''The Man with Bogart's Face'' (also called ''Sam Marlowe, Private Eye'') is a 1980 American

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

, released by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

and based on a novel of the same name. Andrew J. Fenady, author of the novel, produced the film and wrote the screenplay.

Plot summary

A man calling himself Sam Marlowe ( Robert Sacchi) has his face altered to resemble that of his idol, Humphrey Bogart, and then opens a detective agency. At first, he and his secretary Duchess (

Misty Rowe Mistella Rowe (born Misty Rose Thornton; June 1, 1952) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying the perky, squeaky-voiced blonde on the American television series ''Hee Haw'' for 19 years, often appearing as Junior Samples's assis ...

) have meager business, but things pick up after a shooting puts Sam's picture in the paper. Some ruthless people, who are coincidentally also similar to characters in Bogart films (and played by

Victor Buono Victor Charles Buono (February 3, 1938January 1, 1982) was an American actor, comic, and briefly a recording artist. He was known for playing the villain King Tut in the television series ''Batman (TV series), Batman'' (1966–1968) and musician ...

Herbert Lom Herbert Charles Angelo Kuchačevič ze Schluderpacheru (11 September 1917 – 27 September 2012), known professionally as Herbert Lom (), was a Czech-British actor who moved to the United Kingdom in 1939. In a career lasting more than 60 ye ...

, and

Michelle Phillips Michelle may refer to: People *Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottish ...

), are after a priceless set of blue sapphires called the Eyes of Alexander (from a statue of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

), and Marlowe and Duchess are caught in the middle of it all.

Cast

* Robert Sacchi – Sam Marlowe *

Franco Nero Francesco Clemente Giuseppe Sparanero (born 23 November 1941), known professionally as Franco Nero, is an Italian actor, producer, and director. His breakthrough role was as the title character in the Spaghetti Western film '' Django'' (1966), ...

– Hakim *

– Gena *

Olivia Hussey Olivia Hussey (born Olivia Osuna; 17 April 1951) is an English film, stage, and television actress. Her awards include a Golden Globe Award and a David di Donatello Award. The daughter of Argentine opera singer Andrés Osuna, Hussey was born i ...

– Elsa *

– Mr. Zebra *

– Duchess *

– Commodore Anastas *

Sybil Danning Sybil Danning (born Sybille Johanna Danninger) is an Austrian actress, model, and film producer. She is best known for her frequent appearances in B movies during the 1970s and 1980s. Biography Early years and first films Born in Austria, Dannin ...

– Cynthia *

Richard Bakalyan Richard Bakalyan (January 29, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor who started his career playing juvenile delinquents in his first several films. Early life Richard Bakalyan was born on January 29, 1931, in Watertown, Massachuset ...

– Lieutenant Bumbera *

Gregg Palmer Palmer Edwin Lee (January 25, 1927 – October 31, 2015), known by his stage name Gregg Palmer, was an American film and television actor. Born in San Francisco, California, Palmer served in the United States Army Air Corps as a cryptographer i ...

– Sergeant Hacksaw *

Jay Robinson Jay Robinson (April 14, 1930 – September 27, 2013) was an American actor specializing in character roles. He achieved his greatest fame playing Emperor Caligula in the film ''The Robe'' (1953) and its sequel ''Demetrius and the Gladiators' ...

– Wolf/Zinderneuf * George Raft – Petey Cane * Yvonne De Carlo – Teresa Anastas *

Mike Mazurki Mike Mazurki (December 25, 1907 – December 9, 1990) was a Ukrainian-American actor and professional wrestler who appeared in more than 142 films. His 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) presence and face had him typecast as often brainless athletes ...

– Himself *

Henry Wilcoxon Harry Frederick Wilcoxon (8 September 1905 – 6 March 1984), known as Henry Wilcoxon, was an actor born in Roseau, Dominica, British West Indies, and who was a leading man in many of Cecil B. DeMille's films, also serving as DeMille's associ ...

– Mr. Chevalier *

Victor Sen Yung Sen Yung, later known professionally as Victor Sen Young (born Sen Yew Cheung; October 18, 1914 – c. November 9, 1980); one source lists his given name as Victor Cheung Young with the birth year 1915)) was an American character actor, best kn ...

– Mr. Wing

Original novel

The film was based on the debut novel by Andrew J. Fenady who wrote it in long hand over 23 days. Fenady had been writer and producer of television shows and movies for 30 years and was always interested in turning it into a film. In June 1976 it was announced that Fenady's book would be published next January and that a film version would follow. "Whatever the author had in mind does not come off very well," wrote the book critic of ''The New York Times'', adding "the conception and writing are pretty sophomoric." The ''Los Angeles Times'' said Fenady "writes well". The book was popular enough for a sequel ''The Secret of Sam Marlow: The Further Adventures of the Man with Bogart's Face''.

Production

Fenday took the film to Mel Simon who agreed to provide $4 million. Fenady says he wound up not needing all that money and returned $400,000 to Simon. "I'm a Depression baby, I don't believe in wasting money," he said. The film was made in May 1979 with independently raised finance from Melvin Simon Productions. In September 1979, when the movie was in post-production, 20th Century Fox agreed to pick up all Melvin Simon's movies made in 1979 and 1980 in a deal worth an estimated $10 million. They had a fifty percent interest in ''Bogart'', meaning Fox paid Simon $2 million. Star Robert Sacchi was noted for his resemblance to Bogart and had appeared as Bogart in various roles for over a decade, including various commercials, a Broadway production of ''Play It Again Sam''. He had toured America for four years in a one man show ''Bogie's Back''. "I'm just a working guy trying to make an honest living," he said. "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." Fenady said he cast another actor in the role until Sacchi walked in, after which the producer "went into shock. Bob doesn't need to do an impersonation. The physical impact is enough. When he began talking, I knew I had Bogart." During the filming of one scene, a boat hit John Wayne's converted minesweeper. It was the last film for George Raft.

Reception

The film debuted at the

1980 Cannes Film Festival The 33rd Cannes Film Festival was held between 9 and 23 May 1980. The Palme d'Or went to the '' All That Jazz'' by Bob Fosse and ''Kagemusha'' by Akira Kurosawa. The festival opened with '' Fantastica'', directed by Gilles Carle and closed with ' ...

and was released in Europe before debuting in the US. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called it "an intelligent, amiable and often amusing spoof of Humphrey Bogart and the roles he played" although "everyone is so cool that there are moments when the picture seems about to drift off the screen."

Notes

* The name Sam Marlowe is taken from two film characters played by Bogart: Sam Spade in '' The Maltese Falcon'' and

Philip Marlowe Philip Marlowe () is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler, who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The hardboiled crime fiction genre originated in the 1920s, notably in ''Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashie ...

in ''

The Big Sleep ''The Big Sleep'' (1939) is a hardboiled crime novel by American-British writer Raymond Chandler, the first to feature the detective Philip Marlowe. It has been adapted for film twice, in 1946 and again in 1978. The story is set in Los Angel ...

''. * Appearing in this film are screen veterans George Raft (in his last film role),

(who had appeared with Humphrey Bogart in ''

Across the Pacific ''Across the Pacific'' is a 1942 American spy film set on the eve of the entry of the United States into World War II. It was directed first by John Huston, then by Vincent Sherman after Huston joined the United States Army Signal Corps. It sta ...

''),

, Yvonne De Carlo,

, and

. * The film won the first Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song for "The Man with Bogart's Face".

Home media

The film was released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 34 ...

on July 10, 2007.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Man with Bogart's Face, The 1980 films 1980s comedy mystery films 20th Century Fox films American comedy mystery films American detective films Films scored by George Duning Films based on American novels Films directed by Robert Day Golden Raspberry Award winning films Cultural depictions of Humphrey Bogart 1980 comedy films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films