean and female cop who helps him find his lost brother who was kidnapped by the members of this sick family.

Episode also tries to tell us that you don't need supernatural stuff and monsters to make a scary TV show episode or a movie, humans will do just fine !

9/10


This is the first episode where Sam & Dean face human villains instead of supernatural monsters. Adapting urban legends is a trademark of the show, and I'm not really sure that this particular tale has a name, but it's still familiar. A family of backwoods crazies kidnap and hunt unsuspecting victims for sport. Anyway, this is a good episode, with a lot of character development between the brothers. Last episode, "Nightmare," made clear to both brothers that Sam's visions are getting worse. For Dean, this knocked his protect instincts towards his little brother into overdrive. And for Sam, it drove him emotionally closer to Dean, who's always been his protector. That bond is shown in "The Benders," as the brothers are separated and end up having to save each other. Basically, if you're watching on DVD, you really shouldn't skip this episode.

"The Benders" revolves around Sam being kidnapped by a creepy family, who hunts humans for fun. Dean & Sam have come to town to investigate some unexplained disappearances. Unfortunately, Sam wanders outside alone and is abducted. Poor Sam is soon locked up in a cage on an isolated farm, with another kidnapped man. The crazy family holding them, murders Sam's cell mate and have similar plans for Sammy. Meanwhile, Dean is frantic to find his little brother. So frantic that he actually goes to the police for help, for once. Since he's still wanted for murder (Thanks to that shape-shifter in "Skin" killing those people and wearing Dean's face) Dean lies to a local police officer named Kathleen, telling her that he's from the state police. He convinces her to help him look for Sam. A video camera of the parking lot that Sam disappeared from gives them a clue and soon the two of them are hot on Sam's trail.

It turns out that Kathleen's brother was also kidnapped and killed by the crazy family years before. Kathleen is soon abducted by them, too, and Dean has to sneak onto the farm and try to save the day. He is incredibly relieved to find Sammy alive, but he can't get the cages open without a key. Dean is also sort of repulsed by the idea that humans are behind the disappearances. ("Demons I get. People are just crazy.") As he tries to find the key, he is captured, too. The family says that they will kill Sam, Dean, & Kathleen. But Sam gets out of the cage and saves Dean. Kathleen kills the father of the murdering family. Then she tells Sam & Dean to get out of town before the police show up and start asking questions. Sam & Dean start off down the road together again. Dean mutters that the next time Sam gets into trouble, Dean's not gonna come looking to find him. "Yeah, you will." Sam replies.

There are some good parts to this episode. I have to laugh when Dean tries to explain why he looks nothing like the real police officer, whose identity he's stolen. He looks at the photo of the large, African American man who he was pretending to be and sort of winces, "Well, I've lost a lot of weight. And I have that Michael Jackson skin disease thing." It makes me smile. I really enjoy Dean when he's all over protective of Sammy. They have such a cute relationship. Dean can go from making fun of Sam's love of the remake of "Godzilla," to begging Kathleen for help because Sam's been his responsibility ever since the fire in Lawrence, to threatening to kill the entire crazy if the touch his brother. Dean's just so cute. And I like Sam in this episode, since it's really Sammy who gets out of the cage. He's pretty clever. And I think it's cool that Kathleen takes revenge for her brother by shooting the creepy father guy.

Really there's a lot of people attacking others because they pose a threat to their family in this episode. Dean threatens the crazy family for Sam, the creepy father threatens Kathleen for his family, and Kathleen kills the father because he murdered her brother. It's interesting. Finally, I like Dean's conversation with the creepy family while he's tied to the chair. He's still not willing to back down from being a smart-ass. "Oh, eat me. Wait, no, I forgot, you actually might." But at the same time he's worried about what they might do to Sam. When they tell him to choose which person they'll hunt next, Sam or Kathleen, Dean hesitates. You can see him trying to figure out which option will give Sam the best chance of survival. When the family finally decided to kill both Sam and Kathleen, Dean's rage is actually sort of scary.

On the downside, there's something wrong with the way Dean gets out of those handcuffs. Kathleen cuffs him to the car door, and then Dean picks the lock of the cuff around his wrist. But, the crazy family is already coming down the road, as he works on it. Next we see that Dean has escaped and that the handcuffs are gone. But, unless Dean took the time to also pick the lock on the handcuff side that was still attached to the cars door, it just doesn't seem to make sense.

My favorite part of the episode: Dean describing himself to Kathleen, while pretending to be a policeman. "Yeah, Dean. He was kind of the black sheep of the family... Handsome, though." It just makes me laugh every time.


Among it's coverage of plot lines that die hard horror fans are sure to acknowledge from the genres glory days and just wholeheartedly enjoy, plain and simple, I couldn't help but feel it was about time for "Supernatural" to focus on some psychotic rednecks! It ain't supernaturally themed! Well done, I found it to be, non-the-less. Sam vanishes from a biker bar parking lot, to Dean's dismay and, with the help of a potentially friendly female police officer, he attempts to track down his brother. Turns out, a family of deranged in-breeders, residing in the deep backwoods of Minnesota, are kidnapping people and releasing them into the wild in order to hunt them for sport... With the use of some crafty lies, Dean manages to coax the cop into accompanying him to his brother's rescue, though not without difficulty... Like many horror fans, I have an appreciation for killer hill-billies and "The Benders" pulls off a pretty standard-style of the sub-genre, yet it is interesting to see these two dynamic characters involved in this particular setting. Actually, the evil family is menacing and extremely sinister - after Dean infiltrates their homestead, they beat him and burn him with a red-hot fire-poker. Sam is kept in an intricately locked cage along with another victim who isn't so lucky in the long run... So far, not the BEST episode in the series (my current favorites being "Asylum" and "Skin") though it is pretty much right up there with them. For the record, it doesn't rank as awesome as the controversial "X Files" episode about psycho in-breeders, but it comes close!