After the crash of `29 Bogart was reduced to making eating money playing chess at the numerous “sportlands” on 6th Avenue. For a bet of fifty cents a game he played all comers. Bogart was both a good chess player and hungry, and he won more than he lost. He soon landed a job at an arcade , where he sat in the window playing chess for a dollar a game. Most often he had only a doughnut and coffee for lunch.
During her tumultuous but long-running relationship with Bogie, Bette Davis seriously, although briefly, considered becoming the third Mrs. Humphrey Bogart.
FYI: Humphrey Bogart was married four times, his most famous and long-lasting marriage being his last, to Lauren Bacall
Source: The Secret Life of Humphrey Bogart: The Early Years by Darwin Porter
Photo: Tumblr
If Humphrey Bogart never becomes a great screen lover he will have only himself to blame. He had his chance and turned it down. Henceforth, if Bogart complains about a lack of romantic roles people will say, “Phooey! – you’re the guy who refused to kiss Ingrid Bergman!”
Director Mike Curtiz reportedly wanted to improvise some of scenes in Casablanca. For the final scene he told Bogie, “This is were Miss Bergman offers to throw her husband up in the air and come to you. You are breaking her heart with love. It is terrible what you are doing. Now, you love this woman and can show it by a long kiss, or you can say something. It is up to you.”
Bogart said, “Look – this is hard to decide, but I don’t think I should kiss her. The guy I’m playing wouldn’t. He has made up his mind to give up this girl, and I don’t believe he’d start any kissing games now.”
They are of course referring to this classic final scene in Casablanca (he does kiss her in earlier in the film).
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfxJCdBFuLk&w=450]
Source: Turns Down Love Scene, Youngstown Vindicator, Jul 22 1942, Page 23
Photo: The Music Behind the Screen
Lauren Bacall says the day she married Humphrey Bogart she ceased to be a child, at least in the eyes of the law. The 20-year-old actress petitioned superior court to revise a movie contract containing provisions for her protection as a minor. She presented the argument that under California law when a girl marries, if she is over 18 and under 21, she legally becomes an adult.
She asks a refund of 10 percent held from her salary for savings. Her petition also asks dissolution of a trust fund, created for her mother, Mrs. Natalie Bacall, under which another 10 percent of her earnings were impounded.
Miss Bacall and Bogart, 45, were married May 21.
Source: Lauren Bacall Says She’s Legally Adult, The Evening Independent, Aug 2 1945, Page 5
Photo: Planet Barbarella
They thought they could control me. I liked the picture, but they had different ideas about it than I did. I said let’s be friends. They had it differently… I was just trying to be the arbiter between the company and the men I work with. I like to speak up for anybody I can and if I can’t it’s no good. It was just a matter of attitude. 
- Robert Mitchum in response to getting fired from the Warner Bros. movie Blood Alley
Other sources said the real reason he was fired was that he pushed a coworker (transportation manager, George Coleman) into the icy waters of San Francisco Bay. Mitchum denies this. The film’s producer John Wayne ended up taking the part after Gregory Peck turned it down and Humphrey Bogart wanted too much money.
Source: Mitchum Fired but Denies Pushing Man Into Icy Bay, Oxnard Pree-Courier, Jan 13 1955, Page 2
Photo: Very Important Potheads
Bert & Morty is the only celebrity news and gossip blog for fans of classic films and old Hollywood stars. The stories and quotes are pulled from old newspapers and magazines.
Scroll down to browse by star or by movie, or if there's someone you'd like to see of, use the submission box to send me your request. Besides the vintage news and gossip, regular features include cutout floating heads, celebrity recipes, and original puzzles.
Check back often for updates throughout the day.
 |
 |
 |
