The Five Biggest Stars of the 1940s

After previously listing our picks for the Five Biggest Stars of the 1950s and the Five Biggest Stars of the 1960s, we turn our attention to the 1940s. The major Hollywood studios were still at their peak, though Olivia de Havilland's 1944 legal victory against Warner Bros. planted the seeds of change. World War II made a major impact, too, as some of cinema's biggest stars joined the Armed Forces.  As with our other Biggest Stars posts, our criteria focused on boxoffice power, critical acclaim, and enduring popularity.

1. Humphrey Bogart - High Sierra cemented Bogart's stardom in 1941 and he followed it with one of the most successful decades of any actor. His filmography for the 1940s includes: The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), To Have and Have Not (1944), The Big Sleep (1946), Dark Passage (1947), and Key Largo (1949). Note that this list includes Bogie's two most iconic roles, as Sam Spade in The Maltese Falcon and Rick Blaine in Casablanca.

2. Olivia de Havilland - Ms. de Havilland started the decade with her final two pairings with Errol Flynn (Santa Fe Trail and They Died With Their Boots) and ended it with Best Actress Oscars in 1947 (To Each His Own) and 1949 (The Heiress--likely her most popular role among classic film fans). In between, she earned critical acclaim for films like Devotion (1946) and The Snake Pit (1948).

3. Cary Grant - Cary was an established star at the start of the decade and maintained that status with a string of popular films: The Philadelphia Story (1940), My Favorite Wife (1940), Suspicion (1941), Notorious (1946), and The Bishop's Wife (1947). His career would continue to thrive in the 1950s as well.

4. John Wayne - The Duke's most significant contribution to the decade may have been his Cavalry Trilogy with director John Ford: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, and Rio Grande. But he also scored other critical successes (Red River) and boxoffice hits (Sands of Iwo Jima). It's interesting to note that neither Wayne nor Grant served in the Armed Forces during World War II. (Bogart had a stint in the Navy at the end of World War I.)

5. Bette Davis - Although she was perhaps a bigger star during the previous decade, Bette Davis still forged a glittering career in the 1940s with films such as The Letter (1940), The Little Foxes (1941), Now, Voyager (1942), and The Corn Is Green (1945).

Honorable Mentions:  Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, and Bob Hope.

The African Queen Rides Into Adventure with Bogart and Hepburn

Guest blogger Chris Cummins from MovieFanFare pays tribute to a Bogey-Hepburn classic:

Released on December 23, 1951, The African Queen (based on the C.S. Forester novel of the same name) is a cinematic masterpiece that is highlighted by unforgettable lead performances from Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. Directed by John Huston, this classic blend of drama, action, and romance stars Humphrey Bogart (who won his only Oscar for this role) as a hard-drinking boat captain who takes aboard prim British missionary Katharine Hepburn in WWI-era Africa. Determined to travel down a treacherous river to sink a German gunboat, the unlikely couple is drawn together as they set their seemingly impossible plan in motion. 

The African Queen features romantic tension, a supporting cast that includes Robert Morley and Theodore Bikel, and a stunning third act. It regularly makes top ten lists of the best films from the Golden Age of Hollywood. We’ve included the film’s original theatrical trailer below. If you’ve somehow missed seeing this film event over the years, we encourage you taking a voyage aboard The African Queen. It’s a trip that is always worth taking.

See What Bogart Sees in "Dark Passage"

Bogart--after we finally see his face.

As regular Cafe readers know, I'm a big fan of writer-director Delmer Daves. My definition of "filmmaker" is one who both writes and directs a film. Frankly, it always irks me when a director--who shoots another person's script--uses the credit "A John Smith Film." Daves wrote or co-wrote almost all of the thirty movies he directed. Ironically, one of the few that he didn't author was To the Victor (1948), which was penned by Richard Brooks--who later became another acclaimed writer-director.

Parry escapes in a barrel; one of the
few opening shots not in first-person.

This lengthy introduction brings us is to one of Daves' best directed films, the 1947 film noir Dark Passage. It opens mid-plot with convict Vincent Parry (Humphrey Bogart) having just escaped from San Quentin prison. Parry eludes the police by hitching a ride with an inquisitive man who quickly figures out the identity of his passenger. When the driver unwisely stops the car, Parry beats the man unconscious and drags the body from the car to hide it. He is spotted by an attractive young woman (Lauren Bacall), who recognizes Parry instantly--and then offers to provide him with safe passage to San Francisco. The perplexed Parry agrees.

Lauren Bacall as Irene.

The escaped convict's mysterious benefactor, Irene Jansen, lets him stay in her luxurious hilltop apartment, buys him new clothes, and gives him $1000. We later learn that she attended his trial everyday (he was accused of killing his wife) and wrote a letter to the newspaper proclaiming his innocence. Is Irene's interest driven solely by the fact that her father was once wrongly accused, too? Has she somehow developed legitimate feelings for Parry? Or does she have an ulterior motive for helping him?

One of the film's few flaws is that its plot, based on David Goodis' novel, depends on a series of happenstances. Irene happens to be driving by when Parry escapes from prison. She happens to be a friend of Madge (Agnes Moorehead) who knew Parry and his wife. A police detective happens to be in the same cafe where Parry stops for breakfast. And the cab driver conveniently knows an unlicensed plastic surgeon that performs operations at 3 a.m. Still, Daves unwinds the plot slowly, so that its unlikely connections somehow seem more believable. 

Bogart in bandages.

Daves' greatest contribution, though, is his direction--and his brilliant idea to show the first hour through Parry's eyes. A key plot element--Perry's decision to change his looks through surgery--left Daves with few options. Bogart could have played the pre-surgery scenes in make-up to look different. With his distinctive facial features, I can't imagine that working. Daves' other option was to have another actor play Parry and dub Bogart's voice (or have Parry "change" his voice, too). Either of those choices would have been ridiculous. So, there's a clever practicality to Daves' approach.

From a literary standpoint, the first-person perspective limits us to experience only what Parry sees and hears. We harbor the same suspicions about Irene's extreme generosity, even while the camera lingers on her face (Lauren Bacall has never looked lovelier). We also "hear" Parry's thoughts, so we know things that could be conveyed no other way (e.g., that he is undoubtedly innocent of murdering his wife). Other directors have used the first-person perspective to great effect in individual scenes, such as Rouben Mamoulian in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And, of course, Robert Montgomery famously shot all of The Lady in the Lake (1947) in first-person (though it eventually comes off as a mere gimmick). However, I can think of no director that employed it to greater effect than Delmer Daves in Dark Passage.

Stevenson as the plastic surgeon.

Although the entire cast is first-rate, the supporting players (many of whom I was unfamiliar with) deserve to be highlighted. Journeyman actor Tom D'Andrea has a terrific extended conversation with Bogart in a taxi cab, the latter's face hidden in shadows. As the craggy plastic surgeon, Houseley Stevenson does nothing to initially instill confidence (he confides to Parry: "I perfected my own special technique twelve years ago before I was kicked out of the medical profession."). Finally, there's Rory Mallinson, who hits all the right notes as Parry's none-too-bright, trumpet-playing friend. One could also argue that the city of San Francisco plays a supporting roles as well, as Daves' camera lovingly captures its architecture and streets.

Surprisingly, Dark Passage was not a hit for its two stars. Allegedly, Jack Warner was displeased with it because Bogart's face wasn't shown until an hour into the 106-minute film. Yet, that very "limitation" has contributed significantly to its reputation, Indeed, Dark Passage has aged well and taken its place as one of the finest film noirs and a testament to Delmer Daves' innovative qualities as a filmmaker.

Bogie on Blu-ray

Tomorrow, Oct. 5th, Warner Bros. will release on Blu-ray two classics starring Humphrey Bogart, The Maltese Falcon (1941) and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). This will be the Blu-ray debut for both films.

The Maltese Falcon was writer/director John Huston’s directorial debut. It was an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett and had already been brought to the big screen before, in 1931 and again in 1936 as Satan Met a Lady starring Bette Davis. Huston’s film was nominated for three Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Sydney Greenstreet), and Best Adapted Screenplay, but was awarded none.

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre was also written and directed by John Huston, adapted from B. Traven’s novel of the same name. The film won three Academy Awards, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor (Walter Huston, director Huston’s father), and was additionally nominated for Best Picture.

Bogart may have not been recognized by the Academy for either performance, but they are undoubtedly two of his best and make for a splendid double feature. The Blu-ray presentation for both films is outstanding. Skeptics, take note: the high definition transfer is not a glossy, superficial manipulation of the images. Instead, the movies are crisp and free of scratches, like they have simply been polished, and complete with strong, beautiful sound quality.

Each Blu-ray release comes loaded with special features. There are features on both films, as well as an audio commentary by biographer Eric Lax, who is thorough and highly informative. An hour-long radio broadcast of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre with Bogart and Walter Huston is featured on the Blu-ray, with two shorter radio shows of The Maltese Falcon (starring the film’s original cast) and a third one with Edward G. Robinson. There are also various shorts, cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny and one with Porky Pig, newsreels, and trailers (including one for Satan Met a Lady).

Standout features include a profile on John Huston on the Sierra Madre Blu-ray and Becoming Attractions: The Trailers of Humphrey Bogart on the Falcon disc, a TCM special hosted by Robert Osborne. My personal favorite of all the features is Breakdowns of 1941, which is essentially a collection of outtakes featuring James Stewart, Gary Cooper, Bette Davis, and Bogart in a couple of bloopers. James Cagney appears in the majority of the outtakes, from the 1940 film, Torrid Zone, and his outtakes, primarily with frequent co-star Pat O’Brien, are hilarious.

The special features vary in quality, and some of them have been included in previous DVD releases, but they are essential additions for Bogie enthusiasts. Many of Bogie’s fans may already own a copy of The Maltese Falcon or The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, but if one is looking to upgrade or is a Bogart completist, these Blu-rays will make wonderful enhancements to a Bogie collection.

For discussions on both films, see The Maltese Falcon and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.

The Dark Mystery of the Maltese Falcon

Considered by many as the first Hollywood film noir, The Maltese Falcon (1941) was John Huston’s directorial debut. What a way for a director to emerge out of the shadows!

Besides directing one of the best detective films ever, Huston also wrote the Oscar nominated screenplay, which was adapted from the 1929 Dashiell Hammett novel of the same name. Nominated for Best Picture, the film stars Humphrey Bogart as immortal detective Sam Spade. Bogart and Huston worked well together and made four more legendary films together: Key Largo, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, and Beat the Devil.

Set in San Francisco, the film quickly introduces us to detective Sam Spade (Bogart) when his secretary, Effie (Lee Patrick), announces a new client, Miss Wonderly (Mary Astor). For those of you who have seen the entrance Astor makes, take a moment and imagine Geraldine Fitzgerald (Ann from Dark Victory) making that same entrance. No, it doesn’t work for me, either. Yet, Fitzgerald was originally cast as Ruth. Thankfully fate stepped in and allowed Astor to play her greatest role ever. Ruth has come to the Spade and Archer (Jerome Cowan) detective agency to find her missing sister, who has run away with a shady (and according to Miss Wonderly, violent) dark-haired and bushy eyebrowed character named Thursby. Asher agrees to follow her to her meeting with Thursby at the St. Mark Hotel. Big mistake. Soon Archer is looking down the barrel of a gun and is gunned down in cold blood. The fact that we don’t see the face of the assailant is a typical film noir device and sets up one dynamite ending.

Another classic film noir element is displayed when Spade goes to the scene of the crime: a shadowy deserted alley with one streetlight. After Spade is informed by Sergeant Polhaus (Ward Bond) that Archer must have known his killer because his gun was still holstered, he calls Miss Wonderly’s hotel and learns that she has checked out. The next morning he awakens to accusations from the police and the news that Thursby has also been murdered.

But wait, they aren’t the only ones who suspect Spade may be a killer. Archer’s wife Iva (Gladys George) thinks Spade killed her husband so they could be together (they were having an affair). As Iva sniffles on, Miss Wonderly calls to let Spade know she’s moved to the Coronet Apartments under an assumed named: Miss Leblanc,

He arrives at the Coronet to learn from Ruth that she lied about her real name (it’s actually Brigid O’Shaughnessy) and that she hasn’t been forthcoming about Thursby. It would seem that she met him in the “Orient” and hired him to protect her. She lays it on thick and convinces (with the aid of money) Spade not to tell the police about her. He agrees, but he knows there’s more to the story.

Back at the agency, Spade meets Joel Cairo (Peter Lorre), a gay man who at first offers Spade $5000 to find a statue of a black bird but then pulls a gun on him. Now, this film was made in 1941, so it is surprising that Lorre was allowed to play his character so stereotypically gay. Anyway, after being knocked out by Spade, Cairo hires him to help find the black bird.

Later, Spade returns to the Coronet and finds Brigid in the sharing mood: she’s really a bad girl dressed up in a helpless woman’s body. No, you don’t say? Spade informs her of Cairo’s offer and she offers him more than money. This is followed by a rather brutal kiss by Spade and a demand that she start being honest. She does this by agreeing to meet Cairo.

At this meeting we are introduced to a new character’s name: the Fat Man. We also learn that Brigid and Cairo hate each other—this shows a whole new, nasty side of Brigid. After being slapped rather hard by Brigid, Cairo pulls out his gun, only to be disarmed yet again by Spade—and for good measure Spade slaps him three more times and utters the classic line, “When you’re slapped, you’ll take it and like it.” Meanwhile, Brigid gets her well-manicured hands on Cairo’s gun just as the police arrive to question Spade about his affair with Iva. This allows Cairo to escape and for Spade to press Brigid about how she became involved with Cairo. A story of double-crosses ensues. Not deterred by this woman who admits she’s always been a liar, Spade spends the night with her.

The next day Spade goes to Cairo’s hotel and notices the man whose been tailing him (Wilmer, played by Elisha Cook, Jr.). Deducing that he works for the Fat Man, Spade tells him to tell his boss that he’s looking for him. This must have worked because when he returns to the agency he has a message from Mr. Gutman, a.k.a the Fat Man. He also learns from Brigid that someone has ransacked her apartment (Cairo).

Later, Spade goes to Gutman’s hotel, where he is greeted at the door by Wilmer. When he finally meets Gutman, it is easy to see why he’s called the Fat Man—or Gutman for that matter. All 300 lbs. of Sidney Greenstreet earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his portrayal of this strangely polite but menacing man. Spade doesn’t learn much from this meeting, but he learns that the black bird is extremely valuable.

After being harassed by the police yet again, Spade is once again picked up on the street by a gun-wielding Wilmer. After disarming the poor sap, Spade fully embarrasses him in front of Gutman. Appreciative of Spade’s manner, Gutman finally reveals the long (and I mean long) history of the Maltese Falcon (the black bird) and the fact that he’s been obsessed with having it for 17 years. He offers Spade $50,000 to bring it to him. Ah, but it is only a ruse to allow the drugs in Spade’s drink to take effect. With Spade passed out on the floor, Gutman, Cairo and Wilmer head off to find the bird themselves. When Spade wakes up he finds a newspaper clipping about a boat coming in from Hong Kong and surmises this must be where Gutman is headed. When he arrives at the docks he finds the boat ablaze.

Back at the agency, Spade is shocked when a fatally injured man (Captain Jacobi played by Huston’s father Walter Huston) stumbles into his office and delivers the falcon to him. Soon thereafter Brigid calls to tell Spade where she’s at, only to scream at the end of the call. First he stows the falcon at a bus terminal, then he goes in search of Brigid. When he arrives he finds an empty lot and the bells finally chime as to the fact that Brigid is indeed a liar. Yet, when he finds her hiding in a doorway near his apartment he still takes her into his apartment, where he finds Wilmer, Cairo, and Gutman waiting for him when he turns on the lights. And so the scene is set for one of the greatest endings in film history.

After informing the crew that he has the falcon, he demands that they come up with a fall guy for the murders. He suggests Wilmer, but Gutman refuses (evidently the term gunsel, which is used by Spade to describe Wilmer, was a homosexual term for a young man kept by an older one that morphed into a term for a gangster) at first but then gives into the demand. Then the whole sordid mess is revealed: Brigid had given the falcon to Captain Jacobi in Hong Kong, knowing it would follow her there later, and returned to San Francisco with her partner Thursby. Gutman had Wilmer kill Thursby to get Brigid to work with him. When they saw the newspaper notice about the boat they met Brigid and Jacobi there and she agreed to work with them, but she double crossed them and had Jacobi (who was shot by Wilmer) deliver the falcon to Spade. The reason for the cryptic phone call: they wanted to get him out of the office before Jacobi arrived but the phone call came too late.

With the loose ends tied up and $10,000 in his hands, Spade has Effie bring the falcon to his apartment, where it is revealed that it is a fake! At first all hell breaks lose and there are many tears and recriminations, but then Gutman composes himself and demands his $10,000 back from Spade and he and Cairo leave. Spade calls the police to alert them to this fact, so they can pick them up. Using this as leverage against Brigid, Spade demands that she tell him the truth about Archer before the police arrive. Evidently she hired Archer so she could tell Thursby he was being followed, which would cause him to confront Archer and perhaps kill him, which would allow her to be rid of him before the falcon arrived. But Thursby didn’t do this, so she had to take matters into her own hands and so she killed Archer in order to pin it on Thursby. The truth revealed, Brigid declares her love for Spade and begs him not to turn her in. Ah, I might love you baby, but I can’t trust you, so you’re going down—basically Spade’s answer to her plea. In the closing scene, the most overt example of film noir technique, Brigid is led into the elevator by the police and when the steel cage is pulled down in front of her it casts jail bar shapes across her face. Oh, the look on that lovely face! In the word of MasterCard: priceless.

This was actually the third film version of Hammett’s classic novel. Ricardo Cortez played Sam Spade in the 1931 version and Warren William played him in Satan Met a Lady (1936). I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that this film has so many connections to Bette Davis it’s hard to keep track. In one scene in this film we see a film marquee for The Great Lie, which starred Davis and Mary Astor (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role). This ties into the fact that Davis played the femme fatale in Satan Met a Lady.

In regards to film noir elements, the film is not overwhelmingly dark and there isn’t an overabundance of shadows. Yet, the core principles of an anti-hero who follows a code of honor (his own) who reaches into the underworld and deals with all sorts of unseemly characters and situations is at the core of this story. That Spade emerges in the end as a jaded but somewhat still respectable character is classic film noir. In addition, you have Mary Astor playing the epitome of the femme fatale (perhaps only surpassed by Stanwyck in Double Indemnity) and Lorre and Greenstreet as some of the most colorful and outrageous criminals ever imagined.

They Sold Their Souls for: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) is John Huston's film version of B. Traven's 1927 novel of the same name. The identity of B. Traven was unknown at the time. Some believe that he was Jack London, living in Mexico, after faking his own death. He really was a ex-patriot German named Rex Marut. When John Huston went down to Mexico to film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, he met with Hal Croves, Traven's represetative. As he talked with Croves, Huston began to believe that he was really talking to B. Traven himself. Years later, Huston found out that Hal Groves was another alias for Ret Marut, a.k.a. B. Traven. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre's ,cast consists of: Humphrey Bogart, Tim Holt and Walter Huston, (the director's father). It was one of the first Hollywood films to be filmed almost entirely on location outside the United States (in the state of Durango and street scenes in Tampico, Mexico).

Dobbs and Curtin are both victims of a swindle in which workers are hired, but not paid by a corrupt businessman. They spend their evenings listening to the stories of Howard, an old gold prospector. When Dobbs wins the lottery, they hook up with Howard and the three friends set out for adventure and to strike it rich in the Sierra Madre mountains. Once out in the desert, Howard quickly proves that he knows what he is talking about and he is the one to discover the gold. Greed soon sets in and Dobbs becomes paranoid that he will be killed by his partners. In one of my favorite scenes, Curtin sees a Gila monster run under a rock and goes to lift the rock to shoot it, but when Dobbs sees Curtin looking in his hiding place, he believes his goods are being stolen.

Soon, a fourth American shows up. Before they can decide what to do with the new stranger, bandits appear, pretending to be Federales. This is where Gold Hat says: "Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges. I don't have to show you any stinking badges." After a gunfight, the fourth American is killed and a real troop of Federales show up just in time. Howard is called away to help a young boy in the village. Dobbs and Curtin have a argument and Dobbs leaves Curtin laying shot and believed to be dead. What will happen to these three friends and their treasure?

What I loved most about this classic adventure story is it showed how lack of trust and greed, can sometimes turn your plans into nothing but.. dust in the wind .. I also love director cameos: John Huston is the man who Dobbs begs money from early in the film.