Customer Reviews

Petrified Forest

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read that this movie can be compared to the great "The Desperate Hours," but boy, are those people wrong! Don't listen to those people! I also can't believe it got 4 1/2 stars out of five in a movie guide that will remain nameless (because I usually respect their views).

The first half is a total bore with Leslie Howard and Bette Davis talking about things that I have no memory of. Sappy romantic stuff, basically. Then a very young Humphrey Bogart siezes control of the local restaurant that Davis and Howard are staying in. Those scenes have no suspense or interest whatsoever, unlike The Desperate Hours. Then there's this whole poetic, Shakespeare-ish ending that seems very dated. Hey, I bet the scene even seemed dated BACK when it was released! It's that bad.

So if you're fans of the stars I named above, don't see this movie. It's not really them. They're aliens PRETENDING to be them! These are not quality actors in The Petrified Forest! They're FAKE!

As for the real Petrified Forest, I've heard it's real nice. Go see it if you're ever in California.

This film marked one of the first starring roles for film legend Humphrey Bogart. Bogart plays a gangster, Duke Mangee, who with his gang, is on the run from the law. The film starts out when Leslie Howard wanders into a small desert gas station to get some food and runs into Bette Davis. They almost instantly take to each other. They discuss the book of poetry she is reading and he tells her he used to be a writer, but he hasn't written anything in a long time because he is uninspired. Davis, who has spent most of her life in the desert and wants desperatly to move to her birth place in France,finds the stranger very intriguing. They talk and she asks him if he wants to run away with her to France, but he has been there and doesn't want to go back. Then touble strikes when Howard catches a ride with a couple and they run into Bogart and his gang down the road. Bogart takes the couples car and leaves them all in the desert. Apparently he has picked Davis's gas station to rendezbous with his girl. Howard rushes back to tell Davis they are coming. Of coarse, they are already there. Bogart holds them hostage while he waits and drinks. Howard decides he is love with Davis and strikes an interesting deal with Bogart for her life. The film ends with a fatal shootout.

This movie was suppose to be serious, but time is catching up to it. Davis and Howard are good, but their affair is almost comic. Bogart totaly overacts as the tough guy, Duke. The rest of the cast is okay at best. The ending of the film is anticlimatic which pretty much sumarizes the whole film. This is a film that would interest young Davis and Bogart fans.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents "THE PETRIFIED FOREST" (1936) (82 min/B&W) (Fully Restored/Dolby Digitally Remastered) -- Starring Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart, Bette Davis, Dick Foran & Joe Sawyer

Directed by Archie Mayo

Burned-out British intellectual Alan Squier wanders into the desert service station/restaurant owned by Jason Maple. Alan finds himself an object of fascination for Jason's starry-eyed daughter, Gabrielle, who dreams of moving to France and establishing herself. Boze Hertzlinger, Gabrielle's bowser attendant boyfriend, grows jealous of Alan, but the penniless, dissipated Briton has no intention of settling down; in fact, as soon as he scores a ride from wealthy tourists Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm, he's on his way out of Gabrielle's life or so everyone thinks. Later that same day, Alan, Gabrielle, Jason, Boze, and Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm are huddled together in the same restaurant, held at gunpoint by Dillinger-like desperado Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart) and his gang.

When originally presented on Broadway, Robert E. Sherwood's The Petrified Forest starred Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart. Warner Bros. intended to cast Edward G. Robinson in Duke's role, only to be thwarted by Howard, who told the studio that he himself would drop out of the project if Bogart wasn't retained. The film proved to be just the break that Bogart needed; years later, he expressed his undying gratitude to Howard by naming his daughter Leslie Bogart.

Absolutely riveting!

Leslie Howard & Humphrey Bogart re-teamed a year later for the delightful "Stand-In" (1937).

BIOS:
1. Archie Mayo [Director]
Date of Birth: 29 January 1891, New York City, New York
Date of Death: 4 December 1968, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

2. Leslie Howard [aka: Leslie Howard Steiner]
Date of Birth: 3 April 1893, Forest Hill, London, England, UK
Date of Death: 1 June 1943, Bay of Biscay (casualty of war)

3. Humphrey Bogart
Date of Birth: 25 December 1899 - New York City, New York
Date of Death: 14 January 1957 - Los Angeles, California

4. Bette Davis [aka: Ruth Elizabeth Davis]
Date of Birth: 5 April 1908 - Lowell, Massachusetts
Date of Death: 6 October 1989 - Neuilly, France

Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 5 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 5 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]

Total Time: 82 min on DVD ~ Warner Bros. Pictures ~ (01/25/2005)

The quality of this DVD was exceptional -- the picture is crystal clear and the audio is great. Some of the scenes filmed out of the diner were a bit fuzzy - but noticeable only because the rest of the picture was so clear. There was clear and even sound throughout. My DVD was part of the Warner Bros. Pictures Gangster collection. Exceptional quality!

Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart were in the original Broadway play. And this was made again into a film called "Escape in the Desert." Because I knew this movie was supposed to have Humphrey Bogart in it, it was almost like watching two movies, the one before Humphrey Bogart appeared, and the one with Humphrey Bogart. The actual filming location is Red Rock Canyon, California, USA. With one this is a story a lot of people coming from different directions in their life. Together they evaluate and solve their problems the best they can in a short given time. The beauty in this movie is the action and reaction of the characters.
A similar action and reaction movie that comes to mind is "Key Largo (1948)". However in this movie Humphrey Bogart gets to be a good guy. After these two movies, one that you need to look for is "Outward Bound (1930)" with Leslie Howard.

Based on Robert E. Sherwood's Broadway blockbuster, "The Petrified Forest" (1936) is basically two acts of melodrama with a crime thriller finish. It stars Leslie Howard as cockeyed idealist, Alan Squier. Alan arrives at the ramshacked oasis of Maple Service Station - a little bit of nothin' presided over by Jason Maple (Porter Hall) and his drunken Grampa (Charles Grapewin). Fat Paula (Nina Campana) rounds out the motely crew in charge of eats and gas at this filling station in the middle of nowhere. The one jewel sparkling amidst the dessert heat is waitress, Gabby Maple (Betty Davis). She's just as cockeyed as Alan, aspiring to study art in Paris. After much lamentation - most of it needless, Gabby persuades a visiting couple, the Chisholms (Paul Harvey and Genevieve Tobin) to give Alan a ride to California. However, plans take a turn for the worst when everyone is forced to spend the night hold up inside the diner at the hands of ruthless prison escapee, Duke Mantee (Humphrey Bogart).

After some high stakes threats and more than a bit of action Alan creates the circumstances by which Gabby's aspirations for a better life will flourish.What elevates this minor bit of tripe from its humble roots are the brilliant performances by Davis and Bogart. Bogart, in particular, is menacing in a reserved sort of restraint. Although he rarely becomes animated or excited he always seems capable of becoming completely unhinged.

Years of viewing this film on late night television in less than stellar prints didn't have me holding out for much on this outing. I am pleased to report that Warner's newly mastered DVD is a quiet vision of beauty. The gray scale has been impeccibly rendered. Though blacks are soft and somewhat more deep gray than black, overall the contrast levels are superb. Whites are clean. Occasionally there is a bit more film grain present than one would like but the image quality is a definite improvement over what I have been used to seeing. The audio is mono but nicely represented with minimal background distortion and hiss. A competent commentary by Bogie biographer, Eric Lax, newly produced featurette and audio only bonus of the original radio broadcast of the film are nice extras worthy of this classy classic. Highly recommended!

I taped The Petrified Forest a couple of years ago when it was shown on TCM and I thought it was a very good movie! Bette Davis plays a young woman who lives in a desert town with her father and works as a waitress in his desert cafe, she is bored and would love to leave home and go see the world! A disillusioned writer played by Leslie Howard stops at the cafe and she falls for him but when a criminal played by Humphrey Bogart and his gang are on the run from the law they hide out in the cafe and hold everyone hostage. This is a good movie and I like that Bette Davis is playing a nice girl who is sweet and compassionate when it seems that she was generally known for playing ruthless, cold and calcuating women so this is a nice change. I recommend this movie, I don't think it's been put on DVD yet but I really think it should be put on DVD!

Actually, this was not quite Bogart's debut. He had been in a few utterly forgettable films in tiny roles in the early 1930s before returning to Broadway, but this is his "real" debut.

THE PETRIFIED FOREST had been a highly successful stage play starring Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart, and Warner Brothers wanted to do a film version of it. They therefore approached Howard with the offer, indicating that they would like to have him reprise his starring role, and have him star opposite Edward G. Robinson as Duke Mantee. Howard, however, indicated that he would only make the film if his Broadway costar, Bogart, played Duke Mantee. At this point in his career, Bogart's acting career had consisted primarily in playing juvenile parts in various plays (the famous line "Tennis anyone?" is perhaps mythically attributed to one of his roles, but sums up the spirit of onstage persona) and failed attempts to break into film. Playing Duke Mantee had been a dramatic departure for Bogart, who had never previously played a heavy. Luckily for film history, Howard insisted that he would not make THE PETRIFIED FOREST unless Bogart played Mantee.

Historically, the most important thing about this film is that it launched Bogart's film career. Although he would spend the next four years playing a huge number of gangsters, he was, nonetheless, after this film, a Hollywood mainstay, becoming the number four gangster in the Warner Brother stable after Robinson, Cagney, and Raft.

THE PETRIFIED FOREST is, however, entertaining on its own. The one great negative of the film is the fact that it is very obviously a film version of a stage play. The action of the film is limited to only a few locations, and overall the production has a very static feel. Although there are some interesting sets, with some fascinating painted backdrops of Arizona landscape (some of it was shot live, but most of it is done in a studio), the real interest in the film lies in the performances. Leslie Howard made far too few films for my taste. I know he was deeply involved in the stage, but he was both immensely talented and quite charismatic. Unfortunately, his bizarre death cut his talent off far too soon (during WW II, the Luftwaffe shot down a plane he was in, thinking that a military or political VIP was on it). Bogart is striking as Duke Mantee. Bette Davis is as enjoyable in this as any film I have seen her in. I have to confess that by and large I don't care for Bette Davis. She has a tendency to over enunciate every word in a way that is not merely unnatural but a little unnerving. She never seems at ease on screen. She always seems to be "acting." Still, she is well suited to this role.

Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard reprise their stage roles as "bad guy/good guy" in this ever timely tale of greed and ruthlessness vs. selfless and compassionate courage. Caught in the middle of this age old story is a young Bette Davis, who in the course of hours learns to love the "hero", never stopping to despise the evil enemy.

The setting is a diner, suddenly held-up by Bogart, who eventually shoots and kills the kindly Howard who 'dared' to stand up to the bully (mainly to protect Davis). The helpless waitress (with the universal 'dream' to get away and make a better life for herself), sees the crisis as a 'sign'. Before dying, Howard makes Davis the sole benefitiary of a modest insurance policy, which Davis tearfully accepts.

This film lives on in Cinema History as one of the true classics of all time. The transition from stage to silver screen was sucessful, especially when considering that the story was made available to a much greater audience. This is a highly recommended 5-star film!*****

There are probably many reasons why THE PETRIFIED FOREST is as watchable today as it was in the 1930's. It would be easy to point to the collection of stars in it: Bogie, Bette Davis, Leslie Howard, but for me its appeal becomes obvious only after multiple viewings. The inner charm of the film lies in the quickened relationship between Ms. Davis and Mr. Howard. At the start of the film, Gaby, played by Davis, is clearly unhappy with her life, her job, her dumb jock boyfriend. She seems to be waiting for something to happen to her in a dramatic way. Enter Leslie Howard, who supplies instant magnetism and charm as the itinerant intellectual in pursuit of his own dream in California that takes a detour in a scruffy diner in the American desert. Much of the charm of the first half of the film lies in the reversal of roles of who pursues whom. Typically, the male chases the female, but in a manner later duplicated numerous times by David Janssen as the Fugitive, Howard strolls into a sleepy small town environment wherein the local lovely simply takes a gander at the Handsome Smart Stranger and falls for him to such an extant that she is willing to run off with him. Howard clearly cares for her too, but he has the smarts to know that the odds are stacked against them, so off he goes. Now if the movie had ended right there, it still would have been a fascinating period piece. As soon as Howard takes off, a crew of bank robbers headed by Humphrey Bogart force him and a wealthy married couple to return to the diner as hostages. It is at this point that director Archie Mayo complicates and intensifies the relation between Davis and Howard by having the wealthy married matron interact with Davis such that the movie takes on a tender tone of 'what might have been' for that matron. This matron tells Bette Davis her own life story which parallels what Davis' life might have been had she married for reasons other than love. The matron describes her marriage decades earlier to a wealthy banker prompted by her greedy parents. Not a day goes by, she warns, that she does not regret giving up her true love. The matron exhorts Davis to 'go for it.' From this point, the film revolves around a complicated triangle of the robbers, Davis and Howard, and the pursuit of the law. By the film's end, Howard sacrifices his life so that Bette Davis can have hers.
THE PETRIFIED FOREST is justly known for the steely performance of Bogie as killer Duke Mantee, but for me, what made the movie click was the blossoming yet doomed relation between the thwarted lovers. Director Mayo seems to suggest that the petrification of the trees outside the diner need not include a similar hardening of the hearts of the actors. Take a chance, the matron urged. Maybe we all should.