Humphrey Bogart

The face of eternity in black and white

There is a face that has stood the test of time with the same intensity as a timeless gaze: that of Humphrey Bogart. Born in 1899 in New York, he became the symbol of film noir and the antihero with a hidden heart. His husky voice, disillusioned gaze, and ever-present cigarette: every detail of Bogart was legendary even while he was acting.

His consecration came with The Maltese Falcon, but it was Casablanca that made him eternal: Rick Blaine was not just a character, he was the embodiment of cynical romanticism, of those who love but give up, of those who have lived long enough to know that the world is not perfect.

Bogart did not act: he was himself, with a dry and authentic strength. In To Have and Have Not, he met Lauren Bacall, the love and muse of his life. Together they formed one of the most iconic couples in cinema history. Winner of an Oscar for The African Queen, Bogart did not like the spotlight outside the set. But on screen, he shone like few others, with a sober, dry, unrepeatable style.

He embodied dignity in doubt, the hero who does not proclaim himself as such. Because at the heart of true cinema, there is always a man like Bogart who says, “This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

During the filming of Casablanca, Bogart was shorter than Ingrid Bergman. To maintain the illusion of his dominant stature, stools and risers were hidden in the shots.

ICONICOMIX celebrates him

because he created the archetype of the modern hero: rough, disillusioned, human.

With him, cinema found its truest voice.