Bogart Classics on DVD

Humphrey Bogart is long gone, but his stature may be larger now than when he was with us. And looking through the Bogart library, it isn’t hard to see why. His work includes such masterpieces as Casablanca, The Caine Mutiny, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, and many more.

Warner Home Video is sitting on a good number of these classics (well, perhaps “sitting on” is the wrong term, since they’re being released seemingly as quickly as they can be) and is releasing them on DVD in various forms - straightforward discs, deluxe two disc sets and boxed sets featuring multiple, multi-disc titles. Here's a look at a few.

They Drive by Night

Here’s a yarn about truck drivers during the depression, and it’s a dandy. George Raft stars with Bogart; they're brothers trying to make their independent trucking enterprise profitable. Ann Sheridan is a waitress who dishes both food and food for thought, and Ida Lupino plays the determined executive who blends business, romance and murder.

Sound intriguing? It is. Bogart isn’t really the star here - he’d earn his leading-man stature shortly after this film; it’s more a George Raft vehicle (no pun intended) and it’s one of his best roles.

Lupino is really something here; the scene of her deranged babbling in court catapulted her to stardom and it isn’t’ hard to see why. She’s outstanding.

The first part of the film gives a Hollywoodized, though quite powerful, look at the lives of independent truckers and the dangers of life on the road. The movie then takes the off ramp from the freeway, slowing down quite a bit as it goes from truck story to murder mystery. It really does slow down, but the performances (especially Lupino), are outstanding and you won’t find yourself nodding off.

Raoul Walsh directed the film, and it’s quite funny to see/hear some double entendres sneaked into the script and which managed to make it past the censors. Sheridan is a fount of these one liners, and she’s just about worth the price of admission on her own.

They Drive By Night isn’t one of Bogie’s most famous flicks (in fact, he only gets fourth billing), but it’s still a classic, with a terrific script, solid direction, and a cast to die for.

The DVD is pretty good. It’s presented in its original full frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, so owners of 16x9 TV’s will have to stretch/zoom the picture to fit their screens (to avoid burn in), but the overall quality’s pretty good for a 1930’s-vintage black and white presentation. The image is sharp and features good contrast.

Audio is Dolby Digital mono and, not surprisingly, it isn’t remarkable. Still, it doesn’t suck - it isn’t muddy and you can make out all the dialog, so it accomplishes its task just fine.

Extras include the featurette "Divided Highway: The Story of They Drive by Night," a musical short "Swingtime in the Movies" and the trailer.

They Drive By Night, from Warner Home Video
95 min. full frame (1.33:1, not 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital mono,
Starring: George Raft, Ann Sheridan, Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart,
Produced by Jack Warner,
Written by Jerry Wald and Richard Macaulay, Directed by Raoul Walsh

High Sierra

This one is worth catching not only for its strong performances, but for how it kind of throws down the gauntlet for how crime dramas would evolve during the 1940’s. Not too surprising, given the veteran direction of Raoul Walsh and John Huston’s fingerprints all over the screenplay.

Bogie plays Roy "Mad Dog" Earle, gangster and supposed peer to John Dillinger. Bogart is excellent here, a role that helps serve as launch pad for such classic Bogart characterizations as Sam Spade.

Earle is a nut, one of those angry sociopaths that were fixtures of the gangster flicks that helped that shaped Bogart's early image. Pardoned from prison, he’s more eager to enjoy his freedom than to get right back into the swing of things illegal, immoral and/or fattening.

Alas, his early release from the pen came because of some string-pulling by a mobster who wants Earle to pull off a high-stakes heist.

Things go awry, of course, leading to a manhunt that culminates in a wrenching climax.

The power of High Sierra doesn’t so much come from the crime caper, but from Earle's situation of being an older man whose world is colliding with that of younger and brasher goons picked to help him pull off the heist. And former dance hall girl Ida Lupino, who stays loyal to Earle when the whole world appears to be hunting him down, is worth the price of admission here as well.

Bogart and Lupino are at their best in High Sierra, and they’re backed up by such journeymen as Arthur Kennedy, Alan Curtis, Henry Hull, Henry Travis, Jerome Cowan and Cornell Wilde. And don’t miss the Dog!

The DVD is good. It’s a single disc DVD presented in the movie’s original 1.33:1 aspect ratio, which isn’t 16x9 TV compatible, and the picture quality is good. The black and white image is sharp and clean. Audio, Dolby Digital mono, is about what you’d expect - which means it’s fine but your home theater speakers won’t work up a sweat.

Extras include an all new “Making of” featurette “Curtains for Roy Earle: The Story of High Sierra” and the theatrical trailer.

High Sierra, from Warner Home Video
101 min. full frame (1.33:1, not 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital mono
Starring Ida Lupino, Humphrey Bogart, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy, Henry Travers
Produced by Jack Warner
Written by John Huston and W.R. Burnett, directed by Raoul Walsh

To Have and Have Not

This isn’t just a ripping yarn, it’s the movie that cast Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall together - in life and in work. It’s here that they fell in love, and you can understand why when you see the film.

It’s 1940 on the French Caribbean island colony of Martinique, not long after France's surrender to Nazi Germany. Bogart is cynical gunrunner Harry Morgan, who reluctantly agrees to help the French Resistance - while simultaneously wooing singer Bacall. Hoagy Carmichael, at the piano, plays the “Sam” character and he’s quite enjoyable.

The story may appear a bit too close to Casablanca at times, but if you’re going to be inspired by another flick Casablanca isn’t a bad place to start! But most memorable about To Have and Have Not is Bogart and Bacall, their passion smoldering right off the screen.

So don’t worry so much about the story; it’s the performances and the atmosphere that really make this a worthwhile flick to see.

The DVD is very good. The image is presented in its original full frame 1.33:1 aspect ratio (not 16x9 TV compatible), and fine details are clear and the gray scale is outstanding. Audio is Dolby Digital mono, but it sounds fine, clean and well balanced.

Extras include a featurette that, although short, manages to cover a lot of the film's production. There's also a Warner Brothers classic Merrie Melodies cartoon (“Bacall to Arms,” which spoofs this movie) and the film's original theatrical trailer. And as a bonus, you get Bogie and Bacall headlining a 1946 Lux Radio Theater production.

To Have and Have Not, from Warner Home Video
100 min. full frame (1.33:1, not 16x9 TV compatible), Dolby Digital mono
Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan
Produced by Jack L. Warner
Written by Jules Furthman and William Faulkner, directed by Howard Hawks.

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