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 Coast Guard Reserve. Bogart resumed his friendship with Bill Brady, Jr., whose father had show business connections. Bogart got an office job, working for William A. Brady Sr.'s new company, World Films. Bogart wanted to try his hand at screenwriting, directing and production, but excelled at none. For a while he was stage manager for Brady's daughter Alice's play "A Ruined Lady". A few months later he made his stage debut as a Japanese butler in Alice's 1921 play "Drifting", nervously speaking one line of dialog. Several appearances followed in her subsequent plays. While Bogart had been raised to believe