The Petrified Forest (1936)

Subject: The Petrified Forest (1936) Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:57 pm

Starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis. This is Humphrey Bogart's big break.
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Subject: Re: The Petrified Forest (1936) Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:28 pm

This was different I suppose. The first thing I noticed was the set. This film takes place in the petrified forest of Arizona but this is certainly not shot on location but rather in front of some fake set. Overall, this doesn't really matter.

The entire movie takes place, for the most part, in real time. In fact, the movie is only about 3 scenes long. There's the scene at the gas station, the scene as people drive away, and then the scene back at the gas station.

Bogart isn't the star of this film, but I'll mention him first anyways. He originally wasn't supposed to get the part but the male lead to this film, Leslie Howard, insisted that Bogart get the part. Bogart was forever grateful and named his daughter Leslie in his honor. Anyways, his acting is pretty good and it's kind of cool to see him as a bad guy.

Leslie Howard is excellent in this film. He has a lot of dialogue in this film and he does a pretty believable job with it.

The same thing can be said for Bette Davis. She and Howard do a pretty good job together especially right at the end.

This isn't the greatest film I've ever seen by any means, but I thought it was good enough. It's the oldest American film I've ever seen although it isn't the oldest film I've seen - The Man Who Knew Too Much is a couple years older.

77/100
C+

UP NEXT: Let's stick with the 1930s gangster movies and watch Angels With Dirty Faces
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