REMEMBERING HUMPHREY BOGART AND LESLIE HOWARD - WHEN ACTING WAS A FINE ART

Humphrey Bogart Estate

The Petrified Forest was released on this day in 1936. It turned out to be Humphrey Bogart's first big break (with The Maltese Falcon being the second). Having failed on his first trip to Hollywood, Bogie was back on Broadway, playing Duke Mantee in the stage version of The Petrified Forest. When Warner Brothers wanted to turn the play into a movie, Leslie Howard insisted that he'd only make the movie if Bogart was allowed to play Duke Mantee on the big screen. Howard died during WWII when his plane was shot down by the Germans. Bogart never forgot what Howard did for him, and he named his daughter Leslie in tribute to Leslie Howard.