Undescribable Perfection

That was an excellent one.

good back-story, and good acting

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

I've stolen the title for a much later film for my review title, as I see much resemblance. The initial setting is a desolate part of the American West, such as has attracted dreamers and misfits: those looking for adventure or a pot of gold, and those running away from failure, creditors or people. In and around this lonely fast food and gas station establishment, we eventually find a collection of residents and 'guests': each a misfit in their own way. There's Gramp Maple(Charlie Grapewin)., decaying father of Jason Maple: the chief proprietor of this establishment, and grandfather of Gabrielle(Gabby)(Bette Davis). Gramp mostly prefers to live in 'the good ole days', when desperados such as Billy the Kid made life interesting and precarious. To a lesser degree, Jason also liked to live in the past, when he was a GI in France and married a war bride, whom he brought here, but could not keep. He occasionally participates in patriotic displays.... In contrast, Gabby: young and single, dreams of a future life in France, where she could better participate in her interests of sophisticated art and poetry, possibly abetted by her mother. Then, there's Boze: handsome ex-college athlete, incongruously pumping gas and doing odd jobs in this outpost of civilization. He hopes to make love to Gabby, but she's not being accommodating, as he doesn't seem to offer her anything toward achieving her life goals...... And, there's penniless vagabond intellectual Alan(Leslie Howard) who has wandered into this establishment in a sojourn across America, seemingly looking for a purpose to his life, or a convenient way to end it. He was married, but his wife threw him out when it was evident he wasn't going to contribute to their wellbeing. He finds a temporary comrade here in Gabby, who shares his enthusiasm for poetry, especially that of Francois Villon(see "The Vagabond King"). He often leisurely smokes a pipe, contributing to his aurora as a self-satisfied intellectual, who is at the mercy of concrete realities of life. Like Gramps, he sees himself as largely obsolete in today's world..... Finally, there's Duke Mantee and his gang of bank robbers and thieves. Gramps interprets them as the present equivalent of old time desperadoes, such as Billy the Kid and Jesse James, as opposed to big city gangsters. For some of those present, they were suggested to be the last bastion of rugged individualism: the last of the 'romantic' outlaws, whose exploits against 'fat cats' earned the respect of many ordinary citizens. As such, they were nearly as obsolete as Alan. Duke realized that his game was about up, as law officers enclosed the establishment, having captured his girlfriend. The film mostly belongs to Leslie(Alan), who is both a defeatist and a romantic. Thus, he shares disparate elements with both Gabby and Duke. His most concrete expression of his romanticism is embodied in his gesture of naming Gabby the sole beneficiary of his life insurance policy. If he can just arrange a death that doesn't appear to be a suicide, she should have enough funds to try to realize her dreams, which is the most loving thing he can do for her. Thus, he seizes upon the idea of Duke shooting him. This should be a minimal cost solution, since Duke is headed for the gallows anyway. Duke grudgingly complies with this request. Leslie and Bogart reprised their roles in Robert Sherwood's Broadway play of the same title. Both are nearly universally praised as ideal choices for their roles. However, I found Bogie's characterization of a Dillinger-like hoodlum to be extreme, reminiscent of a stereotypical caveman.... Charlie Grapewin was ideal as Gramps, as he would be a few years later in The Grapes of Wrath". ....Handsome Dick Foran was OK as the jock with eyes for Bette.....Bette was as beautiful and appealing as I have ever seen her, before or after..... The contrast between the 2 African Americans , Slim(Slim Thompson ) and Joseph(John Alexander) is quite striking. The one is chauffeur to the wealthy Chisholms, and acts like an Uncle Tom. The other is a member of Duke's gang and seems to have a status within the gang comparable to that of most of the gang.

A drifter is hitchhiking in the middle of Arizona's desert, but the cars passing by him are as eager to stop as the tumbleweeds. The opening shot of "The Petrified Forest" reflects our very loneliness : we all have goals, we all wander in our lives and we all depend on helpful people.The man makes it to a roadside diner to find people with seemingly purposeful lives. Gabby Maple, played by Bette Davis, is the owner's daughter, a young idealistic servant killing time by painting, reading French poetry and dreaming of visiting Bourges, her mother's hometown. Her father (Porter Hall) who couldn't keep his war-bride wife in USA, spends time, expressing an ironic bitterness toward anyone's bitter at his country. Dick Foran is Boze, a former college football player who sees Gabby's heart as a trophy to win. And Grampa (Charley Grapewin) keeps bragging on his status as the one guy "missed by Billy the Kid".The characters divide the world in two: those who look at the future, Boze and Gabby, and those who remember the past, angrily (the father) or enthusiastically (Grampa). Generation is an important factor since the film is set during the Great Depression, which more resonates as a state of mind, what kind of future such a gloomy period can ever paint, except for the younger generation, who didn't live, or merely, the War? Gabby thinks of the Great War as the event she owed her existence to, and the source of an existential quest. The mysterious voyager is Alan Squier, as if Alan was a wording of Alone, and with his dandy look and affable mannerisms, he belongs to another era and since eras condition states of mind, his is enigmatic. Indeed, the man, a writer, played by a suave and wonderful Leslie Howard, speaks in poetry and philosophy, a failed artist who wasn't cut either for marital commitment. Alan's constant amazement hardly hides what he is deep inside, a misfit, an outcast and an intellectual malcontent. Yet his detachment gives him an undeniable aura, he has no goal but is not turned to the past either. And if Gabby is enamored, she doesn't want to marry either, she just sees in him an invitation to escape.People with high hopes believe in their destiny, what they wait for is a sign, a little oddity that breaks up the morbid routine and enlighten moroseness with a light of hope. When Alan finally leaves, mooching a car belonging to wealthy tourists, the Chrisholms (Paul Harvey and Genevieve Tobin), you can see desperation in Gabby's eyes as if the only sparkle that could've her ignited it started to fade. But destiny didn't say its last word, the passengers are carjacked and when they all join the diner, they find a new guest : Duke Mantee.And it's one thing to have people blabbing about life and death, their views are elevated to another dimension when their lives are endangered. Mantee will be the trigger, so to speak, to a series of self-revelations. played by a youngish Humphrey Bogart, Duke Mantee is less an imitation of gangster-legend John Dillinger than Bogart's own approach to the role he played on the Broadway play, a man so worn-out, so tired of being pursued by Police, on having to keep his guard, that he ended up walking slowly and carefully as if he was at the verge of starting a shootout. He's a living tickling bomb, a man who's had enough. Even at 37, Bogart could illuminate the screen with tiredness, combined with a savage reputation and the fact that he risks his life, by waiting in the diner, for a mysterious Doris. Mantee is not the immigrant gangster; he's the quintessential, romantic desperado with an attitude, and a respect to the old-timers. Gramps loves him immediately, he's an authentic bandit, and inevitably, Mantee fascinates the hostages and there's more than Stockholm syndrome in that.There's an obvious identification between Duke and Alan, both are from the past, a vanishing breed, one by not acting enough, another by acting too much. Duke is the Yin to Alan's Yang and between them grows the genuine bonding of men who got nothing to lose, inspiring among the hostages, various reactions from various personalities, Mr. Chrisholm tries to buy his freedom as if the usual rules were still applicable. Boze tries his luck but Duke neutralizes him, he's the only to speak overtly against criminals, but while he's right in the absolute, in a life that became relative, he missed many points. Mrs. Chrisholm wants to run away with Duke, she exhorts Gabby to follow her dreams, unlike her. Duke's presence is a conscience's catalyst.Duke incarnates a sort of a new order, an escape from codes and conventions, sometimes with positive results, see how obedient the black chauffeur is, contrarily to Slim Hope, there's no segregation in gangster world since they reject everything from society, the good as the bad. And even a bad action can deliver from a bad condition. Duke will give Alan's life a meaning. Alive, he's useless, but dead, with his life insurance policy, he can build Gabby's future. After all, when Depression is caused by money, maybe money is the solution? Since people are valued through their wealth, so why not translate it into a generous sacrifice? Alan came to the end of his road to better start Gabby's. Their romance was doomed, because Gabby's happiness depended on Alan's act but for the brief time it lasted, it was magnificent.And if you don't believe it can happen, keep in mind that without Howard's insistence to have Bogart playing his part, Bogart's career would have fallen down. Bogart would be grateful for Howard, who sadly passed away during World War II, by calling his daughter Leslie. Howard was to Bogart what Duke was to Alan, what Alan was to Gabby, a life-changing blessing.

It's very apparent when watching The Petrified Forest that it was designed as a stage play. Bette Davis can't seem to lower her voice to save her life and Leslie Howard, while a great actor, waxes poetic like an inebriated Lord Byron. If you can stand Davis' yelling, Howard's soliloquies, and Dick Foran's large man-breasts, grossly accentuated by his tight-fitting shirt, then you might find this to be an enjoyable little movie. Humphrey Bogart steals every scene he's in, which isn't as many as you may be led to believe. All of the film's best moments feature Bogart. If you're a Bogart fan, this is a must-see. Otherwise, unless you enjoy films of the 30's, particularly ones that seemed like filmed plays, you might want to watch something else.

Archie Mayo directed this fine adaptation of the famous stage play that stars Leslie Howard as Alan Squire, a philosophical hobo(and poet) on his way to the Pacific ocean, who stops in the desert diner of Gabrielle Maple(played by a young Bette Davis) and brightens her life with his philosophy and experience. The other patrons think he is a joke, but Alan is just different, and their lives will take a dramatic turn when wanted gangster Duke Mantee(played by Humphrey Bogart) arrives with his men and holds them all hostage, leading to much discussion before the authorities close in... Intelligent and compelling film with fine acting, especially Bogart in a star-making performance. Good direction hides the stagy nature of the story, and result is most interesting and memorable.