Editing Humphrey Bogart (section)

=== In Hollywood permanently: ''The Petrified Forest'' ===
<span id="To Hollywood permanently: ''The Petrified Forest''"></span>
[[File:Bogart Howard Davis Petrified Forest.jpg|thumb|alt=Bogart and Leslie Howard looking at each other, with Davis clinging to Howard|Bogart, Leslie Howard, and Bette Davis in ''[[The Petrified Forest]]'', 1936]]

In 1934, Bogart starred in the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] play ''Invitation to a Murder'' at the Theatre Masque (renamed the [[John Golden Theatre]] in 1937). Its producer, [[Arthur Hopkins]], heard the play from offstage; he sent for Bogart and offered him the role of escaped murderer Duke Mantee in [[Robert E. Sherwood]]'s forthcoming play, ''[[The Petrified Forest (play)|The Petrified Forest]]''.<ref name="Sperber p.45" /> Hopkins later recalled:

{{blockquote|When I saw the actor I was somewhat taken aback, for [I realized] he was the one I never much admired. He was an antiquated juvenile who spent most of his stage life in white pants swinging a tennis racquet. He seemed as far from a cold-blooded killer as one could get, but the voice[,] dry and tired[,] persisted, and the voice was Mantee's.<ref name=Meyers_p49>{{Harvnb|Meyers|1997|p=49.}}</ref>}}

The play had 197 performances at the [[Broadhurst Theatre]] in New York in 1935.<ref name="Meyers_p51">{{Harvnb|Meyers|1997|p=51.}}</ref> Although [[Leslie Howard]] was the star, ''[[The New York Times]]'' critic [[Brooks Atkinson]] said that the play was "a peach&nbsp;... a roaring Western melodrama&nbsp;... Humphrey Bogart does the best work of his career as an actor."<ref>Sperber and Lax 1997, p. 46.</ref> Bogart said that the play "marked my deliverance from the ranks of the sleek, sybaritic, stiff-shirted, swallow-tailed 'smoothies' to which I seemed condemned to life." However, he still felt insecure.<ref name="Meyers_p51" /> Warner Bros. bought the screen rights to ''The Petrified Forest'' in 1935.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lebo|first=Harlan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8MNT2noiiz4C&pg=PA1936|title=Casablanca: Behind the Scenes: The Illustrated History of One of the Favorite Films of All Time|location=New York City|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1992|page=49|isbn=978-0-671-76981-9}}</ref> The play seemed ideal for the studio, which was known for its socially-realistic pictures for a public entranced by real-life criminals such as [[John Dillinger]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/31568%257C0/The-Petrified-Forest.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180801032206/http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/31568%7C0/The-Petrified-Forest.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 1, 2018|title=The Petrified Forest|work=TCM|date=April 14, 2019|access-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref> and [[Dutch Schultz]].<ref name=Meyers_p52>{{Harvnb|Meyers|1997|p=52.}}</ref> [[Bette Davis]] and Leslie Howard were cast. Howard, who held the production rights, made it clear that he wanted Bogart to star with him.
[[File:Humphrey Bogart in The Petrified Forest film trailer.jpg|right|thumb|''The Petrified Forest'' trailer (1936)]]
The studio tested several Hollywood veterans for the Duke Mantee role and chose [[Edward G. Robinson]], who had star appeal and was due to make a film to fulfill his contract. Bogart cabled news of this development to Howard in Scotland, who replied: "Att: Jack Warner Insist Bogart Play Mantee No Bogart No Deal L.H.". When Warner Bros. saw that Howard would not budge, they gave in and cast Bogart.<ref>Sperber and Lax 1997, pp. 52–54.</ref> Jack Warner wanted Bogart to use a [[stage name]] but Bogart declined, having built a reputation with his name in Broadway theater.<ref>Sperber and Lax 1997, p. 57.</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Nollen|first=Scott Allen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ovYWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA99|title=Warners Wiseguys: All 112 Films That Robinson, Cagney and Bogart Made for the Studio|date=2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-1004-7|language=en}}</ref> The film version of ''[[The Petrified Forest]]'' was released in 1936. According to ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'', "Bogart's menace leaves nothing wanting".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/1935/film/reviews/the-petrified-forest-1200411139/|title=The Petrified Forest|work=Variety|date=December 31, 1935|access-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref> [[Frank S. Nugent]] wrote for ''The New York Times'' that the actor "can be a psychopathic gangster more like Dillinger than the outlaw himself".<ref>{{cite news|last=Nugent|first=Frank S.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/02/07/archives/heralding-the-warner-brothers-film-version-of-the-petrified-forest.html|title=Heralding the Warner Brothers Film Version of ''The Petrified Forest,'' at the Music Hall|work=The New York Times|date=February 7, 1936|access-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref> The film was successful at the box office, earning $500,000 in rentals ($11,427,014 in 2025), and made Bogart a star.<ref name="shickelbook">{{cite book|last =Shickel|first =Richard|title =Bogie: A Celebration of The Life and Films of Humphrey Bogart|publisher =Thomas Dunne|date =2006 |location =New York, NY|isbn =0-312-36629-9}}</ref> He never forgot Howard's favor and named his only daughter, Leslie Howard Bogart, after him in 1952.