Synopsis
Turner Classic Movies and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment present Humphrey Bogart: The Columbia Classics Collection. Presented for the first time on DVD, these five films have been fully restored and re-mastered and make Humphrey Bogart: The Columbia Pictures Collection a desirable addition to any classic movie fan's DVD library. (Love Affair, 1932) Here he is enterprising, modest and occasionally perplexed as a working class aircraft engineer who is pursued and eventually seduced by a wealthy but jaded socialite (Dorothy Mackaill). Typical of the Pre-Code era, the film is notable for scenes of sexual suggestiveness and moments of refreshingly frank dialogue courtesy of Jo Swerling and Ursula Parrott. (Knock On Any Door, 1949) A tense courtroom drama with undercurrents of social commentary, this 1949 feature, directed by the great Nicholas Ray, features Bogart in one of his best late career roles. As a lawyer from the slums, he tries to prevent murder suspect Nick Romano (John Derek) from being prosecuted and sent to the electric chair despite damning evidence. Based on the bestselling novel by African American author Willard Motley which inspired the sequel and film, (Let No Man Write My Epitaph, 1960). (Tokyo Joe, 1949) The first American film to be shot on location in Japan since WWII, this gripping thriller finds Bogart as an expatriate American in Tokyo trying to win back his ex-wife (Florence Marly) from lawyer Mark Landis (Alexander Knox) while contending with blackmail and extortion from the former head of the Japanese secret service (Sessue Hayakawa). Directed by Stuart Heisler (I Died a Thousand Times, 1955) with cinematography by Charles Lawton, Jr. (3:10 to Yuma, 1957). (Sirocco, 1951) Set in Syria in 1925 during the French occupation, this period spy adventure follows a black marketeer (Bogart) who finds himself in the middle of a tense standoff between French forces led by Colonel Feroud (Lee J. Cobb) and Syrian rebels and tries to manipulate the situation to his own advantage. Directed by Curtis Bernhardt (A Stolen Life, 1946) and co-written by novelist/screenwriter A.I. Bezzerides (Kiss Me Deadly, 1955) and Hans Jacoby. (The Harder They Fall, 1956) In his final film, Bogart makes an unforgettable impact as Eddie Willis, a publicist who accepts against his better judgment an offer from a corrupt prizefight promoter (Rod Steiger) to sponsor an untalented boxer from Argentina. An unflinching and powerful look behind the scenes of a brutal sport that scored an Oscar nomination for Best Cinematography by Burnett Guffey (In a Lonely Place, 1950) and features supporting roles by such famous boxers as Max Baer, Jersey Joe Walcott, Pat Comiskey and Joe Greb.