"On a winter's day in 1946, a crowd of more than 1,500 eager fans gathered at San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, hoping to get a glimpse of a movie star.....not just any star but filmdom's biggest: Humprhy Bogart."
So starts this "documentary," which is a bonus feature on the "Dark Passage" DVD. Bogie was in town to shoot a scene in this, his latest picture.
Most of the subject matter of this behind-the-scenes feature is divided between discussing Bogie, co-star and wife Lauren Bacall, and some history of the movie - who wrote it, who directed it, the supporting actors, etc. We also hear of some inside info on Bacall and her battles to get decent parts in films. She sounds a little like Bette Davis, in that regard but, like Davis, was the victor in the end in her battles with studio executives.
Anyway, I was glad to hear film critic Leonard Maltin say here what I've always thought about this movie: that "it's a good movie - not great, but good - and the best part about it is that all the characters are fascinating." That includes the four supporting roles, who were the most interesting.
The last few minutes are devoted to Bogart's ups and downs regarding his participation on "The Committee" and his trip to Washington during the Communist scare period of the late '40s. Whatever Bogart did in this situation - and he took both sides at various stages - turned out to be public relations disasters for him.
