On M List of Movie Reviews
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The Man with Bogart's Face (1980)
Rate:
6
Viewed:
1/21
1/21:
At first, I thought it was going to be Humphrey Bogart's superimposed face over an actor's face
throughout The Man with Bogart's Face, but boy was I wrong.
Instead, it's Robert Sacchi who looks the real deal. The resemblance is absolutely uncanny. Not only that, but the
behavior and mannerisms are also near exact. Sometimes, I thought I was watching Humphrey Bogart himself.
Impersonation or not, it's an amazing job by Robert Sacchi who deserves an Academy Award nomination. He stated, "I look
the way I do and I always have, and there's not much I can do about it. I never had plastic surgery or wore makeup to
look like Bogie." The legend is that Lauren Bacall did a "double take" at the first sight of him.
The big downer of The Man with Bogart's Face is the story. Yes, it's funny and things get going, but it's worse
during the second half. The storyline is increasingly confusing that's too much like
The Maltese Falcon.
Instead of the black bird, it's the Eyes of Alexander. The characters are almost carbon copies straight out of the
1941 film noir classic.
It's George Raft's final film of his career, having passed away in 1980. It's weird to see him
standing next to the Bogart look-alike given that Humphrey Bogart ultimately owed his career to George Raft who turned down
many roles which ended up going to him such as Dead End, The Desperate Hours,
It All Came True, High Sierra,
The Petrified Forest, and the greatest of them all:
The Maltese Falcon. As a result, his career went downhill while Humphrey Bogart's soared.
All in all, The Man with Bogart's Face isn't a bad movie, and Robert Sacchi as Humphrey Bogart has to be seen
to believe.