Humphrey Bogart in a cast list at the trailer's end. Robinson's role is evocative of Duke Mantee in "The Petrified Forest" (1936), a Bogart leading man breakthrough the studio had originally earmarked for Robinson. The enormous success of "Casablanca" redefined Bogart's career. For the first time, Bogart could be cast successfully as both a tough, strong man and vulnerable love interest. Despite his elevated standing, he did not yet have a contractual right of script refusal. When he got weak scripts he simply dug in his heels and locked horns again with the front office, as he did on the film "Conflict"
Humphrey Bogart were not yet air-conditioned), and his regimented, tightly scheduled job at Warners was anything but the indolent and "peachy" actor's life he hoped for. However, he was always professional and generally respected by other actors. He used these "B movie" years to start developing his enduring film persona—the wounded, stoical, cynical, charming, vulnerable, self-mocking loner with a code of honor. In spite of his success, Warner Bros. had no interest in making Bogart a top star. Shooting on a new film might begin days or only hours after the previous one wrapped. The studio system, then at the most entrenched,