Homphrey Bogart Comparison Essay, Research Paper

Humphrey Bogart Comparison

During the golden age of Hollywood actors could play different roles very believably, opposed to today’s modern actor who in many cases seems to not have the skills needed to perform a variety of roles. Humphrey Bogart was a wonderful actor who played a marriage of different characters. Two of his most famous characters come from the movies Casablanca (Rick) and Treasure of the Sierra Madre (Dobbs). Humphrey Bogart’s characters display different characteristics such as how they handle their money, the way they trust their friends, and how they interact with other characters that shows he has the talent of a genuine actor.

Rick and Dobbs came from very different sides of the social spectrum. Rick was a business owner, he had money, and he shared his money with the people he thought deserved it. He gave Sam 25 percent of the money that he made when he sold his caf . Another way he displayed his generosity was with the Bulgarian couple that came to him for assistance. When informed of the predicament that they were in Rick allowed them to win at Roulette. Dobbs on the other hand was tight with his money, when he had it. While mining for gold in the mountains of Mexico, Dobbs would wake up often during the night to check on his two companions and make sure they were not stealing his money. He was so worried about his stash of gold dust getting taken from him that he almost goes insane with the thoughts of treachery in his mind.

Trust is a huge factor for both characters. Rick trusts the employees at his caf . He even trusts the headwaiter at his caf to take his old sweet heart Ilsa home. Another person he trusts a lot is Sam, the piano player at his caf . They were old time friends, had traveled around together from Paris, and believed in the same things. Rick had people that he could count on for sure. Dobbs though didn’t have any trust at all. While mining for gold Dobbs became extremely suspicious of his partners. In one scene, Dobbs’s partner Kirten walked across the path of a Gila monster. The lizard crawled underneath a rock, and he was about to pry the rock up so he could kill the beast, when Dobbs came onto the scene and got upset. Dobbs accused Kirten of trying to steal his money because that was the very rock that he had hidden his money under. Kirten had no intention of stealing Dobb’s money. There was no trust in that situation at all.

Humphrey Bogart treated the other characters differently depending on which character he was playing. Rick helps his friends escape Casablanca. They knew that he would help them. He risks his life, and his business to help his friends. He goes as far as killing a German officer. Dobbs treats his friends completely different though. After all the mining had been completed and they were heading back to civilization Dobbs tried to murder Kirten, and steal all the gold for himself. Rick never would have tried to do something like that to his friends.

Actors really knew how to act back in the day. Humphrey Bogart displayed some fine acting talent in portraying both characters. The way his characters treated others and their money really differentiated between the two. Dobbs and Rick were both played by the same person, and they both tried to look out for their own self interests. But those are the only similarities. Rick and Dobbs were as different as two men can be.