The Petrified Forest
| The Petrified Forest | |
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The Petrified Forest poster
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| Directed by | Archie Mayo |
| Produced by | Hal B. Wallis (executive producer, uncredited) |
| Written by |
Robert E. Sherwood (play) Charles Kenyon Delmer Daves |
| Starring |
Leslie Howard Bette Davis Humphrey Bogart Genevieve Tobin Dick Foran |
| Music by | Bernhard Kaun |
| Cinematography | Sol Polito |
| Edited by | Owen Marks |
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Production
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Release date
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February 6, 1936 (U.S. release) |
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Running time
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82 min |
| Language | English |
The Petrified Forest is a 1936 American film, directed by Archie Mayo starring Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, and Humphrey Bogart. A precursor of film noir, it was adapted from Robert E. Sherwood's stage play of the same name. The screenplay was written by Delmer Daves and Charles Kenyon, and adaptations were later performed on radio and television as well.
In the midst of the Great Depression, Alan Squier (Howard), once a respected British writer, now a disillusioned, penniless drifter, wanders into a roadside diner in the remote town of Black Mesa, Arizona, at the edge of the Petrified Forest. The diner is run by Jason Maple (Porter Hall), his daughter Gabrielle (Davis), and Gramp, Jason's father (Charley Grapewin), who regales anyone who will listen with stories of his adventures in the Old West with such characters as Billy the Kid.
Gabrielle's mother, a French war bride who fell in love with Jason when he was a young, handsome American serviceman, left her "dull defeated man" after the war and moved back to France when Gabrielle was a baby. She now sends poetry to Gabrielle, who dreams of moving to Bourges, where her parents first met, to become an artist. Alan tells his story—how he wrote one novel, then lived in France for eight years with his publisher's wife, trying to write another—and Gabrielle is instantly smitten with him.
Gabrielle shows Alan her paintings—the first time she has shown them to anyone—and reads him a favorite François Villon poem. Boze Hertzlinger (Dick Foran), a beefy diner employee who has wooed Gabrielle in vain, grows jealous of Alan, and he decides to leave forthwith. He mooches a ride from wealthy tourists Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm (Paul Harvey and Genevieve Tobin); but after only a few minutes on the road they encounter Duke Mantee (Bogart), a notorious gangster fleeing a massive police pursuit, whose car has broken down. Duke and his gang seize the Chisholms' car and drive to the diner, where Duke has arranged to rendezvous with his girlfriend, Doris, on their way to Mexico. Alan, the Chisholms, and their chauffeur (John Alexander) soon make their way back to the diner as well.
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