Here’s looking at you, Humphrey Bogart. The Oscar-winning leading man was best known for playing a tough guy with a heart of gold. He made dozens of films before his untimely death in 1957. Let’s take a look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Though it may sound like a bit of Hollywood lore, Bogart was indeed born on Christmas Day, 1899, in New York City. After a short stint in the Navy, he started acting onstage and in films, mostly in bit parts as gangsters who met the wrong end of a bullet.
His big breakthrough came with the Broadway hit “The Petrified Forest,” in which he played a violent bank robber holed up at an isolated diner with a hobo and a waitress. When Warner Bros. decided to bring the play to the screen as a vehicle for Bette Davis, it was leading man Leslie Howard who forced the studio to let Bogart reprise his role.
It would take some boneheaded decisions by Warner Bros. contract player George Raft to turn him into a leading man. Raft turned down roles in “High Sierra” (1941) and “The Maltese Falcon” (1941), both of which landed in Bogart’s lap. In the former, he once again stars as a captivating baddie who meets a violent end. In the latter, however, he finally got to play a complicated hero, a sly, tough as nails loner whose cynicism masks a deeper pain.
He’d put that persona to its greatest use in “Casablanca” (1943), a romantic drama about a cheerless bartender in war-torn Morocco whose life is upended by the arrival of an old flame (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband (Paul Henreid), a leader of the French Resistance. Despite his hard exterior, he somehow finds it in himself to sacrifice love for the greater good. The role brought Bogart his first Oscar nomination as Best Actor.
It took another eight years (and a couple of high-profile snubs) for him to finally cash in that Oscar I.O.U. with “The African Queen” (1951), John Huston‘s rousing adventure about a drunken riverboat captain and a conservative spinster (Katharine Hepburn). He’d compete one more time in the category for “The Caine Mutiny” (1954).
Bogart’s onscreen successes led to an offscreen love affair. During the filming of “To Have and Have Not” (1945), an alluring newcomer named Lauren Bacall caught his eye. The two became a legendary couple, marrying in 1945 and making three more films together: “The Big Sleep” (1946), “Dark Passage” (1947), and “Key Largo” (1948).
Tour our photo gallery of Humphrey Bogart’s 20 greatest films, and see if your favorite tops the list.
-
20. THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA (1954)
Image Credit: United Artists/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Starring Ava Gardner, Edmond O’Brien, Marius Goring, Valentina Cortese, Rossano Brazzi.
Bogart acts as a surrogate for Joseph L. Mankiewicz in this backstage Hollywood melodrama. He plays Harry Dawes, a down-on-his-luck movie director who becomes enchanted with a Spanish dancer (Ava Gardner) after catching her performance at a nightclub. He convinces her to give acting a shot, launching her to international stardom. But as is usually the case, fame comes with a price. Edmond O’Brien won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar playing a fast-talking publicist, while Mankiewicz competed for his juicy screenplay.
-
19. ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES (1938)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/First National/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Michael Curtiz. Screenplay by John Wexley and Warren Duff, based on the story by Rowland Brown. Starring James Cagney, Pat O’Brien, The Dead End Kids, Ann Sheridan, George Bancroft.
Before launching to stardom, Bogart paid his dues with a series of supporting roles in Warner Bros. gangster dramas. One of the most memorable was “Angels with Dirty Faces,” which centers on a priest’s (Pat O’Brien) efforts to stop a gangster (James Cagney) from corrupting a group of street youths (played by the Dead End Kids). Bogart costars as Cagney’s corrupt lawyer, whose double-crossing ends with a bullet to the gut. The film earned Oscar nominations for Cagney in Best Actor, Michael Curtiz in Best Director, and Rowland Brown in Best Story.
-
18. DARK PASSAGE (1947)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and directed by Delmer Daves. Starring Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett, Agnes Moorehead, Tom D’Andrea.
In “Dark Passage,” a man convicted of murdering his wife escapes from prison and undergoes plastic surgery to change his appearance, re-emerging as Bogart. Lauren Bacall is the helpful woman who lets him hideout in her apartment while he tries to clear his name. The improbable concept is boosted by Delmer Daves’ choice to shoot the first half of the film mostly from the main character’s point-of-view to avoid showing his face until his appearance changes. And as always, Bogart and Bacall shine together.
-
17. SAHARA (1943)
Image Credit: Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Zoltan Korda. Screenplay by John Howard Lawson and Zoltan Korda, adaptation by James O’Hanlon, based on the story by Philip MacDonald. Starring Bruce Bennett, Lloyd Bridges, J. Carrol Naish, Dan Duryea.
Not to be confused with the Matthew McConaughey B-movie adventure, “Sahara” was Bogart’s noble attempt to help the war effort. It centers on a WWII British-American military unit stranded in the desert after the fall of Tobruk in 1942. He plays Sgt. Joe Gunn, who must help his men survive both the elements and the invading Nazi troops. J. Carrol Naish reaped a Supporting Actor nomination for his role as an Italian prisoner, and the film received additional bids for cinematography and sound.
-
16. DEAD END (1937)
Image Credit: Goldwyn/United Artists/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by William Wyler. Screenplay by Lillian Hellman, based on the play by Sidney Kingsley. Starring Sylvia Sidney, Joel McCrea, Wendy Barrie, Claire Trevor, Allen Jenkins.
“Dead End” can’t quite escape its stage roots, but whenever Bogart is onscreen, it comes alive in a way that is truly invigorating. An adaptation of Sidney Kingsley’s stage hit, the film portrays a day in the life of some denizens of an East River slum, including two lovebirds (Sylvia Sidney and Joel McCrea), a group of street urchins (The Dead End Kids), and a notorious gangster (Bogart). Director William Wyler creates a lively neighborhood thanks to Richard Day’s sets and Gregg Toland’s cinematography, both of which reaped Oscar bids. The film also competed in Best Picture and Best Supporting Actress for Claire Trevor as Bogie’s ex-girlfriend.
-
15. THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Archie Mayo. Screenplay by Charles Kenyon and Delmer Daves, based on the play by Robert E. Sherwood. Starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin, Dick Foran.
Though it was far from his movie debut, Bogart first came to the attention of most audiences with his electrifying turn in this gripping chamber piece. Based on Robert E. Sherwood’s play, “The Petrified Forest” centers on a disillusioned British drifter (Leslie Howard) and a dissatisfied waitress (Bette Davis) who encounter a violent gangster (Bogart) at a lonely diner in the desert. Though Warner Bros wanted Howard to repeat his stage role, they weren’t too keen on the unknown Bogie reprising his, opting for a more bankable star. Howard stood by his costar, however, and the world of cinema is thankful for it.
-
14. HIGH SIERRA (1941)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/First National/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Raoul Walsh. Screenplay by John Huston and W.R. Burnett, based on the novel by Burnett. Starring Ida Lupino, Alan Curtis, Arthur Kennedy, Donald MacBride.
Bogart owes his career as a leading man to some boneheaded decisions by George Raft. The Warner Bros. contract player turned down two roles that eventually went to the then little-known star: first “High Sierra,” then “The Maltese Falcon.” The former casts Bogie as a thief newly released from prison who’s pulled back into his life of crime by an old boss (Donald MacBride) planning a robbery at a California resort. Propelled by Raoul Walsh’s energetic direction and John Huston’s crackerjack script, the film helped establish the iconic actor’s screen persona: a tough guy who’s also the smartest cookie in the room.
-
13. THE DESPERATE HOURS (1955)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by William Wyler. Screenplay by Joseph Hayes, based on his novel and play. Starring Fredric March, Arthur Kennedy, Martha Scott, Dewey Martin, Gig Young, Mary Murphy.
No one was better at playing bad than Bogart, and in “The Desperate Hours,” you almost find yourself rooting for him as Glenn Griffin, the leader of a trio of escaped convicts who take a random family hostage as they awaits funds to leave town. Director William Wyler keeps the tension nail-bitingly tight, while Fredric March proves a capable sparring partner as the straight-laced suburban dad who must stand up to Bogie and his gang of thugs. This one holds up even better than Michael Cimino’s dismal remake starring Mickey Rourke and Anthony Hopkins.
-
12. THE HARDER THEY FALL (1956)
Image Credit: Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Mark Robson. Screenplay by Philip Yordan, based on the novel by Budd Schulberg. Starring Rod Steiger, Jan Sterling, Mike Lane, Max Baer, Jersey Joe Walcott, Edward Andrews.
In his final screen performance, Bogart plays Eddie Willis, a down-on-his-luck sportswriter who’s hired by a disreputable fight promoter (Rod Steiger) to help publicize his latest find: an Argentinian boxer named Toro Moreno (Mike Lane). But unbeknownst to Toro, all of his matches have been fixed, and Eddie learns for the first time how badly the professional sports industry exploits its athletes. The film earned an Oscar nomination for Burnett Guffey’s gritty black-and-white cinematography, though Bogart was overlooked. It’s a shame, because this swan song, adapted from Budd Schulberg’s novel, ranks among his best work.
-
11. BEAT THE DEVIL (1953)
Image Credit: Romulus Films/Park Circus/REX/Shutterstock Directed by John Huston. Screenplay by John Huston and Truman Capote, based on the novel by James Helvick. Starring Jennifer Jones, Gina Lollobrigida, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre, Edward Underdown.
The final collaboration between Bogart and director John Huston, “Beat the Devil” went from critical and commercial flop to cult darling in lightening speed. (Although the star, who lost a considerable amount of his own money on the production, remained unimpressed.) A full-on camp classic, the film sends up the film noir genre with Bogart as one of five rogue adventurers in East Africa hoping to strike it rich with precious uranium. Apparently, Huston and writer Truman Capote made up the plot as they went along, and that spontaneity only adds to the goofy fun.
-
10. THE CAINE MUTINY (1954)
Image Credit: Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Edward Dmytryk. Screenplay by Stanley Roberts, based on the novel by Herman Wouk. Starring Jose Ferrer, Van Johnson, Fred MacMurray, Robert Francis, May Wynn, Tom Tully, E.G. Marshall, Lee Marvin.
Bogart earned his third and final Oscar nomination for Edward Dmytryk’s compelling adaptation of Herman Wouk’s bestselling novel. He plays Lt. Cmdr. Philip Francis Queeg, a U.S. Naval commander who shows signs of mental instability that jeopardizes his ship. When the second-in-command (Van Johnson) relieves him of his duties, he and another officer (Robert Francis) face a court martial for mutiny. Despite reaping seven Academy Award bids, including Best Picture, the film went home empty-handed, a casualty of an “On the Waterfront” sweep that also brought along Marlon Brando in lead actor. (Funny enough, Bogart won Best Actor in 1951 for “The African Queen” over Brando in “A Streetcar Named Desire.”)
-
9. KEY LARGO (1948)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by John Huston. Screenplay by Richard Brooks and Huston, based on the play by Maxwell Anderson. Starring Lauren Bacall, Edward G. Robinson, Lionel Barrymore, Claire Trevor.
The fourth and final collaboration between Bogart and Lauren Bacall is this John Huston-helmed adaptation of Maxwell Anderson’s acclaimed play (albeit with a few minor alterations). In “Key Largo,” a vicious gangster (Edward G. Robinson) holds a group of people hostage in a Florida hotel during a hurricane, including an ex-major (Bogart), his best friend’s widow (Bacall), and her father-in-law (Lionel Barrymore). Robinson has never been more menacing than in the scene where he’s soaking in a bathtub like an upturned crab. Claire Trevor won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for playing the mobster’s floozy moll.
-
8. IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
Image Credit: Irving Lippman/Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Nicholas Ray. Screenplay by Edmund H. North, based on the novel by Dorothy B. Hughes. Starring Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy, Carl Benton Reid, Art Smith, Jeff Donnell, Martha Stewart.
Bogart became famous playing cynical, world-weary loners, making him a perfect fit for that patron saint of outsiders, Nicholas Ray. “In a Lonely Place” casts him as Dixon Steele, a hack screenwriter prone to fits of rage. When he’s suspected of murdering a hat-check girl (Martha Stewart), the only person who can clear his name is his equally-gloomy neighbor, Laurel Gray (Gloria Grahame), who finds herself falling in love with him. But as Dixon’s temper flares, Laurel suspects the worst. Both a grim examination of the Hollywood machine and a heartbreaking look at doomed love, the film is a high watermark for both its director and stars.
-
7. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT (1945)
Image Credit: SNAP/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Howard Hawks. Screenplay by Jules Furthman and William Faulkner, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway. Starring Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall, Dolores Moran, Hoagy Carmichael.
“To Have and Have Not” was both a landmark in Bogart’s career and in his life, since it was how he met his future wife, Lauren Bacall. (Legend has it director Howard Hawks had his eye on her as well, but Bogie won her heart.) Based on a book by Ernest Hemingway (co-adapted by William Faulkner), the film concerns a romance between an ex-patriate (Bogart) and an American drifter (Bacall) during the burgeoning resistance in Vichy France. It’s no surprise the two got hitched shortly thereafter, since their on-camera chemistry is electrifying, particularly in the moment where Bacall asks, “You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.”
-
6. SABRINA (1954)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Billy Wilder. Screenplay by Billy Wilder, Ernest Lehman, and Samuel A. Taylor, based on Taylor’s play. Starring Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, Walter Hampden, John Williams, Martha Hyer, Joan Vohs.
Bogart’s tough guy veneer was infused with a wicked sense of humor, so it’s little wonder he’d shine in a full-on romantic comedy. In Billy Wilder’s “Sabrina,” he plays Linus Larrabee, the older brother of a girl-crazy playboy (William Holden) who’s set his sights on their chauffeur’s glamorous daughter (Audrey Hepburn). But the elder Larrabee finds himself drawn to her as well. It’s a testament to Wilder’s modern sensibilities that this holds up better than the 1995 remake, with Harrison Ford filling Bogart’s shoes. The film snagged six Oscar nominations, including Best Actress, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, winning for Edith Head’s dazzling costumes.
-
5. THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Howard Hawks. Screenplay by William Faulkner, Leigh Brackett, and Jules Furthman, based on the novel by Raymond Chandler. Starring Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone, Peggy Knudsen, Regis Toomey, John Ridgely, Charles Waldron, Charles D. Brown, Elisha Cook, Jr.
To describe the plot of “The Big Sleep” — in which private detective Phillip Marlowe (Bogart) becomes entangled in a web of deceit, blackmail, and murder when he’s hired by the wealthy General Sternwood (Charles Waldron) — would be an exercise in futility, since no one involved could describe it either. (Apparently Howard Hawks phoned novelist Raymond Chandler one day to ask about a key plot point and the author was equally clueless.) No matter, because this is a film that’s all about style, mood, and attitude, not to mention the sizzling romance between Marlowe and the General’s sexy daughter (Lauren Bacall). Don’t worry about the destination with this one: just sit back and enjoy the investigation.
-
4. THE AFRICAN QUEEN (1951)
Image Credit: ITV/REX/Shutterstock Directed by John Huston. Screenplay by John Huston and James Agee, based on the novel by C.S. Forester. Starring Katharine Hepburn, Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Theodore Bikel, Walter Gotell.
Bogart clinched his long-overdue Best Actor Oscar for John Huston’s rousing safari adventure, co-written by Pulitzer Prize-winner James Agee. He plays Charlie Allnutt, a booze-swilling riverboat captain transporting a spinster missionary (Best Actress nominee Katharine Hepburn) downriver during WWI. Despite their differences, the two team up to take down a German warship. The slovenly Bogart and the prim-and-proper Hepburn make for a perfect odd couple, and both are able to shine under Huston’s tight, nimble direction. Equally enjoyable for the lush, gorgeous African jungle, which serves as a character all its own.
-
3. THE TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE (1948)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and directed by John Huston, based on the novel by B. Traven. Starring Walter Huston, Tim Holt, Bruce Bennett.
“The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” is one of the bleakest films to come out of the studio system, a grim, unrelenting portrait of men driven insane by greed. It’s also one of the great adventure films, a sterling example of old-fashioned Hollywood artistry. Bogart gives one of his best performances as Fred C. Dobbs, a down-on-his-luck American drifting through Mexico who teams up with a fellow vagabond (Tim Holt) and an old prospector (Walter Huston) to mine for gold in the Sierra Madre Mountains. But he quickly unravels as the loot piles up, spiraling towards a tragic downfall. Bogart is mesmerizing as a paranoid, delusional failure whose hutzpah gets the best of him. John Huston won Oscars for writing and directing, and his father, Walter, took home Best Supporting Actor. Bogart, meanwhile, was inexplicably snubbed, perhaps unsettling voters a little too effectively.
-
2. THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
Image Credit: Warner Bros/First National/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and directed by John Huston, based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett. Starring Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, Sydney Greenstreet, Ward Bond, Elisha Cook Jr.
“The Maltese Falcon” finished what “High Sierra” started, transforming Bogart from a B-movie bit player into a bankable leading man. It also launched the directorial career of John Huston, then a fledgling writer, and kicked off the film noir genre. Not bad for the third remake of Dashiell Hammett’s potboiler about a private eye (Bogart) ensnared in a complicate plot involving a femme fatale (Mary Astor), a handful of criminals (Peter Lorre, Elisha Cook Jr., and Supporting Actor nominee Syndey Greenstreet in his film debut), and a jewel-encrusted statue. Never mind the convoluted plot: this one’s success rests squarely on Bogart’s tough, smart, and funny shoulders. The film earned additional Oscar nominations for Huston’s script and Best Picture, though its leading man was overlooked.
-
1. CASABLANCA (1943)
Image Credit: Jack Woods/Warner Bros/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Michael Curtiz. Screenplay by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, based on the play ‘Everybody Comes to Rick’s’ by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. Starring Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre.
“Casablanca” is so entrenched in cinema history it’s almost difficult to remember how well it works as a movie. Adapted from a forgotten play, it became the gold standard of A-list Hollywood craftsmanship thanks to a crackling script, sturdy direction, and first-rate performances from its large ensemble. Bogart has the role of a lifetime as Rick Blaine, a cynical nightclub owner in Morocco during WWII whose life is shaken by the arrival of an old flame (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband (Paul Henreid), a leader of the French Resistance. Rather than running off together, the two sacrifice their love for the greater good of defeating the Nazis. It’s that act of selflessness, plus a few choice on-liners and some great songs, that undoubtedly keeps audiences returning year after year. Despite winning three Oscars, including Best Picture, Bogart lost Best Actor to Paul Lukas (“Watch on the Rhine”). No matter, because Rick Blaine is one for the ages.
