The Petrified Forest
- This article is about the film The Petrified Forest. For the National Park in Arizona see, Petrified Forest National Park.
| The Petrified Forest | |
|---|---|
 The Petrified Forest DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Archie Mayo |
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis (executive producer uncredited) |
| Written by | Robert E. Sherwood (play) Charles Kenyon Delmer Daves |
| Starring | Leslie Howard Bette Davis Genevieve Tobin Dick Foran Humphrey Bogart |
| Cinematography | Sol Polito |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | February 6, 1936 (U.S. release) |
| Running time | 83 min |
| Language | English |
| IMDb profile | |
The Petrified Forest (1936) is a predecessor to film noir, with an original screenplay by Delmer Daves and Charles Kenyon derived from the play by Robert E. Sherwood. It stars Humphrey Bogart as Duke Mantee, Bette Davis as Gabrielle "Gabby" Maple, and Leslie Howard as Alan Squier.
Contents |
Plot
This 1930s drama is set in the Petrified Forest area in northern Arizona. Alan Squier, hitchhiking, wanders into a roadside diner. The diner is run by Jason Maple (Porter Hall), his daughter Gabby, and her grandfather (Charley Grapewin), "an old man who almost got shot by Billy the Kid."
Gabby's mother, in love with a young handsome American in his military uniform, married Gabby's father. But eventually she found herself living in the remote desert with a "dull defeated man." She moved back to France when Gabby was a young child. She now sends Gabby poetry and her daughter dreams about visiting Bourges one day to study art. Gabby shows Alan her paintings and reads him a favorite Villon poem.
To Alan Squier, who sees himself as a failed writer, Gabby represents the future and he finds her eagerness and optimism both touching and refreshing. When Duke Mantee, "a world famous killer," and his gang appear and hold everyone hostage, Alan eventually makes an arrangement with Duke. With Gabby out of the room, Alan signs over an insurance policy to her and asks Duke to shoot him. "It couldn't make any difference to you, Duke. After all, if they catch you, they can hang you only once . . ." And to another character, he explains: "Living I'm worth nothing to her. Dead—I can buy her the tallest cathedrals, and golden vineyards, and dancing in the streets."
Trivia
- Even though he had been a huge success in the Broadway play, Bogart was initially not cast in the film version. Instead, Warner Brothers planned to use Edward G. Robinson, since Robinson was under contract to Warners and Bogart was not. Legend has it that Howard lobbied Jack Warner to hire Bogart after the struggling actor called him from New York to remind him that he'd said that he wouldn't appear in a movie version without Bogart as Mantee. According to Robert Sklar, however, it was studio politics and Robinson's reluctance to take on another gangster role that resulted in Bogart being cast (Sklar, 1992, pp. 60-62). Whatever the truth may be, the film doubtless made Bogart's reputation in Hollywood and he remained grateful to Howard throughout his life—naming his daughter after him.
- The set mistakenly includes saguaro cacti, which do not grow in the area.
- The Petrified Forest was remade in 1955 on live television as an installment of Producer's Showcase, a weekly dramatic anthology, featuring a now top-billed Bogart as Mantee, Henry Fonda in Leslie Howard's role, and Bogart's wife Lauren Bacall playing Bette Davis' part. Jack Klugman, Richard Jaeckel, and Jack Warden played supporting roles. Unlike many live television dramas of the 1950s, this one still exists and remains archived for viewing at the Museum of Television and Radio in New York City and Los Angeles.
References
- Skar, Robert (1992). City Boys: Cagney, Bogart, Garfield. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04795-2.
External links
Categories
1936 films | Robert E. Sherwood plays | Film noir | Films based on plays | Black and white films