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When John Huston asked a group of friends last year if anyone had a desire to relive part of his life, all shrugged except Bogart. who said, "Yes. When I was courting Betty." The romance began in 1944 when Bogart was starring in To Have and Have Not with Betty, who was making her film debut. Betty played a sultry siren whose big line in the movie was a hoarse "If you want anything, all you have to do is whistle." (Bogart later presented her with a tiny gold whistle.) It was a noisy courtship—conducted, apparently to the mutual enjoyment of both parties, amidst coveys of newsmen and crushing hordes of fans in Manhattan. They were married on Author Louis Bromfield's farm in Ohio in May 1945. "It was a big mess." says Betty. "Bogie shed tears all through the ceremony. He cries at weddings. He's very cute about it. It was fun. It was exciting. Bogie's a wonderful husband."
The Quiet Life. In the years since he married Actress Bacall, Bogart has not abandoned his interest in the practical joke and the convivial glass, or his feeling that there are nights when a man owes it to himself to stay up until dawn. But for all that, he leads an astonishingly quiet life. He reads voluminously, plays chess, and engages his wife at Scrabble. He often takes afternoon naps and tries hard, when he is working, to be in bed and asleep by 9:30.
None of this, however, has stopped Hollywood from speculating as to what sort of fellow he really is, or kept Bogart from supplying clues. He is willing to speak out on practically any subject.
Samples : On maternal love: "I can't say I ever loved my mother. I admired her."
On whisky: "I never drink when I work. I get loaded now and then. I don't trust anyone who doesn't drink."
On women: "They've got us. We should never have set them free. They should still be in chains and fettered to the home, where they belong."
On money: "The only reason to have money is to tell any s.o.b. in the world to go to hell."
On exercise: "At John Huston's house, years ago, a group of us played football in the living room with a grapefruit. It was late in the evening, shall we say."
On fatherhood: "It came a little late in life. I don't understand the children, and I think they don't understand me, and all I can say is 'Thank God for Betty.' "
On manners: "I have politeness and manners. I was brought up that way. But in this goldfish-bowl life, it is sometimes hard to use them. A nightclub is a good place not to have manners."
On politics: "I'm a Democrat and a liberal."
On bad movies: "I don't give a damn about the industry. If they go broke, I don't give a damn. I don't hurt the industry. The industry hurts itself—as if General Motors deliberately put out a bad car." What is the sum of these attitudes? Says Bogie of his own career: "I'm a professional. I've done pretty well, don't you think? I've survived in a pretty rough business."