THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)

(Week 1 1/2: Humphrey Bogart)

THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)

Directed by Archie Mayo

This is one of those films towards which I can't help being biased. I love the theater, and what I love about old movies are the styles of acting and writing that are more theatrical than what you commonly see in films today. This film is based on a play and makes no effort to hide its theatrical origin. In fact, two of its actors had originated their parts on Broadway. Some plays don't translate well on screen--this one does fantastically.

The story is about Alan: British, intellectual, penniless, and a wanderer. Jaded with life, he travels across this "petrified forest" and wanders into a roadside diner where he meets a cute girl who loves poetry and longs to see more of the world. He possesses many qualities that she admires in a man and probably doesn't see much in the men in her life, so that she falls for him almost instantly. But Alan has a secret: he is depressed to the point of suicidal. And while he likes her, he doesn't open his heart to her quite the same way that she does for him. Then, enters Duke Mantee, an outlaw on the run, terrorizing everybody involved.

The writing is superb. Scene after scene we get to know different characters in lively, colorful dialogues. Leslie Howard as Alan is charming and full of quips. Does he seem like somebody ready to jump to his death at any second? Not really. But I personally haven't known anybody who is truly suicidal. Famous figures like Virginia Woolf or Ernest Hemingway both suffered from bipolar disorder. The deepest, darkest part of themselves is probably hidden from most people. Perhaps Alan, too, keeps that part of himself away from the screen.

Bette Davis as Gabrielle is cute as a button. She is enchanting in every shot. Those who only know her as the diva she would later become would find her natural charm in this film very refreshing. She makes memorable what is otherwise a drab and archetypal character. 

Duke Mantee is played by Humphrey Bogart. Then 36-year-old and struggling to stay in business, Bogart became a star with this film. He proves himself an exceptional character actor with enough charisma to outshine both Howard and Davis. His characterization of Duke Mantee is magnificent and sensitive. It is a wonder how one could combine such magnetism with realism. Duke Mantee is both a legend and a person, and Bogart does both justice. 

The petrified forest as the setting evokes the kind of mysticism that the forest in Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream" does, except here it is a nightmare. The characters romanticize it and at once is aware of its haunting quality. Though terrorized by Mantee, they also give away a hint of excitement at this incredible event that shakes up the mellow rhythm of their lives. While it is known as a precursor of film noir, and while it utilizes many qualities of a Western, it seems to be neither. Instead, THE PETRIFIED FOREST treats its themes and characters so seriously it transcends genres and will outlast many eras to come.