Reimagining Humphrey Bogart: Untold Stories of a Hollywood Icon’s Turbulent Private Life

After being expelled from school, Maud Humphrey told her son, “From now on, you’re on your own.” For Ferguson, the couple’s complicated relationship naturally anchored Bogart’s origin story.[Maud] “She was one of the highest-paid artists of the turn of the century and a leading suffragist,” Ferguson said. “Although she was obviously incredibly prolific and successful, he felt she was not the mother he needed—and I feel this continued to shape the trajectory of his life and his loves.”

The film follows Bogart’s difficult beginnings as an actor, convinced he would never be able to pursue a career in it while struggling with alcoholism and a series of “terrible” roles. In that relatively established narrative, we learn another aspect of his early years. Ferguson examines Bogart’s relationship with his first wife, actress Helen Menken, by focusing on her participation in the 1926 play The prisoner, a controversial and radical work depicting women in love. As Life comes in the blink of an eye Bogart, she recounts, encouraged her to do the play and supported its content. But Menken was arrested for her participation, and the play was shut down—signaling Bogart’s lifelong (and increasingly conflicted) fight against censorship in Hollywood.

Meanwhile, Bogart was still struggling with the direction of his career, his “resentment” at being a studio contract worker. He listened to his mother criticize his career. “In a way, he was a real loner,” Stephen said. “His relationship with his wife wasn’t really a family affair. They were part of the business.”

By David Lee Guss / University of Wisconsin; Provided by NBC Universal Pictures Content Group

That work can get pretty volatile. Perhaps the most fascinating part of the film is its re-examination of the (literally) fiery marriage between Bogart and Mayo Methot, an actress eventually diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who attempted suicide during their relationship. Stories about their tumultuous and dramatic seven-year marriage tend to paint Methot as unstable and irrelevant. But this was also the moment when Bogart’s career took a turn after turning 40, with the release of Maltese Falcon and production Casablanca propelled him to superstardom. These milestones are mentioned by Life comes in the blink of an eye, But Methot’s presence throughout that time is emphasized—including the infamous collision she had with Bogart while he was filming Casablanca.