Amazon.com: Adapted from a hit Broadway play by Robert Sherwood and starring original cast members Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart, this 1936 suspense drama is set in an aging desert roadhouse café, where a young woman (Bette Davis) dreams of escaping a dead-end existence spent with her father and a lunkheaded, would-be suitor. Along comes a penniless poet (Howard), a wanderer who has made a mess of his life and crossed the hot sands as a symbolic act of meaningful futility. Davis's waitress is instantly enchanted, and in short order they begin talking about heading out to the world together. Then a twist: the world comes to them--in the form of escaped convicts, led by the monosyllabic Duke Mantee (Bogart), who secretly agrees to the poet's request that the fugitive gangster kill him. Directed by Archie Mayo (The Great American Broadcast), much of the film, perhaps inevitably, looks set-bound. Most of the action occurs in the café, and the script's tension sadly dissipates a bit as villains and hostages stay glued to their seats. The film's enduring appeal has everything to do with the leading performances: the fascinating alchemy of Howard's ethereal air, Davis's sexy urgency, and Bogart's bemused menace. If the story feels a trifle dated and perhaps a bit smug, the actors make it compelling nonetheless. --Tom Keogh
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - A Fable About Dreams and Inheritance
This film was adapted from a Broadway play and it shows. It begins with a car driving through the southwest desert. A lone man walks along a dry dusty road. There is a desert lunchroom and gas station. ... Read More
Rating: - Betty and Bogey surprise
I've never thought the Betty Davis stuff I've seen lived up to her "legend" status but I must say this one surprised me. She plays such a straightforward, cheerful, and likable character. She's actually ... Read More
Rating: - Hardly a "gangster" film
Although this golden oldie is often labeled a "gangster" movie when marketed on home video, it's not the most appropriate description of "The Petrified Forest," the Warner Bros. film based on Sherwood Anderson's ... Read More
Rating: - BAD, BAD, BAD
Now I know why I never bought this; it looks boring and it is. A long, winding and unrealistic plot. How many times does a villian with a gun have to say, "Sit down, shut up, move away from that door" for the characters ... Read More
Rating: - A Bette Davis / Bogart classic!
This was one of the early Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart films. It has my praise for a number of reasons, one being it was shot using a very limited number of scenes. Two, the film gives us a real perspective of life through ... Read More
- A Fable About Dreams and Inheritance
- BAD, BAD, BAD
- A Bette Davis / Bogart classic!