A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

There's a more than satisfactory amount of boom-boom in the movie's trim running time.

Bogie (1980) ** 1/2 (out of 4)Vincent Sherman directs this bio of screen legend Humphrey Bogart, which is interesting since Sherman directed several Bogart pictures including The Return of Dr. X and All Through the Night. Kevin O'Connor gets the part of Bogart as we see the star struggle in Hollywood but eventually take off into a major star. We also see his personal life including his troubled marriage to Mayo Methot (Ann Wedgeworth) and eventual love Lauren Bacall (Kathryn Harrold). I think the hardest thing for an actor to do is try and play another legendary character and that rings true here. O'Connor really doesn't look like Bogart, certainly doesn't sound like him and he never perfectly captures the Bogart feel but there's not an actor alive who could capture Bogart except Bogart himself. With that said, O'Connor really isn't too bad here and overall I could put aside the obvious differences and enjoy his performance. Wedgeworth is a tad bit over the top as the alcoholic Mayo but Harrold isn't too bad as Bacall. For the most part the film looks at the two marriages of Bogart, which is fine but I wish they had paid more attention to Bogart the actor. There are a couple great scenes with Bogart in the office of Jack Warner arguing about roles and I wish there were more of this.

Kevin O'Connor is as much like Humphrey Bogart as Victor Buono was like Marlon Brando. What were they thinking when they cast this thing? Okay, I'll give you Kathryn Harrold as Bacall. She's not perfect, but she can act and is fetching enough ("fetching" is a word that isn't used nearly enough) but this boring, by-the-book shallow TV biography is as tacky as a coin operated TV set in a hotel room. The best things about this turkey was the work of Anne Wedgeworth as Mayo Methot (who doesn't look a thing like the real Methot, but how many of you even know what she looks like? She only did a few small parts in Warner Brother flicks so...) and the actor who played Peter Lorre for about a hot second.If you want a bio of Humphrey DeForest Bogart, there are plenty of good books out there, especially the latest and the Lauren Bacall autobiography from a few years back, but this hackneyed mess is about as pathetic as they come. Who ARE these people that think O'Connor was well cast anyway? And I thought MY vision was bad. Not to mention, the man sounds and acts nothing like the real thing. One day, they'll do this story right and cast the perfect guy so I can say in characteristic Bogie fashion, "You're good, kid. Real good!" This ain't the one, folkies. I'm gonna get a good belt of scotch now and watch the real Bogart in "Casablanca" or "The Maltese Falcon" and wash this bad memory from my mind.

The life of Humphrey Bogart, mainly during his marriage with the alcoholic actress Mayo Methot and with Lauren Bacall, is presented in a shallow biography. The movie looks like a soap opera and does not show, for example, how he became a great actor, or his problems with the Joseph McCarthy communist witch-hunters. The good points are the selection of Kevin O'Connor, perfect in the role of Humphrey Bogart, having inclusive the same voice and movements, and the gorgeous and elegant Kathryn Harrold in the role of Lauren Bacall. I believe that the great Humphrey Bogart deserves a better homage than this film. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): 'O Outro Lado de Humphrey Bogart' ('The Other Side of Humphrey Bogart')

This movie is a cheesy Melodrama biopic on the life of the Great One Humphrey Bogart. The movie lacks any real substance on Bogie's Life. The film mainly focuses on his tumultuous relationship with his alcoholic wife Mayo Methot (Played by Ann Wedgeworth who was Lana on the Three's company episodes) and the Cancer that eventually killed him. Kevin O'Conner is pretty good as Bogie, he looks, talks, and even laughs like the real Bogie. Kathryn Harrold playing Lauren Bacall is just gorgeous, and bares a striking resemblance to The real thing as well. The problem with this made for T.V. film is that is really never gives you anything, no personal relationships with stars and directors, not even some insight to how he became a star. To save money on the film we get cheap fading B/W stills staggered throughout the film (mind you not even real ones, but ones with the actor playing Bogie). The sets are minimal and repetitive, and a cheesy ending make you wonder if there is any justice out there for dead stars that are brought back to life in biopics