The Petrified Forest - History

History

The 1936 Broadway production of The Petrified Forest had starred Howard, who was an established star, and Bogart, a newcomer in his first major role. Sherwood based the Duke Mantee character on John Dillinger, the notorious criminal who in 1933 was named the FBI's first "Public Enemy #1" by J. Edgar Hoover, and in 1934 was ambushed and gunned down in spectacular fashion by FBI agents. Bogart, who won the stage role in part because of his physical resemblance to Dillinger, studied film footage of the gangster and mimicked some of his mannerisms in his portrayal.

For the film, Warner Brothers intended to cast the more bankable Edward G. Robinson as Duke; but Howard informed the studio that he would not appear in the movie version without Bogart as his co-star. (Robinson objected as well; after playing a series of gangsters in such films as Little Caesar and Bullets or Ballots, he reportedly feared being typecast.) The film made Bogart a star, and he remained grateful to Howard throughout his life. In 1952 Bogart and Lauren Bacall named their daughter Leslie Howard Bogart in honor of Howard, who had been killed in a plane crash under controversial circumstances during World War II.

In 1948 Robinson portrayed a character very similar to Duke—a famous gangster holding a disparate group of people hostage in a Florida hotel—in Key Largo. That film's hero was played by Bogart. In his penultimate film, The Desperate Hours (1955), Bogart played another gangster holding a suburban family hostage. He described that character as "Duke Mantee grown up."