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Do you like movies? Many people do. Movies have become a very big business, much bigger than they ever were. One of the main reasons is that all movies now have a second life. This second life consists of DVD and VHS sales and rentals. Who ever would have believed that a movie could make millions of dollars in profits at the theatres, then make that much again in world wide video sales and rentals? Every era has its big name stars. Many of the older ones have been long forgotten, and today we have such heavyweights as Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Kineau Reaves, just to mention a few.

Back in the 'olden days' we had someone with the most unlikely name of Humphrey Bogart. I guess he had to be tough with a name like that. It almost reminds me of that Johnny Cash song, "A Boy Named Sue". The funny thing is that we never really thought of the name Humphrey as being a hindrance to his tough man roles. I don't know whether it was the fact that he was such a superb actor or it was just different times. I remember this however, you never tried to double cross Humphrey Bogart or you landed up in a pair of cement overshoes at the bottom of the ocean.

Humphrey Bogart was his real name, to be more precise, his name was Humphrey DeForest Bogart He was born in New York City, NY on December 25,1899.I bet he got beat out of a lot of birthday presents being born on Christmas. He lived to only 57 years of age and died on January 14, 1957. He wasn't a big man, but could peform the role of one convincingly. In the movies he managed to make us believe that he could whip anyone in the room. when he certainly would have had a hard time in real life using his light 5" 8" frame to do this. He had several wives, maybe that is why he died so young, the last of which was Betty Joan Perske. For those who don't know who this is, I will tell you her stage name, Lauren Bacall. In 1999 the American Film Institute name Humphrey Bogart the greatest male star of all time.

Lets look at some of the great movies that Bogart made. Its so hard to choose which one I like the best, they are all so good, but there is no doubt that 'The Treasure of the Sierra Madre' is one of the best movies ever made. The movie was made in 1948. It was directed by John Huston and written by B. Traven and John Huston. B. Traven actually died in Mexico, which was where the movie took place. The main stars were Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston (the director's father), Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett and Barton MacLane. It was a long movie for its time as it ran 126 minutes. Fred C. Dobbs (Bogart) was a miserable human being that goes along on a search for gold. Gold is found and now distrust sets in. Dobbs thinks that everyone is out to steal his gold. It isn't long before murder rears its ugly face. Alfonso Bedoya plays the head Mexican bandit and is so good that his performance was mimicked for many years after.

'The Roaring Twenties' was another great movie. It was made in 1939 and featured Humphrey Bogart playing second fiddle to James Cagney. It was directed by Raoul Walsh and written by Mark Hellinger and Jerry Wald. The main cast was James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, Gladys George, Jeffrey Lynn, Frank McHugh and Paul Kelly. Please keep in mind that while I loved this movie not everyone agrees with me. The soldiers return home after WWI. There isn't much work and Bogart goes back to the rackets. Cagney builds a fleet of cabs and hires his friend as the lawyer for the company. Unfortunately for Cagney, the girl he loves, loves the lawyer. Cagney and Bogart go into the cab business together. Things start to break down from there.

Casablanca was one of the most unforgettable movies ever made. Some of its lines are still quoted to this day. Casablanca was a war time move, it was made during World War II. To be exact it was made in 1942. The director was Michael Curtiz and the writers were Murray Burnett, Joan Alison, Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch. It had a sterling cast which featured Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre among many others. World War II is raging and Rick Blaine (Bogart) is an exiled American who lives in Casablanca and owns a popular night club there. He meets a former lover who is now married to a Czec underground leader who arrives there. Rick has valuable letters of transit. Rick is going to use the letters to run away with Bergman.

Perhaps one of the most famous films in the world is 'The Maltese Falcon'. It is not one of my favorite Bogart movies but it is so acclaimed that I have to list it here. It was another one of those war time films having been made in 1941. The director was John Houston and the writers were non other than Dashiell Hammett himself and John Houston. Again we have another star studded cast which featured Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, Sydney Greenstreet, Ward Bond, Jerome Cowan, Elisha Cook Jr. and many others. Bogart plays Sam Spade, private investigator, who's partner has just been killed and is on the trail of smugglers. German espionage is taking place. The search is on for a black statuette of a Falcon, which is really made of gold and supposed to contain precious jewels.

'Sahara' is a great war movie. This movie was made in 1943. It was directed by Zoltan Korda and written by Zoltan Korda, John Howard Lawson, Philip MacDonald and James O'Hanlon. The cast included Humphrey Bogart, Bruce Bennett, J. Carol Nash, Lloyd Bridges, Dan Duryea and many others. Bogart plays a tank sergeant who has made it to a waterhole in the desert and decides to defend it from over 600 German troops who are very thirsty. Great story, great acting and just an all around great flick.

One of his more recent films was 'The African Queen' which was made in 1951 in color. A great movie and again directed by John Huston and written by C.S. Forster, James Agee, John Huston and Peter Vietel. This movie runs contrary to most of Bogart's other films in that it is essentially a two person movie. There are other actors but for most of the movie the only two actors in it are Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. The rest of the main cast was Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Theodore Bikel, Walter Gotell, Peter Swanwick and Richard Marner. Charlie Allnut (Bogart) ties to escape the Germans by small boat and takes Rose Sayer (Hepburn) with him. They are in Africa and it is during World War I. What follows is a great adventure and change of heart.

When Hollywood lost Bogart they lost a giant of the cinema. There were so many more great movies that he made. I could have mentioned Angels With Dirty Faces, The Barefoot Contessa, The Big Sleep, The Caine Mutiny, Dark Passage or many other great films that he was in. Even now, after all the years that have passed since his death, there are many people who remember such films as Key Largo and The Petrified Forest. An actor of this caliber rarely comes along. He was just as at home in an action flick as he was in a drama. He could make you hate him or make you love him. Goodbye Bogie, we will never forget you.