Bogart This Quiz!

Answer: Fred C. Dobbs

John Huston directed the 1948 film "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. It is set in Mexico in 1925, when two hapless drifters decide to join an old prospector to search for gold in the Sierra Madre mountains. One of the drifters is Fred C. Dobbs played by Humphrey Bogart. Dobbs becomes greedy and paranoid and winds up with the fate he deserves. Walter Huston (John's dad) won an Oscar for playing Howard, the old prospector.

Answer: Sam Spade

Dashiell Hammett's novel is brought to life in "The Maltese Falcon", a 1941 movie directed by John Huston. It features the prototypical hard-boiled private detective or 'gumshoe', Sam Spade, played by Bogie. Spade must deal with a lying femme fatale, Brigid O'Shaunessey, played by Mary Astor.

He must also handle three very odd criminals in the search for a priceless statute known as the Maltese Falcon.

Answer: Frank McCloud

They "had it all, just like Bogie and Bacall...Sailing away to Key Largo" in John Huston's 1948 film, "Key Largo". Set in the Florida Keys, Frank McCloud (Humphrey) goes to a rundown hotel to honor the memory of his old World War II buddy. The hotel is now being run by his friend's widow (Bacall) and her wheelchair bound father (Lionel Barrymore). Enter an evil gangster named Johnny Rocco and a tropical hurricane and you have a suspense-filled masterpiece.

Answer: Duke Mantee

For a change of pace, we have one of Bogart's earlier films where he is on the wrong side of the law. In 1936's "The Petrified Forest", we meet Gabby (Bette Davis) who works at her father's small diner in Arizona (long before Alice Hyatt), but longs for something more.

In walks Alan Squire (Leslie Howard), a man who feels he has nothing to live for. So far so good, until the notorious killer Duke Mantee walks into the diner and changes their lives forever.

Answer: Paul Fabrini

Raoul Walsh's 1940 movie, "They Drive by Night", is about two truck-driving brothers, Joe Fabrini, played by George Raft and Paul (Bogie). The film is set in California and explores the graft, corruption, and fierce competition in the industry, forcing the brothers to drive long hours in the dead of night. Along with a waitress who has just left her job, they witness the death of a colleague who falls asleep at the wheel, and they become determined to quit the business.

Answer: James Frazier

In an earlier 1938 movie, "Angels with Dirty Faces", we have the now-cliched premise of two boyhood friends who wind up on different sides of the law. There is Jerry Connolly (Pat O'Brien) who becomes a Catholic priest, while his pal Rocky Sullivan (James Cagney) becomes a gangster and the idol of the neighborhood kids (pre-"Goodfellas").

In the movie, not only is Bogart a bad guy and associate of Rocky, but he is not the star. SPOILER: Rocky comes to a bad end.

Answer: Rick Blaine

There is no way I could leave out "Casablanca", Michael Curtiz' 1942 movie, set in French Morocco during World War II. Here Bogie plays American expatriate Rick Blaine who owns a nightclub and gambling den called Rick's Cafe Americain. The cafe caters to a varied clientele which includes Vichy French, German officials and refugees.

Here Rick meets up with former love Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) who is now married, and forces Rick into making an agonizing decision.

Answer: Philip Marlowe

Howard Hawks directed the 1946 Bogie and Bacall movie, "The Big Sleep". Here Bogie plays the private detective Philip Marlowe, based on the 1939 novel by Raymond Chandler. Wealthy General Sternwood hires Marlowe to help his daughter Carmen who is being blackmailed over her gambling debts.

In keeping with the film noir genre, the private eye becomes involved with gambling, organized crime, murder and Sternwood's other daughter, Vivian Rutledge, played by Lauren Bacall.

Answer: Charlie Allnut

I had to include the film for which Bogie won his only Academy Award, i.e., "The African Queen", the 1951 movie directed by John Huston (anyone seeing a pattern here?). It pits the hard-drinking riverboat captain, Charlie Allnut, against the strait-laced missionary, Rose Sayer, played by Katharine Hepburn. Set in East Africa during World War I, we see Rose burying her brother Reverend Samuel Sayer, and then trying to exact revenge by using Allnut's boat, the African Queen.

Answer: Glenn Griffin

"The Desperate Hours", from 1955, is one of Bogie's more recent movies. Directed by William Wyler, Bogie once again returns to his 'bad guy' persona. Along with his brother and another convict, Glenn Griffin, escapes from prison. Looking for a place to hide from the police, they choose a house owned by Dan Hilliard (Frederic March) in an upscale suburban neighborhood in Indianapolis. Dan and his wife and two kids are held hostage by the trio terrorizing the family.

Answer: Eddie Willis

Bogart's last film was "The Harder They Fall", released in 1956. He plays respected New York City sportswriter Eddie Willis. When Eddie's newspaper folds and he finds himself out of a job, he is approached by fight promoter Nick Benko (Rod Steiger) to act as a public relations man for Benko's heavyweight fighter. Offered an unlimited expense account, Willis agrees, despite the fact that the fighter is a loser. Corruption and a ring death give him second thoughts.

Answer: Philip Francis Queeg

In my opinion, one of Bogie's greatest performances was as US Naval captain Lt. Commander Philip Francis Queeg in the 1954 movie "The Caine Mutiny". It was based on the 1951 novel by Herman Wouk. Set in the Pacific during World War II, we are introduced to the men on the obsolete minesweeper USS Caine.

The easy-going captain is replaced by the hard-nosed Lt. Commander Queeg. After several incidents, the crew loses faith in the captain, questions his sanity and mutinies. Courts-martial to follow.

Answer: Linus Larrabee

On a lighter note, we have the 1954 film "Sabrina", directed by Billy Wilder, and remade in 1995. The plot is about two brothers from a wealthy family, Linus and David Larrabee, played by Bogart and William Holden, respectively. While Linus is dedicated and hard working, David is a playboy and a slacker. Enter the daughter of the family chauffeur, Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn), who had a childhood crush on David.

When David returns from Paris he finally notices Sabrina, and the two brothers vie for her affection.

Answer: Harry Morgan

Howard Hawk's 1944 "To Have and Have Not" once again pairs Bogart and Bacall. The setting is the island of Martinique during World War II. Here expatriate Harry Morgan (Bogie) and his sidekick Eddie hire out boats; however, the war has cut into their business. Harry decides to abandon his neutrality policy and transport a fugitive from the Nazis to Martinique. With the war going on around them, the focus is also on Harry's relationship with resistance supporter Marie Browning.

Answer: George Hally

Going back to the 1930s again, we have Raoul Walsh's 1939 movie "The Roaring Twenties". It is the story of three men returning home to America after fighting in World War I. Lloyd Hart (Jeffrey Lynn) returns to his law practice; Eddie Bartlett (James Cagney) becomes a cab driver, and George Hally (Bogart), who had been a saloon keeper, becomes a bootlegger during Prohibition. Eddie gets rich and George becomes his partner in the rackets until karma rears its head.