The Look

I have really been into watching Bacall-Bogart movies as of late. I had been admiring Lauren Bacall for quite a long time (Humphrey Bogart as well, but you already know that!), ever since I saw her in a glossy Paris Match book which included a piece about her relationship with Bogart, but I had never gotten around to actually watch any of her movies. Fortunately, I was not disappointed: what transpired from the photos and the text was magnified by seeing her on the screen. Upon my first introduction to her, when I was about 14, she incarnated everything I aspired to be. She seemed sure of herself, confident, the incarnation of cool. I later learnt that she was extremely shy and nervous when she made her first movie, but that makes me like her even more, and it proves what a good actress she was and is.

So far, my two favourite movies featuring the pair are Key Largo and Dark Passage:

-I found Key Largo particularly interesting for its storyline as well as the way tension is held throughout the narrative. The acting is more subtle than what I was used to, from American cinema from this era anyway, and I really appreciated the way sections of the story are implied, and not announced to you point blank.
-My interest in Dark Passage is more due to the filming techniques used to convey the story than the intricacy of the storyline itself. Yes, the storyline is thrilling, but as an afterthought, I was more impressed by the camera play and how part of the movie is seen through the main character's eyes.

I highly recommend both, as well as To Have and Have Not. I am yet to see The Big Sleep, has any of you seen it? I'm very much looking forward to watching it, but I keep putting it off since after that, I'll be done watching all the films featuring both Bacall and Bogart. Oh well, I'll just have to find another cinematographic obsession!

What have you been watching as of late?

Photos via here.