Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes
Directed by Kathryn Ferguson
Written by Eleanor Emptage and Kathryn Ferguson
Unrated
Runtime: 1 hour, 39 minutes
In theaters

by Nikk Nelson, Staff Writer

“One thing that was constant between a sober
and drunk Bogie was his needling of phonies…”

My introduction to Humphrey Bogart and film noir happened at the same time. I was ten years old and in 1995, there was nothing cooler than Tales from the Crypt on HBO. The week the episode “You, Murderer” aired, I recognized the image of Humphrey Bogart in that episode from one of my Grandma Nelson’s VHS tapes—The Maltese Falcon. My grandmother had shoeboxes full of Betamax tapes and when that technology died (much to her chagrin, she told me often how she was assured by the salesman that Betamax was here to stay) she, I think out of almost pure spite, refused to purchase VHS. She had plenty of recorded VHS but very few actual movies in the format. The Maltese Falcon was one of the rare exceptions and it always caught my attention on her shelf.

So, the next time I visited, I asked if we could watch it, and she was more than happy to oblige. I remember immediately finding a kindred spirit in Sam Spade and Bogart’s portrayal of the character. I was (and am) a highly sensitive being who learned by age ten that a brutally dry sense of humor and whip-crack sarcasm were not only ways to defend myself in an incredibly insensitive world but a way to suss out in that world who was a friend and who was an enemy. From that moment on, I was an avid film noir fan. In fact, I was in the emergency room about a month ago (I’m fine, now) and while I was waiting, I turned on Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and The Big Sleep was on. The nurse came in, looked at the screen, and said, “No football?” I said, “I’m allergic to grass.” I think Bogie would have liked that line.

I never knew much about the man himself or his life outside of anecdotal bits I would catch in other films, TV shows, or documentaries so I was beyond excited to be able to review Kathryn Ferguson’s, Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes. An intimate portrayal of Humphrey Bogart unfolds with film, interview, home movie, and other archival footage mixed with live-action reenactments—very similar in concept and execution to the documentary, Belushi—with a guiding narrator, Kerry Shale, imitating Bogie’s voice. The documentary takes you through the beginning of Bogie’s life as a young man, struggling in school and living in the cold, indifferent shadow of his mother, world renowned illustrator Maude Humphrey—all the way to his untimely death from cancer in 1957.

Between those two points on a timeline was an objectively impressive life that included three marriages. One thing I appreciated most about the documentary is, although it sits with Bogie in the center, it gives just as much consideration to his ex-wives and the world around them; most notably Mayo Methot who actually shot at Bogie at least three times with a .45 caliber pistol and literally stabbed him in the back after an argument about politics. It may sound strange, but this was the aspect of the documentary I found to be the most comforting. When you trace Bogie’s life, from prohibition in the 20’s to World War II to the Red Scare and The Hollywood Ten against the House Un-American Activities Committee, the overwhelming sense I got was one of parallels.

What we’re living with, especially since November 5th, feels very new, terrifying, and unprecedented. And maybe it is. But I saw so much in this film, the fights we’re fighting now were the same fights people were fighting then, against the same forces with the same faces behind them. Although it doesn’t make the present any less disheartening, it leaves a shred of hope for the future—if we found our way through it once, then we can do it again.

It took Humphrey Bogart decades in the business to actually succeed in it. He was in his mid-forties when he made Casablanca. As a young man, he was told he was too untalented and ugly. But when World War II broke out, his “ruggedness” (what Hollywood calls ugly when they can exploit and profit from it) was suddenly in demand. Had he left the stage a minute sooner, he would have missed his entire career, and I think cinema would undoubtedly be the worse for it.

Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes is a solidly composed, wonderfully illuminating documentary that I hope somehow parlays into a biopic of Humphrey Bogart. After seeing this film, I feel like we could really use one—to see how similar his world and our world are, and to see the principles he championed in his time of monsters. And, I think an unknown 44-year old actor should play him. For me, above all else, the hallmark of a great documentary is when it gives me homework to do. And this one gave me an amazing list of Bogart performances to seek out. I’ll leave the list below and then perhaps talk myself into doing the next Get in the Basement with the Cinematic Maniac dedicated to Bogie. I didn’t know I needed this documentary so much right now. But I did. I would recommend it to any fan of the man, the film noir genre, or biographical documentaries in general. There’s an amazing story captured and told here.

Bogie Homework:

The Petrified Forest
Angels with Dirty Faces
High Sierra
In a Lonely Place
The African Queen
Beat the Devil
The Caine Mutiny