Tag: ida lupino

The Top Five Film Noirs Starring Humphrey Bogart

I meant to write and post this back during Noirvember, but I got distracted, and then I forgot.

Humphrey Bogart is my favorite actor. He made some incredible films in his storied career (including my all-time favorite, Casablanca), and more than a few of them were film noirs. More than just about any actor of the classic period, his name is (arguably) the one most associated with noir. So I thought it would be fun to do a Top Five favorite noirs starring Bogart.

high sierra movie poster

5.  High Sierra (1941)

Bogart wasn’t always the big star we know him as today. He spent the better part of a decade as a supporting player, often billed as a gangster or heavy. High Sierra changed that. He was lucky to get that role, as both Paul Muni and George Raft had been offered it first, and director Raoul Walsh didn’t think he was leading man material.  But writer John Huston thought Bogart was perfect for the role, and eventually Walsh relented. Huston would, that very same year, cast Bogart in his film The Maltese Falcon (more on that in a minute).

With this film he hasn’t quite left the gangster mold; he plays Roy Earle, a guy who’s just gotten out of prison and is already set for his next score. He’s holed up in a cabin in the mountains with three other guys and a girl, just waiting for the right time to rob a ritzy hotel. The girl (played by the always great Ida Lupino) will lead to trouble. Bogart is still perfecting his world-weary, cynical, but ultimately sentimental character, but he’s still terrific as Earle.  Lupino is great too, and Walsh’s direction is quite wonderful. 

the maltese falcon poster

4. The Maltese Falcon (1941)

If High Sierra made Bogart a star, then The Maltese Falcon solidified it. Based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett, this film is often considered the first truly great film noir. Bogart plays Sam Spade, a tough, cynical private eye who is hired by a woman (Mary Astor) who may not be who she claims to be and may not actually want what she claims to want. 

What she really wants is the titular object, which is a mythical, jewel-crusted statue of a bird that was supposedly gifted to the Holy Roman Emperor hundreds of years ago but has been lost to time. While trying to find the bird, Spade will run across a number of eclectic and strange people, including ones played by Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. 

The plot is complicated, the cast is perfect, and John Huston’s direction (it was his directorial debut) is fantastic.

in a lonely plac eposter

3. In a Lonely Place (1950)

This is probably the least noirish film on the list and quite possibly Bogart’s best performance. Based on the excellent novel by Dorothy B. Hughes, Bogart plays a troubled screenwriter with a penchant for violence who hasn’t written a hit movie in years. One night he takes a girl home with him, then changes his mind and kicks her out.  The next morning she finds herself dead, and he finds himself a suspect. Through this he’ll meet his neighbor Laura (a magnificent Gloria Grahame), and they’ll fall in love, but she’ll never quite be sure he didn’t kill that girl.

Bogart’s performance is heartbreaking. The script is full of great lines like, “I was born when she kissed me, I died when she left me, and I lived a few weeks while she loved me.” Just a magnificent movie.

key largo poster

02. Key Largo (1948)

Bogart and Lauren Bacall met on the set of To Have and Have Not (1944) and fell in love and stayed together until he died in 1957. They made four films together (three of them are absolute bangers, and the fourth one isn’t bad – one of the others almost made it to this list, and the other is #1).

Directed by John Huston (his second film on this list), Key Largo includes an incredible cast (including Thomas Gomez, Lionel Barrymore, and Edward G. Robinson).  Bogart plays Frank McCloud, a former soldier who stops by Key Largo to visit with his dead comrade’s father (Barrymore) and widow (Bacall) but gets stuck when a hurricane rolls in. Also stuck with them are a few gangsters awaiting a car full of cash that they’ll trade for counterfeit bills.  

The hurricane and the gangsters make for a pot of dangerous soup that’s ready to boil. This boasts a classic Bogart performance. He’s smart and tough, witty and sensitive. He and Bacall work magic together, and Barrymore is great as the father who doesn’t take any crap. But it is Robinson who steals the show. He gets one of the all-time great introductory scenes and remains awesome throughout.

the big sleep poster

01. The Big Sleep (1946)

I think this was the first film noir I ever watched. Based on the fantastic book by Raymond Chandler, Bogart plays Phillip Marlowe, a private eye hired by an old man over some blackmail scheme involving his youngest daughter (Martha Vickers in a small but oh-so-memorable role). Quickly things turn complicated, convoluted, and murderous (director Howard Hawks famously phoned Raymond Chandler over who killed a certain chauffeur, and Chandler didn’t actually know the answer). But the plot isn’t really the point. 

The Big Sleep is all about its mood, its characters, and the way it makes you feel. Bacall is the older daughter and potential love interest. It is a blast watching her flirt with Bogart and become the femme fatale. Everyone flirts with Bogart in this movie. The two sisters, the cab driver, the bookstore clerk—hell, I’d flirt with him if I were in this movie. It is the perfect noir and an absolute blast to watch.

Well, there you have it, my favorite Humphrey Bogart film noirs. Do you have a favorite? Do you disagree with my picks? Honestly, if I wrote this tomorrow I’d probably have different picks. But this was fun.  I’ll try to do more of these when I can.

The Hard Way (1943) Blu-ray Review

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You should never say no to Ida Lupino. I first discovered her playing a blind woman in On Dangerous Ground. It was a small role, but memorable. Soon after I learned what an incredible woman she was. She entered Hollywood at an early age, but was constantly getting in trouble for refusing roles she felt was beneath her.

As her star rose she formed her own production company and started directing her own films. She was only the second woman entered into the Director’s Guild of Hollywood. Like I say, I always watch her in anything I can get my hands on.

She stars with Joan Leslie in The Hard Way, a film that reminded me a lot of All About Eve. She plays a woman who pushes her sister into the life of an actress. Initially this is to get her out of the poor town poverty they grew up in, but that morphs into untethered ambition that destroys everything in its path.

I didn’t love the film, but I do think it is worth watching. You can read my full review here.

The First Movie of 2025: Anything Goes (1936)

anything goes poster

For the last several years I’ve made a big deal out of the first movie I watch in the new year. In my mind that first movie sets the stage for all the movies I will watch for the rest of the year. In some ways, it feels like it sets the stage for my entire life for the next 365 days.

It has become such a big deal in my mind that I spent a good 40 minutes this morning trying to decide what movie I should watch. A Hitchcock film seemed like a good idea but I’ve got a plan for Hitchcock this year and that may spoil it. Ditto Martin Scorsese.

I could watch a new to me movie but what if I didn’t like it? Would that spoil the rest of the year for me? I could watch an old favorite but would that mean I’ll just be recycling everything this year, that I won’t experience the pleasure of new things?

It got to the point of ridiculousness (and it is a pretty ridiculous thing to begin with). My ever-patient wife sat and watched me as I scrolled through app after app looking for something. When I scrolled past Anything Goes she made a little exclamation and that was enough for me.

As soon as I started it I felt a tinge of regret. Not because the movie was immediately bad or anything, but I was worried I might not like it and I’d just ruined my year.

Yeah, I’m an idiot.

The movie is a delight.

The film is based on a Broadway musical from 1934 with a book by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse and music from Cole Porter. It is where the classic standards “Anything Goes,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” and “You’re the Top” come from.

When I was in 9th grade my high school put on a production of the show. It might have been the first musical I ever watched. I don’t remember much about it but I do remember liking it. I’ve not seen any production since.

Made just two years after the Broadway debut this film is the first time the musical was turned into a movie, but it has been adapted several times since.

It mostly takes place on a cruise liner and consists of multiple mistaken identities. Bing Crosby plays Billy Crocker a man seeing his boss off on the cruise. He is not supposed to stay on the boat, but rather go back to the office and run things while the boss is away. But then he meets Hope Harcourt (a blonde Ida Lupino) who is beautiful and seems to be in a spot of trouble, so he stays.

He befriends a gangster who is posing as the Rev. Dr. Moon (Charles Ruggles), and this somehow causes the cops to think that Billy is the #1 most wanted gangster in America. Also on the boat is Reno Sweeney (Ethel Merman) a friend of Billy who is madly in love with him simply because he never made a pass at her.

A whole lot of silliness (and quite a bit of singing) ensues.

I was reading some contemporary reviews and they mostly panned the film which surprised me. As far as I can tell this seems to come from critics who loved the Broadway show and were upset over the changes, especially how the film used different actors than the musical. Surprisingly there were a lot of complaints about Bing Crosby. I guess his style of crooning didn’t fit this type of musical comedy. Or something.

I quite liked him. Admittedly this version of “You’re the Top” didn’t quite work, but everything else was aces.

I hope this bodes well for the rest of 2025. If not, it was still a great way to start my year in movies.

They Drive By Night (1940)

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Humphrey Bogart is my all-time favorite actor. He was one of the biggest stars of Hollywood’s golden age. But he didn’t start out that way. He actually languished for over a decade before becoming a star. He spent most of that time being billed third or fourth in gangster pictures. They Drive By Night helped push him into the spotlight. It was not a gangster picture, and while he was still third-billed the movie was a big hit and it showed off his range. A year later he’d star in The Maltese Falcon and the rest is history.

George Raft is the star of the picture. And Ida Lupino. The film is a mix between a social message movie and film noir. It’s pretty good.

You can read my full review here.

Film Noir: The Dark Side of Cinema XIX

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I’ve reviewed a bunch of these film noir sets from Kino Lorber over the last few years. Not all of the films are great, some of them are pretty lousy if I’m being honest, but I love that these films are getting released in HD.

This set features stars such as Charlton Heston, Barbara Stanwyck, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan, and Ida Lupino (those last two are in Beware, My Lovely a film I reviewed last Noirvember).

All three films are pretty good if not exactly true classics. You can read my full review here.

Noirvember: Beware, My Lovely (1952)

beware my lovely

Ida Lupino plays Helen Gordon a widow living in a great big house who takes care of children after school. We see her being kind to the children, and teaching them. Loving them. She has a big heart. She takes care of an old lodger as well. She’s a practical person, but also a bit scatter-brained and not very good at the housekeeping.

One day a man pops by. He says he’s in need of work and he’d be happy to help around the house. His name is Howard Wilton and he’s played by Robert Ryan. She says she’s got plenty of work for him to do and hires him on the spot.

What she doesn’t know, but we do, is that Howard is mentally unstable. We watched him at the beginning of the film working for someone else, someone we saw lying dead in her cupboard. Someone who, when Howard saw her dead, caused him to flee in terror.

The film builds the tension slowly. Because we know Howard is unstable we know he will eventually turn violent towards Helen, but the movie is in no rush to get there. At first, Howard exhibits some little quirks towards Helen. He’ll say something a little odd, or do some little something out of the ordinary. He might even call attention to it but Helen treats him like one of her kids.

As those quirks turn more sinister she’s still polite, still kind. She should just run, but she doesn’t want to hurt his feelings. When she finally realizes she must get out, it is too late. Howard keeps her from leaving.

The movie never quite boils over in the way I wanted it to. The tension stays on a low simmer, and I wanted it to explode. But the filmmaking is good. Ida Lupino is wonderful in everything she does and she’s terrific here. Her company The Filmmakers produced it. She was an extraordinary woman, I recommend reading up on her sometime.

Robert Ryan likewise is quite good. He’s always good as the heavy. There was something menacing about his presence.