Customer Reviews

The Man with Bogart's Face [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

All Bogie fans, in fact ALL lovers of classics should see THE MAN WITH BOGART'S FACE. It stars Robert Sacchi, who is an uncanny double for Mr. B. in size, face, hair, mannerisms and voice. Watching him in this movie is like seeing Bogie alive again.

The story opens at a plastic surgeon's office. The gauze wrappings are removed from our hero's face; he sits in front of a TV that's showing the last scene of THE MALTESE FALCON. As the surgically-created Bogart examines his visage in the mirror with a characteristic twitch, we hear Bogie's famous "you're going over/because you're partners" soliloquy coming from the nearby television.

"Bogart's Face" is packed with references to classic cinema, both spoken and visually. The climactic house of mirrors shootout in Orson Welles' THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI is reenacted at Hollywood's famous Wax Museum. Sacchi's character, hard-boiled detective Sam Marlow, talks incessantly about old films. He'll do something, like throw a sword into the ceiling, and then remark: "Tyrone Power did that in THE MARK OF ZORRO.

Michelle Phillips is the woman private eye Marlow is obsessed with. He thinks of her as Gene Tierney in LAURA, in fact, he even calls her Laura one time by mistake. Marlow drives an early 40s sedan and lives in a trench coat (naturally).

Actors in the film represent those from Bogart classics, such as Victor Buono playing Sidney Greenstreet and Herbert Lom as Peter Lorre. Additionally there are old-time stars sprinkled throughout in cameos: George Raft, Yvonne DeCarlo, Mike Mazurki and Henry Wilcoxon.

In one scene, Sacchi is a stunning Bogie in his sparkling white dinner jacket. Experiencing this film is like seeing the Bogart movie that never was. I highly recommend it!

For another modern take on Humphrey Bogart, check out Woody Allen's PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM-- the 1972 adaptation of Allen's Broadway show. In this one, the Bogart impressionist is Jerry Lacy.

Andy Fenaday's scipt follows self-employed detective (Scacchi, who's incredible) as he gets wrapped up in a MALTESE FALCON-type mystery. Heavy doses of amusing dialog, crammed with old movie references, this movie is better than FLETCH. A lot of fun and worth repeated viewings. A must for movie buffs. Good family viewing, with older kids. Rated PG for profanity, violence, and mild sexual innuendo.

Robert Sacchi attained minor celebrity in the 70's and 80's for his uncanny resemblance to Bogie and parlayed it into a career in TV commercials and cameo movie roles, most notably in Woody Allen's PLAY IT AGAIN, SAM. This vehicle is built around his unique "gift." It's an unremarkable but highly likable send-up of the great private eye flicks from the 30's and 40's - its most obvious inspiration being THE MALTESE FALCON, but there are allusions to THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI and other classics as well.It is chock full of hard-boiled banter and shadowy frames and shadowy characters and probably would have been better shot in black and white to capture the true ambience and ambiguities of the originals it seeks to imitate.

Same Marlowe is hired to find "the eyes of Alexander", sapphire replicas of Alexander the Great's eyes used in a bust of the conqueror, and during the search he runs into a snag of competing interests, all played by well-known character actors, Victor Buono and Herbert Lom among them. The plot, however, is superfluous, as it almost always is in detective films. The real point of the movie is to pay tribute to old time movie magic, and part of its fun is in the cameos. Apart from bit parts by the likes of George Raft, watch out for appearances by famed Hollywood reporters James Bacon and Robert Osborne as well (the latter now the host of cable's Turner Classic Movies).

5 stars to the actor playing bogie,he has the voice,look, manors and style PERFECT. however the golden age of movies did not have curse words & naked women and i really doubt the real bogie would have lowered himself to this stupid script. If you are the ultimate bogart fan,like me, you can apprechiate just how good this actor plays him and at times there are a few funny sceenes like a car crash resulting from seeing bogie back from the dead.nice hearing the this actor relate everything to the "old days" as he visits certain streets and area's in this film where previous old movies were shot naming the stars who were in them, you can kind of picture it in B&W in your head if you saw the films. it is also kind of neat seeing a cameo by george raft an actor who played with bogie way back when in some of the classics but this is NOT a child safe movie. You can take most of the golden age movies and watch them with a family but not this trashy comedy too many uneeded sex implied scenario's that just dont fit with the real humphrey bogart films.

For me, this was a thoroughly enjoyable movie. If you're a Bogart fan and enjoy playing name that tune, you'll see references throughout this one. Set in Los Angeles, it starts out with this Bogie look alike driving through the suburban streets in a trench coat and hat, as though in much colder San Francisco. It has exactly the humor that appeals to me and should appeal to many other viewers. Border line politically incorrect at places, it should be viewed not with the expectation that it will be a thriller like one of the Sam Spade series, but with the realization that it is meant to be a lighthearted tribute to Humphry Bogart. I believe that Lauren Bacall would approve heartily.

I loved this movie as much as the real Bogart. No need to go into a long reason why, just watch.

A throwback to the old movies - with an uncanny resemblance to major holywood file legends - mostly Humphrey Bogart.

Robert Sacchi bears a striking resemblence to Humphrey Bogart. He has many of the mannerisms of Bogey down pat.

Michelle Phillips does a very good likeness of a Gene Tierney.

Plot is a lot of fun and there are laughs aplenty at times - all intentional.

You don't need to know Bogart to enjoy this movie. I had this on VHS but it broke so I purchaed the DVD and now I can enjoy it a few time a year.


Good detective store. Can't beat it fior the money..

It's been a quite a few years since I saw this film, but it held up quite well. I first read the novel when it was published. I read it a few times, then the film came and went a few years later. I missed it in it's original release, but caught it later on at a revival house. Being that the original author Andrew J. Fenney produced this film and wrote the screenplay it stayed very faithful to the novel. Fenney who worked on the John Wayne "HOndo" and produced the TV series version of it is a movie buff and the novel and film are both filled with movie trivia.

When the film opens our main character has just had plastic surgery to make himself look like Humphrey Bogart (p[layed by Bogart lookalike Robert Sacchi) He assumes the name of Sam Marlow, and hires a blond secretary who by his discription, "Looks like Marilyn Monroe and makes as much sence as Gracie Allen", she's played by Missy Rowe, who once played Marilyn in a film. He then gets too cases, one his hired by his landlady to find her missing boyfriend, the other mystery is sort of on the order of the Maltese Falcon. After being hired by Elsa (Olivia Hussey) Borcht to protect her father Horst (Helmet Dantine) Borscht, Horst Borscht is killed. The he finds out it has to do with some missing blue Diamonds called The Eyes Of Alexander that many people want to aquire. The suspects include Mr. Zebra (Herbert Lom), who's very much a Joel Cairo type as played by Peter Lorre in "The Maltese Falcon". Then there is pretty Gina Anastis, who loos like Gene Tierney and is played by Michelle Phillips. She brings him to her father (Victor Buono) who is very much in the Sidney Greenstreet vain. You also have Akim (Franco Nero) in the Zachery Scot vain. Plus a delightful cameo by George Rafet as Pete Cain who in the novel is described as a George Raft type. Raft even comments that he's delt with guys who looked like Marlow before. This film is film with great old character actors and an interesting mystery.

Even though I've seen it before and read the book, my recent viewing kept me at the edge of my seat. I reccomend this film for any great old movie or mystery lover.

I first saw this movie in an almost empty cinema back in 1980 when I was 20. My how Time flies!!! The cinema next door was packed with yuppies of dubious and questionable sexuality who were watching The Village People in "Can't Stop The Music". Robert Sacchi does a very good impersonation of Humphey Bogart and Michelle Phillips is equally impressive as Gene Tierney. As per usual Sybil Danning takes off her clothes(Thank God).Now it is 25 years later and I STILL am not embarrassed to tell anybody which movie I saw that day unlike the guys who were in the cinema next to me!!!