Product Description
Whereas Humphrey Bogart is always at the top of any list of the Entertainment Industry's most famous actors, very little is known about how he clawed his way to stardom from Broadway to Hollywood.This radical expansion of one of Darwin Porter's pioneering biographies begins with Bogart's origins as the child of wealthy (morphine-addicted) parents in New York City, then examines the scandals, love affairs, breakthrough successes, and failures that launched Bogart on the road to becoming an American icon.Drawn from original interviews with friends and foes who knew a lot about what lay beneath his trenchcoat, this expose covers Bogart's life from his birth in 1899 till his marriage to Lauren Bacall in 1944.It includes details about behind-the-scenes dramas associated with three mysterious marriages, and films such as The Petrified Forest, The Maltese Falcon, High Sierra, and Casablanca. Read all about the debut and formative years of the actor who influenced many generations of filmgoers, laying Bogie's life bare in a style you've come to expect from Darwin Porter. Bogie, we hardly knew you.That's what readers will be saying after reading this dishy, myth-shattering biography of the screen's most famous movie star.Award-winning biographer Darwin Porter reveals for the first time what really lay under that trench coat.Exposed with all their juicy details is what Bogie never told his fourth wife, Lauren Bacall, herself a screen legend. It's all here:The screen icon's unknown affair with Bette Davis, his co-star in The Petrified Forest, and even details about his on- and off-screen romance with Ingrid Bergman during the filming of Casablanca-a tragic liaison which has been falsely denied for years. Detailing the inner secrets of Bogie's tumultuous life from his birth in 1899 until his marriage to Bacall in 1944, The Making of a Legend contains a new revelation on every page. One tantalizing tidbit, for example, provides lurid details about how his third wife, actress Mayo Methot of The Battling Bogarts, plotted his murder. In this biography, the mystery of Bogie's bumpy ride from Broadway to Hollywood has, like the enigma of The Maltese Falcon, been solved.A serial seducer, he enjoyed affairs with the sexiest sirens of Hollywood's Golden Age, including Marlene Dietrich, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Harlow, Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Crawford, and a host of lesser but in most cases, fiercely ambitious divas. Within the pages of this book, pre-Code Hollywood-flappers, Prohibition, bathtub gin, and sex of all persuasions-is re-created. We learn about Bogie's longtime affair with Verita Thompson, a liaison that lasted longer than any of his marriages and which included a final deathbed declaration of their love. This revelatory book is based on dusty unpublished memoirs, letters, diaries, and often personal interviews from the women-and the men-who adored him.There are also shocking allegations from colleagues, former friends, and jilted lovers who wanted the screen icon to burn in hell. All this and more, much more, in Darwin Porter's newest celebrity expose, Humphrey Bogart, The Making of a Legend. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

BOGIE--We Never Knew You.
All that womanizing, heavy drinking, and smoking finally caught up with him, and Bogie died in 1957.But he won't lie down.
He lives on in the most fascinating biography ever written on him.All movie-goers even young ones, know who he was.They mainly know of Casablanca, his fourth wife Lauren Bacall, and the African Queen (perhaps).This book takes us back to the closing hours of the 19th century when Baby Bogie burst onto the scene.It follows his career and love affairs through the Jazz Age on Broadway and his early talkies when he seduced some of the leading stars of Hollywood, including Bette Davis, his sometimes co-star.
We learn what really went on behind the scenes with Ingrid Bergman during the making of Casablanca, and a lot more, including about his secret mistress from 1942 to 1957.
There's a revelation on every page.Before Spencer Tracy nicknamed him Bogie in 1930, he was appropriately called Hump!

A great read.

A Fabulous Actor, a Fabulous Biographical Overview
THE FICKLE FINGERS OF FAME PICKED (drumroll.....) BOGART!!Read about it here:He wasn't the most likely candidate for film industry immortality, but it fell in his lap, after years of bad choices, bad roles, and bad marriages.Talent was the key to his success, but as this book shows, the road, indeed, was rocky and arbitrary.En route to fame and A-list status in Hollywood, he blundered, blustered, and tripped, always with the burden of his role as a high-functioning alcoholic. Substance abuse?Why not? particularly in an age when drinking was part of a macho image, and since, post-Prohibition, virtually everyone in Tinseltown was hitting the sauce with regularity.That, coupled with serial seductions of leading ladies across the entertainment industry spectrum, AND coping with dysfunctional parents who ended their lives as ultra-eccentric (and deeply embittered) morphine addicts show that the human comedy in all its absurity was alive and thriving within Bogie's intimate and spectacularly dysfunctional entourage. This book is wonderful, well worth the time and investment.GO BOGIE! ... Read more

Product Description
The definitive biography of one of the great movie icons of the twentieth century, and a wide-reaching appraisal of the actor’s singular legacy.

It’s hard to think of anyone who has had the same kind of impact on the culture of movies as Humphrey Bogart. Though he died at age fifty-seven more than half a century ago, his stature hasn’t faltered, and his influence among actors and filmmakers is as strong as ever. What gives this man, with his lisp and unconventional looks, such a unique place in our culture? To answer that question, Stefan Kanfer follows Bogart from his privileged but problematic childhood, through his hard-won success (more than thirty films before his breakthrough at the age of forty), to the years of his unqualified stardom, during which he made a string of film masterpieces. He examines Bogart’s friendships, his four marriages, and his working relationships with directors and actors. And through it all, he paints a background of the social and cultural context—in particular, of the changing image of masculinity in the movies—in which Humphrey Bogart became, for all time, the one and only Bogie. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (3)

films
This book is just what it says-A Celebration of the Life Films of HB-the Stephen Bogart book on HB is more of the biography that I should have gotten-however, the Bogie book is great in its presentation of the films, the actors, and directors of those films

bogie; a celebration of the life and films of humphrey bogart
great book, if you want to know everything about humphrey bogart , buy this book
j .gomez

Back to basics on Bogart...
In addition to excellent photos covering Humphrey's life and career, this volume has a concise biography, an insightful appreciation of his acting, and details on all of his nearly 80 films and his dozen or so appearances on the Broadway stage. For casual fans, it is a must-read, and for fanatic fans a must-own. Good job from the creators and publishers, it would make a fine gift for any Bogie-lover one knows.
... Read more

Product Description
This is the provocative story of young Bogart's offscreen odyssey during the early days of Talking Pictures.It's based on never-before-published memoirs, letters, diaries, and interviews from the women and men who loved him.It also contains revelations from former friends and lovers who wanted him to burn in hell.No wonder Bogie, during his later life, never wanted to talk about his early years.

Learn at last what was really beneath the trenchcoat of America's most famous male movie star.Bogart probably never told ANY of this to Bacall. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (31)

A pack of slanderous lies
This book is pure trash. It includes disgusting lies about just about ever actor and actress of the 1930s.Most disgusting of all is the slanderous portrayal of Glenda Farrell. Even if the trash in this book were true, it would be impossible for the author to have included it in such detail. He writes as if he knew every thought in the back of every actor or actress' head at any given time. As if he was there at every event big or small, that happened in the book. As if he memorized every word spoken. Not to mention that many of the things he has these people saying are so long and obviously written for the book that no person could have possibly spoken them in conversation.Don't waste your money.

SEcret LIfe of Humphrey Bogart
The shipping was really good and the book was wonderful!!!I have friends standing in line to read it!I am sorry that the following book on his life will not be out until September!!!It was supposed to be in April.

A truly hateful book
This was the most nasty, filthy book I have ever read.Well, I only read half of it and could not stomach any more.I recently removed it from my bookcase and shredded every single page.I ran the Bogart/Bacall fan club from 1946 to 1951, Bogie would have sued this author if he had written this before his death.For all Bogart fans....DO NOT BUY OR READ THIS TERRIBLE BOOK.

Wonderful Parody/Satire of the stars.
This is an enjoyable read! It's funny and over the top, and of course it's all baloney, but that is what makes this book so enjoyable. Best satire/parody I have read in years. Think of the Warner Brothers cartoons poking fun at Bogie and Robinson and add in a little bi-sexuality and you will understand this " biography." Finally, someone has given all these wooden movie stars a personality. What would Ms. Bacall say? "Falwell vs. Hustler Magazine." Lighten up out there in reviewer land.

Beaten to a Pulp Fiction
I stumbled upon this book with its extensive online excerpts while researching Eva Von Berne, a Viennese actress-model discovered by Irving Thalberg and Norma Shearer on their 1927 honeymoon.Miss Von Berne was brought to the U.S. and MGM publicists immediately began releasing press stories for fear they would repeat their earlier mistake of believing that little would become of another MGM import, Greta Garbo.But in this case the 17 year old Von Berne couldn't act and was slightly overweight (120 lbs.!) She was sent back to Europe on a boat where she made three more films before she passed away.The point being that she was only in the U.S. a short time, that it is unlikely that Thalberg would have been having sex with her on his honeymoon, and even less likely that Von Berne would have been around to commment on the Jean Harlow-Paul Bern nuptials since she died before the engagement was announced. Hollywood is FULL of people who like to trash stars - both dead and alive - and writers who believe these unreliable stories and use both the tellers of the tales and the dead celebrities to make money.This includes marginally more responsible writers who have axes to grind and want all stars to be ambisexual.I'm not suprised no one has sued him because doing so would give this book waaaaay more publicity than it deserves.Its a word version of the 1930's "Tijuana Bibles" that used the same content, only pictorially. ... Read more

Product Description
Forty years after his death Humphrey Bogart is alive and well in the hearts and minds of his fans.Bogart starred in such classic films as The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Big Sleep, and The African Queen. The Ultimate Bogie fully explores the myths, facts, and unique qualities of Bogart.

With a mixture of lists, chronologies, humorous anecdotes, challenging trivia, test-your-knowledge quizzes, controversial quotes from and about Bogie, and a complete bibliography and filmography, The Ultimate Bogie reveals everything about the wonderful world of Humphrey Bogart. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Watch Casablanca again, instead
Time-wasting fluff piece, this lightweight mish mash of lists, facts, and trivia is OK, but not worth crossing the street for.

Spend a couple of hours watching Casablanca, then read a real biography of Bogart, such as Bogart by Sperber.

great as a resorce but short on biographical info
Humphrey Bogart was my movie idol beginning when I was in my teens (about a dozen years after he died).I read what I could about him and, of course, did my best to see all of his movies.Over the years my interest in movies expanded to include other actors and subjects.At the same time, the late night TV movies showed fewer and fewer "old" movies so my Bogart movies seemed limited to "CasaBlanca" and "The African Queen".Not a bad couple of movies to watch but too limited to live out my Bogart mania.Thus I looked forward to reading "The Ultimate Bogart" when I saw it in the book store.I enjoyed how it brought back my enthusism for one of cinema's great actors.However, I felt that the book was overloaded with too much trivia; especially the unneccessary information about the expansion of Bogart's legend after his death.The author categorizes his chapters which has the unfortunate affect of repeating a lot of information that fits into more than one such category.What we come up short on is more information of a biographical nature.There is a great filmography and Bogarts fans will enjoy the trivia tests.There is also a very good bibliography.However, I can't recall the last time I got excited over a bibliography.

This is a book for Bogart fans but they will already know most of the information.At least they will have a guide now as to where to turn for more.

The Man was a True Original
He is without a doubt one of the Coolest Cats to Ever be on the Big Screen.I have seen many of His Movies&He had a Edge to His Craft.this Book Explores His Rise&the way He went about things.some very Interesting things are mentioned.I enjoyed all the info.

Here's lookin at you
I guess Jack Nicholson is the closest thing to him today. But if you're hoping that this book might serve as a how-to-be-Bogart book, you're mistaken. There's much more to Bogart than a cigarette and Fedora. I guessit's something you either have or don't have. It's what makes each of usunique. He wasn't exactly a handsome man, but he sure had presence. But ifthere was a how-to-be-Bogart book, this would be it. It's like the Bogartalmanac. It has all the dates, the statistics, the quotes, the films, theradio programs, the plays, and the television appearances in gloriousdetail. If you're a Bogart fan, this book's for you. If you aren't a fan,this book will make you one. Oh, and you should also see Casablanca. ... Read more

Product Description
Humphrey Bogart's son examines his father's life as an actor, a man, a husband, and a father, as he presents a picture of a man with a tough image that belied his ambitions and vulnerabilities. Reprint. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

In Search of Myself using my father as a prop
This is an interesting biography in a "Hollywood-sort-of-way." It makes an early claim of being disgusted with the Hollywood way of life, and then proceeds to revel in it as much as possible. That in itself would not have been so bad if the author had been more honest about his motives. It seemed clear after reading the book that he was really in search of himself, not at all in search of his father, who even though he died while the author was only seven, left him a rich legacy upon which to fashion a life. What it appears that he sought to do here was to use his father's fame and death as a prop, an alibi, an excuse for his own eventual failing and shortcomings. So the book should be retitled: In Search of Myself, through my father's reputation and death.

This is not the way books that begin in the way this one did, usually end. Typically there is a cathartic moment; space and time for a clear head to assert itself, and then smooth sailing afterwards.

Not so here.

All that is certain here is that both of the author's parents knew who they were, what they wanted and how to proceed about getting it. They were successful actors and parents with a rich and fulfilling social life, arguably a rare commodity in Hollywood even today.

Steve, on the other hand, it seems, never figured any of this out for himself. It was Steve's life that was turned upside down at the age of seven with his father's death never to be fully "righted" again. His eureka moment did not come until he married his present wife, and then only after much prodding and "coaching" from her

The fact that he never quite got any traction in life on his own after his father's death is a very large statement about him, his own ability to adjust and get down to the very important business of living: as in maturing into a normal functioning adult -- the quintessential problem of "coming of age" for all youths everywhere.

And while I found the many vignettes about his parent's movie careers and marriages, etc., interesting, the book altogether lacked the kind of depth or punch that would convey the message that Steve finally discovered what life without his father is all about. I was hoping for a better resolution of the author's struggles in his (by normal standards) only a mildly complicated life. After all, he and his sister were loved and well-cared for, had enormous advantages in life over most average kids. But he himself chose not to think or drink deep from the cup of life until he had reached middle age. This sounds exactly like what a spoiled brat would do: fritter away half his life and then use his father's fame and death to cover his tracks and record of failures?

In fact, he pouted away more than half of his life: most of his teens as well as his young adult life for no convincing or discernable reasons that one can find in the book. However, giving him the benefit of the doubt, the best one could say about the author is that he missed the best of his rare parent's lessons: of how to become an independent whole human being with a life purpose of striving for excellence.

Unless I missed a lot, it seems that Steve substituted pouting and "acting out" for passion; had no recognizable interests and lived only through his parents, vicariously. Was he really seeking independence from being "Bogie's son," or seeking to hide behind Bogie's fame?Lackluster, three Stars

Perfection
Excelent seller. Fast transaction. Highest quality and all around perfection. I give them my highest rating. Thank you!

son of a legend...
I don't imagine any of us really know what it is like to be the son of a legend..the incredible pressure that must come with living up to your father..it sounds likea wonderful easy life but as Stephen Bogart let's us know it's not..a book full of anecdotes and stories, self-examination, a bit too much whining for my tastes but nevertheless some tasty morsels can be found in this book..

Would you like some cheese with that whine?
The book is a collection of stores from interviews conducted by Stephen.Who, after a battle with cocaine, removing the chip from his shoulder, and maturing, decided to find out who his fater was.The book is a fast read, has a few interesting stories, and the pics are good.Glad I checked it out of the library and didn't pay for it.

Insightful tale of how Bogart's son came to terms with his fame
Heard BOGART: IN SEARCH OF MY FATHER, written and
read by Stephen Humphrey Bogart . . . his son was only eight
when he died and for a long time, it was difficult for him to
deal with his legendary father . . . only with the encouragement
of his famous mother, Lauren Bacall, was he finally able to
come to terms with some of the anger he felt toward his father.

I'm still not quite sure that I understand this feeling; it's almost
as if he blamed his father for dying . . . however, Stephen
Bogart did a good job of researching his father Humphrey, and
he shares many amusing anecdotes that I not heard previously.

In addition, I enjoyed reading about how Bogart and Bacall
met and fell in love.

BOGART: IN SEARCH OF MY FATHER gave me the impression
that Humphrey had no idea how to raise his children, but it
was clear that he did love them . . . Stephen Bogart now
appreciates this fact, too.
... Read more

Product Description
He was a top box-office draw in his day, an Oscar-winning actor, a principled man of rare conviction, and--long after his death--a cult figure revered by moviegoers who weren't even born while he was making his movies. But over the years, Humphrey Bogart has remained an enigma, despite what we have learned of him from wife Lauren Bacall's own fond memories and from the various biographies that have appeared over the years since his death in 1957.

With Bogart, this wonderful enigma is brought under the light as never before. Although authors Ann M. Sperber and Eric Lax never met, Bogart is a unique collaboration, combining the strengths of two prize-winning biographers. Sperber, the author of the New York Times best-selling Pulitzer-Prize finalist Murrow: His Life and Times (1986), spent seven years before her death in 1994 amassing a vast archive of original research on the life and times of Humphrey Bogart, including more than 200 interviews she conducted with people who had known and worked with him, including Katharine Hepburn and John Huston. Eric Lax, whose Woody Allen was a national bestseller in 1991, took over the project after Sperber's death and spent two years completing it. The result is the definitive portrait of the actor who merged his screen anti-heroism with his own staunch personal integrity in a manner new to Hollywood, fashioning a persona as timely today, forty years after his death, as it was during his own life.Amazon.com Review
It's the season of battling Bogarts: two biographies, eachworthwhile for different reasons. If you want a leisurely, formidablywell-documented account of Humphrey Bogart's legendary screen careerand four marriages (including a happy final one to Lauren Bacall),this is it. A. M. Sperber conducted some 200 interviews with peoplewho knew the actor before his death in 1994; Eric Lax draws on herseven years of research to create a nuanced, in-depth, elegantlywritten portrait of the man recently dubbed Hollywood's greatest starby Premiere magazine. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Here's Looking At You, Bogie
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the iconic actor, Humphrey Bogart. It has become my favorite biography of him and I've read many others (by Jeffrey Meyers, Alistair Cooke, David Thompson etc.) The book follows his life in chronological order. Very well read, full of interesting anecdotes from his friends and foes. You can't help but admire Sperber and Lax's heartfelt and devoted research.

I've already held high regard for the man through watching his movies. But this book endears him to me. Like all geniuses, he was a little unbalanced (hereditarily), temporarily illogical, temperamental, mystified and self-destructive. However, those are the price one pays for wit, humor and unique talent which, lucky for us, came to him in abundant. The book would make you realize why he's still matters today, after his death for fifty some years. For the man is a myth, his personality a legend!

Iconic, ironic, Bogart...
Thanks to TCM, I've seen all of the big Bogart films and, to be honest, before I saw them, I wasn't sure why this skinny, balding man accrued the fame that he did.Indeed, the only "fame" he held for me was as a term used, circa 1978, to describe a person who monopolizes a certain brand of *cigarette*. Seeing movies such as High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, To Have and Have Not, and Casablanca changed all that.Here was a guy who, though diminutive in stature, was the epitome of cool, glib, nonchalant toughness.With a look, Bogart could say more than most actors with 10 lines.He navigated a narrow path between gruff vulnerability and a lone-wolf machismo.

Bogart, a book begun by A.M. Sperber and finished by Eric Lax, is a fitting tribute to the man.A priveleged and difficult childhood and a penchant for carousing and bad marriages leaves a lot to tell.But, Sperber and Lax do so with enough class to avoid gratuitousness and enough objectivity to avoid hagiography.Indeed, Bogart's life was something of a struggle despite the wealth and fame; it wasn't until his marriage to Bacall (at the age of 45) that he finally found some happiness.Bogart (the book) is a thick, appetizing slab of biography that rarely, if ever, bogs down. It has the added value of bringing so much more understanding to his movies.I now view Casablanca, et al. with a more discerning eye.

Whether one is interested in the man, the studio system, or the period itself, Bogart by Sperber and Lax is well worth the time. I found it an excellent biography and gladly award it 5 stars.

As Good as it is Large.
This biography is as detailed about the legendary actor as it is large.

"Bogart" was started by Ann Sperber. After her death Eric Lax finished the book. Sperber interviewed over 200 people in her research ranging from family such as Lauren Bacall and son Stephen, to friends in Hollywood.

Humphrey Bogart's childhood was detailed. His parents were successful as a doctor and an artist. They were also addicts that didn't spend a lot of time with their children.

The authors followed Bogart's journey in acting, how it started and his long journey that ultimately led to stardom. His marriages were also detailed.

The personal politics of the movie studios, especially Warner Bothers was examined. Bogie and Bacall's battles with the studio were discussed.

Bogart's political views and his actions were detailed.

This is a large book that includes an Index and a Filmography that any Bogart fan will appreciate.
An excellent book about Humphrey Bogart- his childhood, the good and the bad experiences that his contemporaries shared.

Sad, lonely, angry man
Well-done bio of Bogart, a sad, lonely, angry man who was an actors actor and consummate professional and made half a dozen of the greatest movies ever made.

His parents were morphine addicted socialites with little love or care for each other or their children (Humphrey's sister was under psychiatric care or her brother's care much of her adult life), and Bogart grew up to replicate their relationship in his first three marriages, before finally finding happiness with Bacall.He drank and smoked constantly, and was a mean drunk who liked to puncture the pretensions of the, well, pretentious, but was reported to be a helpful and even humble co-star and great actor.

List of must-sees and 4 star movies starring Bogart:Casablanca (of course), The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep, The Petrified Forest, High Sierra, To Have and Have Not, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, In a Lonely Place, The African Queen, The Caine Mutiny.

great read
This book is lengthy, but rarely boring.It's a fantastic resource if you want to learn about this unique film actor.It covers his entire personal life and career.A very good read. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

Bogart photo book
This book contains at least one photo from most of Bogart's films with desciptions. There are-some-behind the scenes photographs as well. This book will leave you wanting more... ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

His first marriage was the more interesting...
A really good read.This biography is filled to the brim with Bogie wise-cracks and witticisms, making him an endearingly warm, if flawed, protagonist.His marriage with Mayo is fascinating, filled with passion, melodrama, danger and heartbreak.Sadly, all Mayo's dramatics do not gain her eternal love-she is instead dumped for a 19 year old Bacall.Though the author goes on to describe Bacall's ingenuity at taming her wild husband, he doesn't go a good job of showing if anything besides youth and beauty attracted Bogie in the first place.

Since Bogie didn't meet Bacall until he was 45, and had had several amazing adventures in his youth, Bacall's entrance seems to come in after all the good times have rolled.His life with her was still filled with pranks and drinks and glamour, but it was a more sober, reflective time for him, particularly with the onset of fatherhood and cancer. Though Bogie is a larger than life character-funny, sexy, dangerous, romantic and timeless-- his most exciting years were with a woman who wasn't the love of his life. ... Read more

Product Description
December 1971 Oversized paperbound 3rd paperbound ed. 192pgs. Citadel Press. Black and white pics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

casablanca
I think this is a wonderful romance film. As a personal fan of Humphrey Bogart I think his part was excellent. This book is deffiently worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1941, as Humphrey Bogart prepares to start filming The Maltese Falcon, a bizarre cast of characters descends upon him, hoping to retrieve a treasure map that Bogie allegedly inherited from his sea captain father-in-law. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Not Too Bad a Story
Although there were some glaring errors in this book, I didn't find it that bad a story.Bogie comes across pretty realistic, and the sneak peaks that we get at big names is always fun in these books.This book's time frame is supposed to take place around the time that Bogart was filming the Maltese Falcon, and the story runs a parallel storyline to that great Dashiell Hammett story, only in this case they're looking for a missing cornucopia filled with priceless jewels.The stakes are high and before the missing artifact is found, three bodies are found.One of the killed was Bogie's and his wife Mayo's housekeeper so Bogie feels he must get involved in order to solve the mystery of who killed her in his house. ... Read more

Product Description
More than forty years after his death, Humphrey Bogart remains a symbol of the Golden Age of Hollywood and a popular culture icon. His legacy has impacted American popular culture beyond the scope of American film history. His image graces buttons, greeting cards, and postal stamps, and he has been the subject of plays, films, novels, and poems. This work presents a precise biography of Bogart and examines his place in American popular culture. Scholarly and substantive articles written about Bogart's life, films, and career are analyzed and summarized. Essays and new and previously published interviews present insightful ideas by and about Bogart. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Read it, junior ... you'll like it.
We'll Always Have Murder ... if you're a fan of Bogart or Hollywood or just great dialogue, you'll want to read Bill Crider's masterful mystery featuring Terry Scott and the man himself, Bogie.Visit the Hollywood of yesterday and make a quick stop at The Brown Derby as Bogie plays true to his Hammett form as an attempted blackmail leads to one murder after another.This one comes equipped with car chases (the mystery black Packard), gunsels and dames that prefer dames ... but what author Bill Crider does best is provide us with Bogieisms that had me reading the lines out loud (in my best Bogie) ... This is a fun read that is difficult to put down.

And we all should READ amici ... so pick this baby up and have some fun in La-La land.

No One Messes With Fred C. Dobbs
Taking a page from Stuart Kaminsky's "Toby Peters" mysteries, author Crider builds a fun tale of murder and mayhem in old (1940's) Hollywood with P.I. Terry Cook being ably assisted in solving a tinseltown murder (or two) by none other than Humphrey Bogart. Atmosphere and ambience are first-rate, and Crider succeeds in the trickiest part of his conceit by actually having Bogart SOUND like Bogart, or at least our impression of him, throughout. As a mystery it's about a "3". Astute readers will pick up on the killer fairly quickly if they apply Roger Ebert's "Economy of Characters" theory. But what sets this apart for film buffs is the sense of going behind the scenes and noting the "real" people Crider deftly hides behind his fictional characters. This is promised as the first in a series featuring the star and the hapless detective, and one looks forward to the next installment. One word of caution though, if Ibooks IS planning on future volumes, they REALLY ought to spring for a proofreader! There are so many gaffes within this modest tome, that one often has to apply one's own detective skills towards making sense of some of the sentences (note: Spellcheck alone just ain't gonna cut it, fellas!)
A welcome debut, though. Let's hear it for Bogie & Cook! ... Read more