Humphrey Bogart and Mary Astor as the treacherous female foil. Bogart's sharp timing and facial expressions were praised by the cast and director as vital to the quick action and rapid-fire dialogue. The film was a huge hit in theaters and a major triumph for Huston. Bogart was unusually happy with it, remarking, "it is practically a masterpiece. I don't have many things I'm proud of ... but that's one". Bogart gained his first real romantic lead in 1942's "Casablanca", playing Rick Blaine, a hard-pressed expatriate nightclub owner hiding from a shady past while negotiating a fine line among Nazis, the French
Humphrey Bogart stage name, but Bogart declined it. The film version of "The Petrified Forest" was released in 1936, and Bogart's performance was called "brilliant", "compelling", and "superb". The film was highly successful, earning $500,000 at the box office, and making Bogart a star. He never forgot Howard's favor, and in 1952 named his only daughter "Leslie Howard Bogart" after Howard, who had died in World War II when a civilian plane he was flying in was shot down under mysterious circumstances. Robert E. Sherwood remained a close friend of Bogart's. Despite his success in "The Petrified Forest," an "A movie", Bogart