Bogart and Huston

Their Lives, Their Adventures, and the Classic Movies They Made Together

Nat Segaloff

From 1941 to 1953, director John Huston and actor Humphrey Bogart made one classic film after another, from The Maltese Falcon to The African Queen. Here is the story of their close but combative friendship that produced some of the best movies ever made.

Every time they made a movie together, they made a classic—or so it seemed for star Humphrey Bogart and writer/director John Huston. Their six collaborations from 1941 and 1953 include many of the "golden age” hits from Hollywood’s fabled film legacy: The Maltese Falcon, Across the Pacific, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The African Queen, and Beat the Devil.

At the same time, both men led fiercely separate lives—except when they were making pictures together. Sometimes they agreed and sometimes they argued, always keeping their eyes on the results. What did each man bring to the collaboration, and how did their six films together reflect their disparate personalities?

Their friendship was as dramatic as any of their movies. It survived nine marriages, a world war, the blacklist, leeches, alcohol, and Jack L. Warner. Here is the story of these two legendary talents, their films, their lives, their foes, and their remarkable devotion to each other.

Nat Segaloff has been a movie publicist and film critic, college instructor, broadcaster, speechwriter, and documentary film producer. Among his more than thirty books are biographies of William Friedkin, Arthur Penn, Harlan Ellison, John Milius, and Paul Mazursky, as well as comprehensive works on The Exorcist, Scarface, and Rambo. He lives in Los Angeles.

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Endorsements & Reviews

Early praise for Bogart and Huston:

"An unmistakable authenticity and authority pervade every word of Nat Segaloff’s Bogart and Huston. Penned with precision and elegant audacity, this singular sensation speaks volumes of the combined lives, careers, and films of the famed dynamic duo. The sheer ego and separate personas of this Tinseltown team—?partnered with and explored by Segaloff’s unmatched behind-the-scenes insight and literary expertise—make for a one-of-a-kind public delineation of a two-of-a-kind but very different, complex pair of Hollywood professionals.” Herbie J. Pilato, actor/writer/producer

“Others have previously examined the celebrated careers of Humphrey Bogart and John Huston, but no one has ever ‘packaged’ them together in much the same way that studios still bundle creative elements. By counter-posing the lives of two of classic Hollywood’s most marketable men, Nat Segaloff reveals countless details about their process, not just in the movies they made together but as notable artists and individuals. Chock full of remarkable details, Bogart and Huston is well worth the price of admission.” Alain Silver, author of The Films of David Lean and Film Noir Fatal Women

Quotes on Humphrey Bogart and John Huston:

"He was about something.” Lauren Bacall on John Huston's death

"John and Bogie were like children.” Evelyn Keyes (Huston's third wife)

"Challenge the lie until it becomes the truth.” Writer/director Richard Brooks on John Huston's advice

"He and Huston would be a great team. They drank more than plenty.” Katharine Hepburn on The African Queen

"Wait till you see my next picture. I play the worst sh*t you ever saw.” Humphrey Bogart on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

"You seem to have your life so together. . . . How do you manage to do all that and not get bored?" John Huston to Humphrey Bogart