Bogie and Bette

Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis, two of the greatest stars in Hollywood history, made six movies together, all of them in the 30s when Davis was already a star but Bogart was still playing heavies and second leads. So far, I have seen four of their films together, and would rank them thus:

1. Dark Victory (1939) - One of Bette’s classic 30s performances. It’s a soap, but a superior one. To be honest Bogart is rather laughable as an Irish (!) gardener, but it’s always good to see him pop up, and it’s a smashing movie.

2. The Petrified Forest (1936) Davis is. Fine but Bogart owns this film, perhaps his first great performance as an escaped con who holds a restaurant staff hostage. Tough and uncompromising for the time.

3. Marked Woman (1937) Bogie was given above the title billing after Bette in this enjoyable thriller about a DA who persuades a nightclub singer to testify against her mobster boss.

4. Kid Galahad (1937) Davis is excellent as the smart girlfriend of boxing promoter Edward G. Robinson, with Bogie going through the motions as a sleazy mob boss. Not one of HB’s finest, but can anybody imagine a modern-day movie having three such magnetic stars on screen together?

I have yet to see their two earliest collaborations - Bad Sister (1931) and Three on a Match (1932). I’d love to hear from anyone who has seen either, or anybody’s thoughts on these two stars’ work together.

It’s a shame they never made another movie together after the thirties... the thought of a Bogart-Davis collaboration during Bogie’s 1940s heyday is tantalising...