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 money were similar to those the studio waged with other high-spirited, less-than-obedient stars, such as Bette Davis, James Cagney, Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. The leading men ahead of Bogart at Warner Bros. included not only such marquee names as James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson, but also journeymen leads, such as Victor McLaglen, George Raft and Paul Muni. Most of the studio's better movie scripts went to them, leaving Bogart with what was left. He made films like "Racket Busters", "San Quentin", and "You Can't Get Away with Murder". The only substantial leading role he got during this