The Petrified Forest

The Petrified Forest
by Archie Mayo, Friz Freleng, Roy Mack

The Petrified Forest

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DVD details

Actor: Bernice Hansen, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Leslie Howard, Verna Deane
Director: Archie Mayo, Friz Freleng, Roy Mack
Brand: Warner Brothers
Writer: A. Dorian Otvos
Writer: Charles Kenyon
Writer: Cyrus Wood
Writer: Delmer Daves
Writer: Robert E. Sherwood
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 1.0; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 82 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-01-25
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Warner Home Video
Product features:

A rundown diner bakes in the Arizona heat. Inside, fugitive killer Duke Mantee sweats out a manhunt, holding disillusioned writer Alan Squier, young Gabby Maple and a handful of others hostage. As trapped as his captives, Mantee admits: "It looks like I'll spend the rest of my life dead."The Petrified Forest, Robert E. Sherwood's 1935 Broadway success about survival of the fittest in the modern wo

DVD Reviews of The Petrified Forest

DVD Review: This forest is far from stone...
Summary: 5 Stars

Definitely the film I `wasn't' expecting, `The Petrified Forest' is a beautifully controlled film about longing, loving, loss and self-sacrifice. Labeled as a `gangster' film, this is far from the clich?d genre typecast but instead rises above and sets itself apart. Filled with breathtaking performances and heart-stopping tension, `The Petrified Forest' simply `has it all'.

The film takes place in a small service station set in the middle of nowhere (last stop type joint) where the Dow-eyed Gabrielle Maple dreams of escape. She longs for a better life (painting in Paris) but knows that getting out of her small town is more of a long-shot. Alan Squier, an author on a bit of a self-discovery type journey, shows up at her front door with no money yet a pocketful of ideals that Gabby finds herself drawn to immediately. They strike up a doomed relationship as Gabby falls for Alan because of all he has accomplished and Alan falls for Gabby because of all she wishes to accomplish.

Enter dream killer Duke Mantee, a blood thirsty gangster on the run from the cops.

I don't know how to really say this without SPOILERS so I'll just throw that out there.

The film on the outset may seem like your simplistic `boy meets girl' type story, but the underlying message of sacrifice (whether it be of noble causes or of hesitant conformity) is notable. I love how the characters of Alan Squier and Mrs. Chisholm seem to compliment one another by completing the message for the viewer, giving us two sides of the sacrificial spectrum. Squier finds in Gabby something to believe in and thus finds a worthy recipient of his good graces. He finds a reason to die; literally. Chisholm on the other hand has basically been forced (by societies hand no doubt) to relinquish her dreams and marry a man who doesn't truly appreciate her. She thus has died, figuratively, for a cause she cannot believe in.

They both made the ultimate sacrifice, just for different reasons.

The performances are all outstanding. Leslie Howard is phenomenal as Alan Squier. He speaks with such nobility yet he never loses his charm and `everyman' appeal. He is relatable and likable as apposed to distanced and snooty. Bette Davis matches him perfectly, delivering a beautifully composed portrait of a dreamer. This is a different look for Davis, not a performance that we are used to seeing from someone who chews scenery so astoundingly. She is very docile and vulnerable here, which adds a nice touch to the character. Humphrey Bogart made a big impression here as the ruthless Duke Mantee. He is brutish and stern and carries with him the look of a `tough guy'. I can see why he was typecast (and I swear, I still see so much Denzel Washington in him, or visa-versa).

For me, the real standout here is a small yet poignant performance given by Genevieve Tobin. As Mrs. Chisholm, Tobin delivers such a devastatingly tender and deeply felt performance. Her plead with Gabby is just so moving. I love the subtle change in her eyes as she states her case and musters enough courage to make a stand, probably feeling as though they would be her last words. It's a marvelous performance.

In the end I completely recommend this film, for it has everything going for it. Don't listen to those who say this is boring, because boring it is not. It is a beautiful character study that exposes sacrifice at its most selfless.

DVD Review: Sherwood's Writing May Be Beyond Grasp of Some Acute Observers
Summary: 5 Stars

The great ensemble acting in Petrified Forest brings Sherwood's story to life. I don't think Sherwood's speeches are "unintentionally dated." Each character (with the exception of Howard's) is supposed to be something of a broad stereotype, and the humor of the movie (yes, I said humor) derives from the interplay of these characters. C'mon, it's supposed to be funny when Alan asks Duke Mantee his opinion of astrology. Think along the lines of Marie Dressler and Jean Harlow exchanging pleasantries in Dinner at Eight. Howard's character is of course more than one dimensional, and because of his great acting, he is able subtly to undercut his own grandiloquent utterances while proclaiming them, as his better instincts do battle with his self-loathing. Richard Burton but not too many others could also pull this off. Charley Grapewin and Genevieve Tobin are brilliant in supporting roles, and kudos to Sherwood (and Warner Brothers?) for casting an African-American as Slim, one of Mantee's henchmen, without the usual ethnic stereotyping of the period. In that connection another very funny exchange--providing good social commentary--between Slim and the bourgeois couple's African-American manservant.

DVD Review: A Fable About Dreams and Inheritance
Summary: 3 Stars

This film was adapted from a Broadway play and it shows. It begins with a car driving through the southwest desert. A lone man walks along a dry dusty road. There is a desert lunchroom and gas station. One customer comments on politics. The owner is a member of the local militia. There is a rumor about the bandit gang loose in the area. The hired man Bose likes Gabby, the daughter of the owner. A wanderer walks into the lunchroom. Gabby was born in Bourges France; her mother left the desert to return to France. Gabby dreams of poetry and a fantasy life in France. [Will she be disappointed by reality?] Mr. Squire seems to have a grand idea of himself. The talk reveals their characters. Is world chaos caused by nature? [An odd way of thinking.]

The Duke Mantee gang is in the area, what will happen if they reach the lunchroom? The talks suggests Mr. Squire seems doomed. The tension affects the people. Bose makes a wrong move. Mrs. Edith Chisholm doesn't have a bridle for her tongue. Did Mr. Squire have too much to drink? Is this story too fantastic to believe? Do the speeches seem unintentionally funny now? Like Edith's asking for a ride. [What did she drink?] The posse arrives at the lunchroom and the shoot-out begins. Will the outlaw gang escape? Will Squire do a far, far better thing that he has ever done before? Is there a moral to this story? Its success on Broadway tells something about the theatre audience of that time. The ending to the film seems tacked on to match the Hollywood Code. What happened to the hostages? I wonder what people read into this story. "Gramps" seemed like the star in his scenes.

One unbelievable part is the capture of the militia men. Being from that area they should have noticed something was wrong when they arrived. Squire's talent seems to have been smothered in the lap of luxury: too much too soon. If Gabby has talent she should practice, not travel like a tourist. Her fantasy won't match the reality. Entranced by the translation of a medieval poet? Grow up!

DVD Review: Betty and Bogey surprise
Summary: 4 Stars

I've never thought the Betty Davis stuff I've seen lived up to her "legend" status but I must say this one surprised me. She plays such a straightforward, cheerful, and likable character. She's actually pretty when she smiles! Chalk one up for Davis' versatility. I know nothing about Leslie Howard except apparently at the time he was the biggest star in this film and I liked how he played his character. The character himself is a bit sappy at times and could have been annoying if Howard wasn't as good as he is here. Of course the line on this movie is that Bogey stole the show and thereby got his foot in the door of filmdom. It's true! His fairly brief appearance and limited number of lines don't diminish his impact at all. Bogart is excellent and memorable as Duke Mantee. With this fine cast of interesting characters, it's easy to put aside the soundstage environment that fails to really impart the lonely desert atmosphere of the story's setting.

DVD Review: Hardly a "gangster" film
Summary: 4 Stars

Although this golden oldie is often labeled a "gangster" movie when marketed on home video, it's not the most appropriate description of "The Petrified Forest," the Warner Bros. film based on Sherwood Anderson's talky, philosophical play. But if not for the dynamic presence of Humphrey Bogart as Duke Mantee, a "candidate for hangin'" who holes up in a desert diner while on the lam from the law, this "prestigious" production starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis would likely be relegated to the same vault that stores "She Loved a Fireman" (with Ann Sheridan) and other forgotten Warner Bros. films from the same period.

This is the kind of property that must have seemed ideal in the early days of talking pictures because talk is just about all anyone does. The dialogue is literate, and Howard is superbly cast as the poet whose gentle spirit is threatened in modern society. It's a "clash of cultures" kind of thing enlivened by Bogart who reprised his role from the Broadway play at Howard's insistence, and established himself as a valuable supporting player on the Warner lot, a position he would occupy until 1940's "High Sierra" made him a top star.

Brian W. Fairbanks

Description of The Petrified Forest

A GANGSTER ON THE RUN TAKES PEOPLE HOSTAGE IN A ROADSIDE DINER.

Adapted from a hit Broadway play by Robert Sherwood and starring original cast members Leslie Howard and Humphrey Bogart, this 1936 suspense drama is set in an aging desert roadhouse caf?, where a young woman (Bette Davis) dreams of escaping a dead-end existence spent with her father and a lunkheaded, would-be suitor. Along comes a penniless poet (Howard), a wanderer who has made a mess of his life and crossed the hot sands as a symbolic act of meaningful futility. Davis's waitress is instantly enchanted, and in short order they begin talking about heading out to the world together. Then a twist: the world comes to them--in the form of escaped convicts, led by the monosyllabic Duke Mantee (Bogart), who secretly agrees to the poet's request that the fugitive gangster kill him. Directed by Archie Mayo (The Great American Broadcast), much of the film, perhaps inevitably, looks set-bound. Most of the action occurs in the caf?, and the script's tension sadly dissipates a bit as villains and hostages stay glued to their seats. The film's enduring appeal has everything to do with the leading performances: the fascinating alchemy of Howard's ethereal air, Davis's sexy urgency, and Bogart's bemused menace. If the story feels a trifle dated and perhaps a bit smug, the actors make it compelling nonetheless. --Tom Keogh

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