Bogey and Bacall...True Love

I thought it only fitting to look at one of the most well-known romances of our time, since it is almost Valentine's Day. It's no secret I'm a lover of all things vintage, but I have a special place in my heart for the love affair between Lauren Bacall and Humprey Bogart.

This months (March) Vanity Fair features an article on Lauren Bacall and I learned so much more about her because of it. Not only is Bacall feisty and a kick-in-the-pants, she has been in the Hollywood scene for almost 70 years. Imagine the stories she could tell!

"'There have always been rumors about me: Oh, she's very difficult. Be careful of her. People who don't know me--even some people who do know me--know that I say what I think. Very few people want to hear the truth. Bogie was like that, my mother was like that, and I'm like that. I believe in the truth, and I believe in saying what you think. Why not? Do you have to go around whispering all the time or playing a game with people? I just don't believe in that. So I'm not the most adored person on the face of the earth. You have to know this. There are a lot of people who don't like me at all, I'm very sure of that. But I wasn't put on this earth to be liked. I have my own reasons for being and my own sense of what is important and what isn't, and I'm not going to change that."' Wow, what a broad.

"'My son tells me, 'Do you realize you are the last one? The last person who was an eyewitness to the golden age?' Young people, even in Hollywood, ask me, 'Were you really married to Humphrey Bogart?' 'Well, yes, I think I was,' I reply. You realize yourself when you start reflecting--because I don't live in the past, although your past is so much a part of what you are--that you can't ignore it. But I don't look at scrapbooks. I could show you some, but I'd have to climb ladders, and I can't climb."' It is amazing that Bacall is really the last link to the old Hollywood chain.

Most people don't realize that Bogie was 25 years older than Bacall. They married when she was 20 and he was 45. "'I fairly often have thought how lucky I was,' she tells me. 'I knew everybody because I was married to Bogie, and that 25-years difference was the most fantastic thing for me to have in my life.' She points to the wall-to signed photos of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, Robert Benchley, Clifton Webb, Noel Coward, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore, John Gielgud, and Truman Capote--and says with a sigh, 'It's like all the talent's gone. Its very sad."'

"'I ask if she felt that her acting career was hurt by being Bogart's wife. 'Oh, yes, because he wanted a wife. He didn't want an actress...he wanted a wife that would go with him and be there, and he was dead right. And thats what I wanted, and that's why I wanted children. He had never had a child. so I was Miss Pushy in that way. But I was happy being his wife. I loved it. Because I really loved him."'

There is so much more to the article, you have to check it out for yourself. One thing I'll never forget is the true love that was present between Bogey and Bacall. Have a great day friends!

**Article courtesy of Vanity Fair March Issue

Dark Passage

One of my favorite Bacall/Bogart films is "Dark Passage." If you haven't seen it, I will give you a little background and trivia.

Released in 1947, "Dark Passage" tells the story of convicted wife-murderer Vincent Parry (Bogart), desperately trying to prove his innocence.

--When Vincent reads the newspaper clipping about Irene's father, the accompanying photograph of her father is that of director/screenwriter Delmer Daves.

--Franz Waxman's main title music for this movie is exactly the same as that used in To Have and Have Not (1944), for which he was uncredited.

--Warner Bros. paid $25,000 for the rights to the David Goodis novel, which was serialized in The Saturday Evening Post from 20 July-September 7, 1946.

--The actual Art Deco apartment building used in the film (located at 1360 Montgomery St in San Francisco) is still standing as of December, 2008. The actual apartment is marked by a cardboard cut-out of Bogart, which can be seen from the street. The site is visited frequently by fans of vintage film noir.

--When Humphrey Bogart is riding in the car with Clifton Young during his escape, the voice on the radio is supplied by Dane Clark, another Warner's player.

--The third of four films made by husband and wife Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

--The first film in which Humphrey Bogart wore a full hairpiece.

Lauren Bacall

Lauren Bacall is yet another one of my favorite actresses of times gone. She has this grit to her that appears as sexiness. She seemed like a tough broad, one who you could joke with (maybe tell a dirty joke to). When most people think of Bacall, they think of Bogie. Bacall and Bogart were together for 13 years, beginning when she was 19 and he was 45. She says he was the love of her life: "He was very apprehensive about the age difference. But it didn't bother me. I thought we suited one another perfectly." Here are some of my favorite images of Lauren. Enjoy!