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 bought a motor launch, which he named "Sluggy," his nickname for hot-tempered Methot. Bogart acknowledged that "I like a jealous wife...We get on so well together (because) we don't have illusions about each other...I wouldn't give you two cents for a dame without a temper." Louise Brooks stated, "...except for Leslie Howard, no one contributed as much to Humphrey's success as his third wife, Mayo Methot." However, Methot's influence was increasingly destructive, and Bogart's own drinking did not help matters. Bogart had a lifelong disgust for the pretentious, fake or phony. Sensitive yet caustic, he was once again disgusted by