Page "Humphrey Bogart" Paragraph 24

The film version of The Petrified Forest was released in 1936.

His performance was called " brilliant ", " compelling ", and " superb.

" Despite his success in an " A movie ," Bogart received a tepid twenty-six week contract at $ 550 per week and was typecast as a gangster in a series of " B movie " crime dramas.

Bogart was proud of his success, but the fact that it came from playing a gangster weighed on him.

He once said: " I can't get in a mild discussion without turning it into an argument.

There must be something in my tone of voice, or this arrogant face — something that antagonizes everybody.

Nobody likes me on sight.

I suppose that's why I'm cast as the heavy.

" Bogart's roles were not only repetitive, but physically demanding and draining ( studios were not yet air-conditioned ), and his regimented, tightly-scheduled job at Warners was not exactly the " peachy " actor's life he hoped for.

However, he was always professional and generally respected by other actors.

In those " B movie " years, Bogart started developing his lasting film persona – the wounded, stoical, cynical, charming, vulnerable, self-mocking loner with a core of honor.