Legendary screen star Humphrey Bogart is finally getting the documentary treatment in the new film, Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes.

Believe me when I say that I wish I liked this film more than I do. Though to be fair, my headspace has not been in the best place of late. But that being said, I do feel like I gave the documentary a fair chance. It’s not terrible but it doesn’t really add much to what I feel like we already know about Bogie. Another lens, maybe. If anything, we might be hearing some new insight but that’s about it. We do get to hear from a number of the women in his life and that’s what adds to the documentary, rather than take away from it. I’m not just talking about his fourth wife, Lauren Bacall. How many times has THAT story been done before? At the same time, thankfully, it is not a Wikipedia documentary. Wikipedia documentaries are the worst.

What surprises me from the get-go is that this is the first official documentary with approval by the actor’s estate. It’s narrated in Bogart’s own words. Filmmaker Kathryn Ferguson has access to never-before seen archives and letters. The filmmakers take Bogart’s direct quotes from interview tapes, transcripts, letters, and newspaper articles and script it into the film’s narration. There are also interviews from those who knew Bogart, mostly archival. While others share their own stories and insight about Bogart, he is very much front and center in the storytelling. The film goes beyond his impact on pop culture and what he means to cinema by exploring his personal life, too.

Obviously, many of us know about his marriage to the aforementioned Bacall, a cousin to late Israeli Prime Minister and President Shimon Peres. They met while filming To Have and Have Not and would star in a few more films together. He had three previous wives: Helen Menken, Mary Philips, and Mayo Methot. His marriage to Bacall was the longest of the four, having married in 1945 and lasting until his tragic death from cancer in January 1957. In addition to his four wives, Ferguson also frames the film around Bogart’s mother, Maud Humphrey. Anyway, their letters, diaries, and archival interviews are crucial in understanding just who Bogie was as a person. The film frames his life against the backdrop of World War I, Jazz Age Broadway, The Great Depression, World War II, Hollywood’s Golden Age, censorship, and the anti-communist witch hunt.

As an actor, he took on role after role–standard for contract players during Hollywood’s Golden Age. But it wasn’t until he broke through with his work in High Sierra and then transcended to superstardom with a starring role in The Maltese Falcon. His work in the film noir genre would pave the way for those who followed as detectives. One cannot discuss Bogart without bringing up his performance as Rick Blaine in the greatest love story ever told in cinematic history, Casablanca.

Interviews with Bogart and Bacall’s son, Stephen, help us to learn more about his father but also about his parents’ relationship. There are other talking heads but they otherwise get voiceover status. We never see them on screen at all. Otherwise, we’d be getting a talking head film that would just distract from the narrative. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t want to learn more insight from them! But again, Ferguson approaches the film in a very different way than one would probably have imagined.

If the film isn’t enough and you wish to learn more, there are a number of books. Biographies include Tough Without a Gun by Stefan Kantor and Bogart by A.M. Sperber and Eric Lax. The latter is described as definitive while the former is described as comprehensive.

Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes approaches Bogie’s life from a new perspective, adding to Bogie’s legacy.

DIRECTOR: Kathryn Ferguson
FEATURING: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Mayo Methot, Mary Philips, Helen Menken, Maud Humphrey, Louise Brooks, John Huston, Katharine Hepburn, Stephen Bogart, Eric Lax, Thomas Doherty, Laura Horak, Pamela Hutchinson, Sharon Dwyer Buzard

Freestyle Digital Media releases Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes in theaters on November 15, 2024. Grade: 3.5/5

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