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What did you rate 'The Petrified Forest' (1936)?

posted 17 years ago by J. Spurlin
30 replies | jump to latest

I rated this a 7/10 for the database. What did you rate it? And what do you think of it?

Leslie Howard is a hobo intellectual, Bette Davis is a waitress dreaming of an adventurous life and Humphrey Bogart is the gangster who has everyone at gunpoint in this adaptation of Robert Sherwood's play set in a diner in the Arizona desert.

The literate script with its long, contemplative speeches (mainly from Howard) is a shocker when compared with anything today, in or out of the mainstream. Howard's character can get a bit airy-fairy, but he's mainly a delight. Bogart (who, like Howard, is repeating his stage role) is memorable, but hasn't quite refined his technique in front of the camera: his is a theatrical performance. Bette Davis is good; and Charley Grapewin, as a gangster-worshipping old coot is excellent. The painted backdrops make this look more like a stage play than it should have.

... Justin

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Sewaat 8 years ago

I gave the film a 7/10. For me a 6 is an adequate film and an 8 is a great film. The Petrified Forest falls somewhere in between.

It was certainly a film more about acting and dialogue than anything else. I can really tell that it was based off of a play. You hardly notice the camera is even there, which I suppose is the whole point of it.

It was a good, simple premise. It reminded me of the "who dunnit" scenario where a bunch of strangers with no relation to each other are trapped in a certain place and each character as their own set of personality traits which clashes with the others. But the conflict here is not a murder, it's simple philosophy.

Allan (Leslie Howard) is the star of this movie, no doubt about it. His character completely steals the show. The whole plot nearly revolved around him. He never seems to show a flicker of fear towards anything, not even in the face of criminals.

Speaking of the criminals, I loved every second of his interactions with Bogart's character. Those two, to me....are the human personifications of good and evil. The most entertaining scenes were the ones where they were the most civil towards each other. They are polar opposites in every way and yet they both seem to respect each other.

Overall this film was a great character study, much like another great Bogart film The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. The only reason I didn't give the film an 8 out of 10 was because I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. It left me feeling kind of deflated and like the whole film had been pointless. Maybe it'll grow on me in the future but for now it sort of under-mined what the whole film was trying to say. It would have been a better ending if Allan had lived but that's just my opinion. Otherwise, I'm really glad I saw the film. I'll definitely watch it again.

[–] predarat 8 years ago

Saw it for the first time recently, I really enjoyed it. Gave it an 8, was possibly a 7 but Bogart and the old man give it the 8 on a tie breaker. Reminded me a bit of The Hateful Eight.

[–] johnnm58 (545) 6 years ago

I'm not one for writing reviews, but a solid 7 out of 10 for this movie. The ending could have been better.

[–] NotoriousRio (12927) 5 years ago

Yeah, it seemed a bit rushed. A solid 7 though.