Review of The Petrified Forest (1973) by Ricardo O — 02 Aug 2011
An excellent proto-noir crime drama centering on a brief romance between Leslie Howard & Bette Davis all the while they and other guests of her father's desert gas station/restaurant are being held as hostages of Humphrey Bogart and his gang.
The direction is very predictable but the dialogue is excellent and the acting is superb especially Leslie Howard as a British intellectual who has been wandering the country as a hitchhiker and Bogie in one of his first big roles.
He is brilliant (as usual) as the villainous gangster (the kind of role that he was being typecast as at the time) on the run. It is often called Bogart's breakthrough and I can certainly see why; he nails the role.
Another thing that's great is the pacing of the film - I swear watching it only felt like an hour instead of almost an hour and a half because the dialogue and the acting drove the film so well. Recommended viewing.
8/10.
This review of The Petrified Forest (1973) was written by Ricardo O on 02 Aug 2011.
The Petrified Forest has generally received positive reviews.
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