Humphrey Bogart in "Watch on the Rhine". The film vaulted Bogart from fourth place to first in the studio's roster, finally overtaking James Cagney. By 1946 he'd more than doubled his annual salary to over $460,000, making him the highest-paid actor in the world. Between 1943 and 1944, Bogart went on the United Service Organizations and War Bond tours accompanied by Methot, enduring arduous travels to Italy and North Africa, including Casablanca. Bogart met Lauren Bacall while filming "To Have and Have Not" (1944), a loose adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel. The movie has many similarities with "Casablanca"—the same enemies, the
Humphrey Bogart contract ended. In 1955, though he was well established as an independent producer, his health was failing. In the wake of Santana, Bogart had formed a new company and had eager plans for a film, "Melville Goodwin, U.S.A.", in which he would play a general, and Bacall a press magnate. However, his persistent cough and difficulty eating became too serious to ignore, and he dropped the project. As a heavy smoker and drinker, Bogart developed esophageal cancer. He did not speak of his health and visited a doctor in January 1956, after much persistence from Bacall. The disease worsened several