Product Description

Humphrey Bogart stars as detective Sam Spade, a U.S. spy, an anti-Nazi gangster, a World War I merchant marine officer, and a World War II French patriot.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NR
Release Date: 3-OCT-2006
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2602 in DVD
• Brand: BOGART,HUMPHREY
• Released on: 2006-10-03
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 7
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 617 minutes

Amazon.com
The movie that made Humphrey Bogart Humphrey Bogart anchors this second DVD box devoted to the mighty star. The Maltese Falcon gets--and merits--the deluxe three-disc treatment, and the other Bogie movies collected here are solid vehicles from his early 1940s Warner Bros. heyday. The essence of Bogart's world-weary yet mysteriously romantic aura is on luscious display, even if most of these films fall just short of classic status.

Bogart's letter-perfect incarnation as Sam Spade, the anti-hero of John Huston's debut film as a director, grounds The Maltese Falcon in a smart, sardonic groove. Even if Spade is one of Bogart's finest turns, it's hard to single out the film's best performance: Mary Astor as the mystery dame who trips off the case, Peter Lorre as the fey Joel Cairo, or Sydney Greenstreet as the massively erudite Kasper Gutman (the latter making one of the great debuts in film history). Dashiell Hammett's best-selling story had been filmed twice before, and both versions are included in the extras here: the 1931 Maltese Falcon, which has a fair amount of cheek and some near-identical snatches of Hammett dialogue as the 1941 film--but without the magic--and the 1936 Satan Met a Lady, which puts the story squarely in the realm of screwball comedy, with Warren William and Bette Davis acting as though they'd wandered into a Thin Man movie. Other extras include a commentary with Bogart biography Eric Lax, three radio versions of the tale, and a short documentary about the Falcon.

Huston also directed Across the Pacific, a fun and somewhat tongue-in-cheek picture that brought Bogart, Astor, and Greenstreet back together. After being drummed out of the military, Bogie finds himself aboard a ship sailing toward the Panama Canal--and as the date of Dec. 7, 1941, looms on the horizon, we suspect intrigue. Also from 1942 is the wisecracking All Through the Night, which is set entirely in a Damon Runyon NYC but nevertheless unearths a nest of Nazis (Conrad Veidt among them) planning a homeland attack.

WWII figures in the other two features. Michael Curtiz's Passage to Marseille (1944) burdens itself with too many flashbacks, but otherwise presents a nicely atmospheric tale of Devil's Island escapees trying to get home to fight for France. Lorre and Greenstreet are back, with Michele Morgan snuggling Bogart in the Casablanca-inspired love story. Action in the North Atlantic (1943) is a more conventional picture, with Bogart and Raymond Massey fighting the war in the Merchant Marines; the topnotch action sequences and crusty supporting cast keep it going. Bogart's covert socking of a loose-lipped bar patron gives us the vintage Bogie. Bartender: "Did you hurt your hand?" Bogie: "Never do." --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

A Must Have Collection !!!!
Probably one of the best box sets around, you just can't fault it!

The 3 disc version of "The Maltese Falcon" is worth the money alone as it includes the original 1931 version with Bebe Daniels and the 1936 comedic version ("Satan Met A Lady") with Bette Davis and I have to admit that the first version is as good as Bogart's blockbuster if not better in some respects.

"Across the Pacific" was always one of my favourite Bogie pics, but practically impossible to get in the UK, so it was a bonus to have this included in the set.

"Action In The North Atlantic", "All Through The Night" & "Passage To Marseille" wrapped up a very enjoyable collection which included great extras put together by Warner Bros to compliment the movies.

Any true Bogie fan will be missing out if they don't buy this excellent package !

Humphrey Bogart : The Signature Collection Vol. 2
To Bogie fans:
The Humphrey Bogart : The Signature Collection Vol. 2 is a great choice when thinking of buying a DVD set. It comes with Bogarts classic: The Maltese Falcon, and four more movies that are splendid. I thought the set wouldn't be great because it comes with four movies that a lot of people haven't heard of, but all in all they were terrific. I am pretty peticular when it comes to buying movies, so I wanted to know what it looked like, so I added some pictures on this page. The only dissapointment I had was that the Maltese Falcon does not come with the slip case it has if you buy it seperately. But overall I give this set 5 stars.
Joseph Sherry

Nice restored films
The movies have been nicely restored and well worth the purchase price. Many times these older movies are grainy and difficult to watch. Was very pleased with the quality of restoration.