The Big Sleep (1946)

This smart adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s 1939 novel offers tremendous writing and acting.

The convoluted plot is difficult to follow but it doesn’t really matter because Humphrey Bogart (as private detective Philip Marlowe) and Lauren Bacall (as Vivian Rutledge) are so magnetic. 

It looks stunning and some of the dialogue is dynamite.

Sabrina (1954)

Light romantic comedy directed by Billy Wilder. 

Audrey Hepburn stars in the title role. She thinks she’s in love with the wealthy Long Island next-door neighbour David (William Holden) but really she’s falling in love with his brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart). 

There are some nice moments but it’s not really funny enough to justify the slightly contorted plot. Hepburn and Bogart are both charismatic and charming, but you wish they had been given sharper, wittier lines to deliver. 

The film was remade in 1995 with Harrison Ford, Julia Ormond and Greg Kinnear.

The African Queen (1951)

Masterpiece directed by John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn. 

From the DVD box: “During World War One, a hard drinking river trader (Bogart) and a prim missionary (Hepburn) are forced to take a hazardous river expedition together, encountering tropical hazards, nefarious German officers and a surprising romance.”

The chemistry between the pair is extremely strong. There’s gentle humour and a surprising amount of tenderness, without ever resorting to sentimentality. It also works as an adventure story, a war film, a rom-com and a character study. There are elements of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in the couple floating down the river with the ever-present threat of an alien land in turmoil just beyond the river banks.

My only criticism is that the death of Hepburn’s missionary brother is never really explained. It would have made better narrative sense for the Germans to have killed him, instead of him suddenly being struck down by fever. Otherwise, The African Queen is a flawless thing of wonder.

The Roaring Twenties (1939)

Excellent drama starring James Cagney as Eddie Bartlett, a World War I veteran who turns to crime during Prohibition. He’s in love with a young singer who wrote to him during the war (Priscilla Lane) and ends up in business with another ruthless veteran (Humphrey Bogart) he cannot trust. As gang culture escalates, so do Eddie’s problems. Unsurprisingly, there isn’t a happy ending.

Cagney is excellent as the gangster who can’t make the girl he loves love him back. Lane is endearing and seems incredibly young as his would-be sweetheart. Gladys George is particularly convincing as Panama Smith, a cabaret club hostess and Eddie’s one true friend. Like her, you end up rooting for Eddie – despite everything – rather than moralising about his life choices.

The film covers a lot of ground, moving from the end of WWI to the early 1930s. Newsreel footage shows the changes in America that directly affect the characters. And while there’s an epic sweep, and plenty happens, it never feels slow or laboured because the pacing is so well judged.

Casablanca (1942)

Deservedly regarded as an all-time classic. It’s both unsentimental and hugely romantic. Humphrey Bogart and Claude Rains are especially charismatic; Ingrid Bergman less so. Rick’s Café is a place I would like to spend all my spare time at.