FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

In Play It Again, Sam, Woody Allen’s neurotic film critic is so obsessed with Humphrey Bogart that he imagines he can communicate with the fedora-wearing star, whose outmoded romantic advice causes more harm than good. Your choices, then, for what we’ll be screening on Tuesday 30 September, are out of three classic Humphrey Bogart movies. Up for the vote are…

Casablanca (Michael Curtiz, USA, 1942)

“Curtiz’s film is a classic for a reason - it’s crafted with the precision, detail and beauty of a Fabergé egg; the dialogue is hauntingly memorable and, in Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, it has one of the most magnetic screen pairings in history.”— Wendy Ide, The Times

Bogey is Rick, a cynical expatriate nightclub owner in Casablanca, whose cool is broken when old flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) drifts into town with new husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) in tow. Laszlo is a famed rebel with Nazis on his tail, and Ilsa knows that Rick is their only hope to get them get out of the country... With a supporting cast that includes Claude Raines, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre, Casablanca is a Hollywood classic of suspicion, doubt and dames - and Peak Bogey.

In A Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray, 1950)

“Ray wrings plenty of sweat from the Hitchcockian premise, and Bogart outdoes himself as a man mid-breakdown.” - Empire

Bogey is Dixon Steele, a cynical Hollywood Screenwriter, whose cool is broken when he becomes romantically involved with his beautiful neighbour, Laurel (Gloria Grahame). But when the police begin questioning Dixon about his possible involvement in the murder of a girl once met, Dixon begins to act increasingly erratically and Laurel begins to wonder if Dixon is as innocent as he claims... Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place is not only a gripping psychological study but a classic film noir of suspicion, doubt and dames - and Peak Bogey.

The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, USA, 1941)

“Among the movies we not only love but treasure, The Maltese Falcon stands as a great divide.” — Roger Ebert

Bogey is Sam Spade, a cynical private eye, whose cool is broken(ish) when beautiful femme fatale Ruth Wonderly (Mary Astor) walks into his office and asks for his help in tracking down her missing sister. But as Spade becomes entangled in a dangerous web of crime and intrigue (courtesy of Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet and the always brilliantly pathetic Elisha Cook Jr) he soon realizes he must find the one thing they all seem to want: the bejeweled Maltese falcon. n this hardboiled film noir featuring tough-talking gumshoes, duplicitous dames, and sinister-sounding foreign criminals… Adapted from Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel of the same name, John Huston's directorial debut is a classic film noir of suspicion, doubt and dames - and Peak Bogey.