Tough Without a Gun: The Life and Extraordinary Afterlife of Humphrey Bogart

by Stefan Kanfer

Humphrey Bogart: it’s hard to think of anyone who’s had the same lasting impact on the culture of movies. Though he died at the young age of fifty-seven more than half a century ago, his influence among actors and filmmakers, and his enduring appeal for film lovers around the world, remains as strong as ever. What is it about Bogart, with his unconventional looks and noticeable speech impediment, that has captured our collective imagination for so long? In this definitive biography, Stefan Kanfer answers that question, along the way illuminating the private man Bogart was and shining the spotlight on some of the greatest performances ever captured on celluloid.

Bogart fell into show business almost by accident and worked for nearly twenty years before becoming the star we know today. Born into a life of wealth and privilege in turn-of-the-century New York, Bogart was a troublemaker throughout his youth, getting kicked out of prep school and running away to join the navy at the age of nineteen. After a short, undistinguished stint at sea, Bogart spent his early twenties drifting aimlessly from one ill-fitting career to another, until, through a childhood friend, he got his first theater job. Working first as a stagehand and then, reluctantly, as a bit-part player, Bogart cut his teeth in one forgettable role after another. But it was here he began to develop a work ethic; deciding that there were “two kinds of men: professionals and bums,” Bogart, for the first time in his life, wanted to be the former.

After the Crash of ’29, Bogart headed west to try his luck in Hollywood. That luck was scarce, and he slogged through more than thirty B-movie roles before his drinking buddy John Huston wrote him a part that would change everything; with High Sierra, Bogart finally broke through at the age of forty—being a pro had paid off.

What followed was a string of movies we have come to know as the most beloved classics of American cinema: The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Big Sleep, The African Queen . . . the list goes on and on. Kanfer appraises each of the films with an unfailing critical eye, weaving in lively accounts of behind-the-scenes fun and friendships, including, of course, the great love story of Bogart and Bacall. What emerges in these pages is the portrait of a great Hollywood life, and the final word on why there can only ever be one Bogie.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Film, History, Biography Memoir, Media Tie In, Cultural

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Stefan Kanfer is the author of fifteen books, including the bestselling biographies of show business icons: GROUCHO; BALL OF FIRE (Lucille Ball); SOMEBODY (Marlon Brando); and TOUGH WITHOUT A GUN (Humphrey Bogart). He has also written many social histories, among them THE LAST EMPIRE, about the De Beers diamond company, and STARDUST LOST, an account of the rise and fall of the Yiddish Theater in New York.

Kanfer also wrote two novels about World War II and served as the only journalist on the President’s Commission on the Holocaust. He was the first by-lined cinema critic for Time magazine, where he worked as writer and editor for more than two decades. He has been given many writing awards and was named a Literary Lion of the New York Public Library. He lives in New York where he serves as a columnist for the City Journal of the Manhattan Institute.

Reviews

[Sugarpuss O'Shea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely LOVED this book. For me, the way Mr Kanfer mixed the story of Bogie's life while reminding the reader of the times he lived in, is a bonus. (I can't tell you how many times I've watched Casablanca, but never put together that Rick represented the US at the time.) I also appreciate that this was not a salacious biography. Was Bogie a Saint? Absolutely not. But I appreciate that Mr Kanfer didn't spend time in the muck, like so many other biographers do now-a-days. All in all, this was a great read that will take you back in time, and shines a light on why Bogie has transcended his times.

[Brooklyn Tayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars because I read it in a sitting. Wasn't the most enthralling of biographies though, it was lacking emotion, I personally feel. Nonetheless it was fascinating reading about the early life of such an iconic actor, a man who's fast becoming one of my all time favourites; and needless to say I'm going to seek more books on Bogie and also Bacall too.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific Biography

A biography that seems a bit pandering and soft at the beginning and end, has a lot of meat in the middle. Stefan Kanfer seems to really admire Bogie and was able to collect good information on him. I really thought that this biography was substantial and worthy of its subject. Humphrey Bogart made a lot of great movies and had a lot of talent. The author also knows about old Hollywood and how it flourished. I highly recommend this book.

[Julie Bestry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was unimpressed with the biography and the author. Kanfer seemed a little taken with himself, lapsing into Spanish or French or Italian adverbs (lamentablemente) for little reason other than to call attention to himself as storyteller. And yet, he barely tells the story, or a least a story worth hearing.

More paragraphs were devoted to Bogie's wife Mayo Methot than to Lauren Bacall. Granted, Methot was wackadoodle and colorful, but Kanfer seems intent on repeating the same few details about Bacall -- she was breathy and young, she had a crush on Adlai Stevenson, and she washed Bogart's socks during the filming of The African Queen. Twice as much space is given to forgettable films as to Casablanca, The Big Sleep or Mutiny on the Bounty. There are some colorful anecdotes, including one about a stuffed panda, but there's no depth, no sense that any of these living and breathing human beings were anything more than two-dimensional script characters.

Unless you're a completist and must read everything ever written about Bogart, feel free to skip this one.

[Ed]

I'm not going to assign a rating to this biography of Bogart. I read a few of the sections, and I didn't get excited enough to continue reading. I want to know about the person behind the persona. For instance, we're told Bogie liked to read. Okay, so tell me which books and authors he preferred. Did he read Hammett to make The Maltese Falcon movie? Couldn't this information be derived from his living widow or friends? Maybe nobody else cares about Bogie's reading tastes. No doubt I'll probably give the bio. another try at some point.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great read by any stretch of the imagination. I was hoping for a thorough examination of the man and his work, but the author's interpretation is hazy at best. This is not helped by the author's constant darting off into the marginalia of Bogart's life and career. I will be interested to see if someone can suggest a better biography of this fascinating character.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoy reading about Humphrey Bogart, my favorite actor of all time!

[Muffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent overall look at what made Bogart an iconic movie star and why it was so unlikely that it happened. It was only toward the end, when Bogart was dying, that Kanfer seemed to have any information (or chose to share any) about Bogart’s personality and inner life. The book weirdly skimmed things, too. His biggest movies each get only a handful of paragraphs about their production, as if there’s anything more interesting to spend book space on. I also learned halfway through that the author, Stefan Kanfer, was a dingbat conservative and that started coloring how I saw the way he wrote about, for example, the Hollywood Red Scare. So idk. Basically fine, but I bet there are better Bogart biographies out there.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Humphrey 🖤 so I'm biased to love the content of this book from the gate. At times the writing and topics were technical and extremely detailed, so if I wasn't particularly interested in a subject (a movie he made, a friend/ wife/ actor he was involved with, etc.) I suppose I could deem parts of it boring.... But it's still about Humphrey so.... 🖤☺️

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good accounting of Bogart's life and acting career. I even grabbed a couple films of his that I hadn't seen.

[Elisha Condie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever heard a book so aptly named. Humphrey Bogart IS tough without a gun. I am really liking the book - and him - so far.

The book follows Bogart through his life and how he became the symbol of the ultimate man's man. A cool guy, uncompromising in his beliefs, with no patience for phonies. I thought it was really interesting that there hasn't been another Humphrey Bogart, and there couldn't be. Heroes today are more emotional, younger, more vulnerable than the stoic Bogart.

And I did really like this book. But I still don't feel like I really know him all that well. This book is very detailed about his professional life. Kanfer goes into great detail about Bogie's relationships with his costars and colleagues. What it was missing was personal details - there are a few quotes from Lauren Bacall about their marriage, but not that many. The births of his children were side notes. What really makes a biography for me is the personal details. A person's professional life, while important, isn't the whole story!

Kanfer did reference a book that someone wrote about the history of the film "Casablanca" that I want to read now. Overall, this book was good, not great.

[Chuck · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a "Bogie" fan, but this book was tedious. There was much more about marginal characters in his life and career than I had hoped. The meat of this biography was very informative, but many of the long passages in between made a page last forever. I enjoyed "Kanfer's" discussion of his eary childhood, the summary of the significant movies, discussions about the "rat pack" and the events leading up to his death. Surprisingly, I enjoyed his dissertation on what has happenned to the film industry. It is a well supported contention that the film industry presently panders to an average age that has not begun to shave and he supports that premise by listing the top twenty movies of all time...........guilty, I have seen two of them and bought the other half for my kids. As he so elequently quotes from a conversation between a Paramount executive and a movie buff, "If you'd make more adult movies we'd come back to the theatre" to which the executive replied "If you'd come back to the theatre we'd make more adult movies." You know, The old chicken and the egg thing. Well, I have to go,get on twitter, facebook and get my email then maybe I'll get on my Ipad and watch a 1939 movie.

[Cat Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair to middling bio that stays pretty much on the surface. The author depends on other, better researched books for most of his quotes & anecdotes. Frankly, I found it rather boring. I'd recommend Lauren Bacall's By Myself over this book.

[Antonio · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, I read biographies, but I am selective of which ones. I only read those on those I really have an interest in. Bogart is my second favourite actor of all time so I figured it would be a good read. I was well wrong. For a "comprehensive biography" it sure wasn't that at all; it was rushed, and barely anything important seemed to be in it. Few pages of childhood, even fewer of his death, and a load of garbage in my opinion post death.

The issues I had with this book were:

1) Lack of connection between the reader and Bogart -- I have read other biographies where you walk through the the person's life as the author explains it. It is as if you were there. This book there was absolutely no connection for me like that. It was just straight up boring facts; no depth into Bogart's life, none of that. It was just rushed.

2) Way too much into the plot of his movies -- Yes, I know, Bogart is an actor, and of course you should include his movies, plots, etc. But for the length of this book (~250 pages) when that is a huge chunk of what is writing, I see no point to the book when one could just go on the web and see the movie plots, or even watch the movies themselves.

3) Nothing memorable was written -- May tie into 1) a little bit, but I think it's a tad different. There was no amazing writing, nothing that popped into my eye. Kanfer barely goes into details in this book, and rushes everything, which is why I find it amusing how it says this is a 'comprehensive' biography.

Most of the book, I was rushing through it, and sighing. As for biographies, it has been the worst one I have read. If you want to learn more about Bogart, please do not waste your time reading this one. I guarantee there has to be a better biography out there on him. I plan on reading Bogart sometime in the future, based on reviews. The only reason I even finished this was because my mom bought it and I wanted to at least finish it for her.

[Julio The Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

To paraphrase what someone once said about Renoir's THE RULES OF THE GAME, if American civilization were to be destroyed tomorrow but a few managed to survive, I could teach them what is was like to be a man in the twentieth century, and hopefully today, by having him or her read the biography of the persona of Humphrey Bogart; not the person but the mask, projection, or role-model. Bogie was tough but tender. Laconic but all his words counted. Humanistic but ruthless when necessary. Women for him were to be worshipped but also dismissed if they intruded upon his pursuits. Death was not to be feared: "What's everybody getting upset about? It's not like I have a social disease", he muttered on his deathbed. He didn't need a gun. He had guts. Bogart had his dark side, of course. First supporting the Hollywood Ten before the HUAC and then backing out when he realized it would hurt his career was an act of cowardice for which his CASABLANCA co-star Paul Heinreid never forgave him. Still, this biography of the man and screen image, and how they melded into one for decades and until today is the very definition of American macho.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a detailed account of the life and career of Bogie. For almost every movie Kanfer outlines: script writers, producers, directors, cast and how well all these creatives got along while making the film. He goes on to outline Bogie’s response to the film, the response of the professional critics and the audience reactions. Sometimes it gets a bit tedious. Not only is it a good look at Bogart’s life it is also a solid, critical look at the history and the workings of the Hollywood movie industry.

There is a whole section at the end about the legacy of Bogart and how his image and legend has been kept alive for years after his death. That is the “afterlife” mentioned in the title.

There were a number of errors in the printing of the text. e.g. “ He looked even wearier and more afflicted then he did on television.” p. 434 Should be THAN he did… [sigh]

[Mark McTague · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knowing only the screen persona of Humphrey Bogart, I appreciated the look at the man's personal and professional lives. As i have read no other biographies of Bogart, of which there are many (as the author mentions in the final chapter), I cannot judge the veracity or fairness of Kanfer's work. The book does, however, give a clear impression of a man who was much larger than his 5'8" stature. He was loyal to friends, kind to those down on their luck, and man enough not only to know when he was mistaken but to admit it. Kanfer clearly seems to be an admirer, but I came away from the book believing that the image of Sam Spade, Phil Marlowe, and Rick Blaine was closer to Bogart the man than one might think.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can never get enough biographies, especially of Hollywood types. This one isn't the most thorough - Kanfer quotes from a couple of much longer, more detailed bios - but it does hit the high points well, and concentrates on what I'm most interested in knowing, backstories on the classic (and some less than classic) films. Kanfer doesn't deliver much on the extraordinary afterlife, though he certainly does mention as many references to Bogart post-1957 as he could find in popular and literary circles. This isn't the deepest of reads, but it's well told, and it put my scattered knowledge of Bogart's life into a chronology that makes a lot of sense.

[Christine Sinclair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's lookin' at you, Bogie. Mr. Kanfer has written an excellent book, covering the making of all 75 of Bogart's films, his loveless childhood, his four marriages, and the ups and downs of his career. Humphrey Bogart was, and is, unique among Hollywood actors. He could play it good or bad, charming or sinister, snide or sincere, but always believable. It wasn't his looks that got him to the top, but his raw talent and drive to succeed, combined with a little luck and many memorable characterizations. The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, The Caine Munity, The Desperate Hours; all "the stuff that dreams are made of."

[Walter Montague · Rating 2 out of 5]

I randomly picked this book up at my local library. I have discovered gems this way. Monty: the biography of Montgomery Clift comes to mind. That book was fantastic. This book was not. How can a book about a notorious smoker and drinker, married 4 times and arguably the greatest Male actors of all time BE SO BORING. Basically this book just chronicles his movies in order and spends little time on each one. There were a few juicy tidbits but this book failed on so many levels. 2 stars: do not recommend…

[Andrew Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent biography on Humphrey Bogart. I found this book at the library, so I didn't have a chance to look for other biographies on Bogart. This one wasn't bad, but it wasn't too great either.

If I remember it correctly, it just dragged on a bit and the biographer seemed to focus on the boring details instead of the fun ones. I don't think Kanfer had great access to first-hand accounts of Bogart and it showed.

[Vincent Lombardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

While most of the information presented here is something that you can get in Wikipedia, the details about his family life and his marriages were interesting including his death and influence in society. While it got a little too analytical in last 20 pages, it was overall an interesting read for this Bogart fan.

[Dana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly just skimmed until the end. Couldn’t finish reading. It was just very dry with lots of name-dropping but it seemed more focused on other actors stories at times. I love his movies and wanted to learn more about Bogie. This book unfortunately did not make me feel like I learned very much. Maybe it was more juicy information at the time it was published.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great introduction to the life and craft of Humphrey Bogart. Though not "conventionally" handsome, Bogart nonetheless defined "cool". He had more misses than hits when it came to films (mostly not his fault - a function of the crank 'em out Hollywood system), Bogart remains to this day an iconic figure. I wish there was a little more depth to the biography, but a great place to start.

[Jenna Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books about actors always run the risk of being less interesting than the mystique of the star would suggest, and that's at least partly true in this case. But Bogart was a late bloomer, and the account of his days before stardom as a working actor, which amounted to a good chunk of his short life, is interesting and inspiring to anyone still looking to find success. The "afterlife" of Bogart recounts mostly familiar information, and less fulsome or interesting than the title suggests. Nevertheless, it's worth reading if the subject matter interests you.

[Alyssa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the personal history of Humphrey Bogart. I thought the descriptions of ALL his movies EVER was a little too much information and I found myself skimming those parts but otherwise, I enjoyed the book!

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a Bogart fan, and this book definitely made me want to re-watch his movies. However, there were portions I skimmed, and I'm not really sure why the author felt he had to insert french phrases here and there. It did not add anything to the book for me personally, and I found it annoying.

[Colleen Mertens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot about one of my favorite actors from this book. I think he makes some valid points as well as why we will never have another Bogart. Also this made me want to read more about Peter Lorre.

[Terri Librande · Rating 3 out of 5]

More about Bogie

I hate to admit there isn't anything new in this biography. I've read every book related to Bogart. The only true news are in the quotes from Lauren Bacalls autobiography. Its a shame, too. I wanted something more, perhaps to have the story end another way.

[Lyndsy Hatfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like I guzzled and gulped as I read through each decade of Bogie's incredible life. A man of unshakable principles, class and determination. I have a newfound appreciation for all that he lent to the stage, and now have a watchlist a mile long.