Critic Reviews
Petrified Forest, The (1936) Rank 5 Reviews
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based on (20) reviews
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DVDBeaver.com (Gary W. Tooze)
Humphrey Bogart plays gangster Duke Mantee - his first of such roles. Leslie Howard and a young Bette Davis also fill the marquee. Definitely an unlikely gangster film as it is noteworthy for its social commentary on greed, wealth, position, art and love. ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at DVDBeaver.com (Gary W. Tooze)
Channel 4 Film (--)
A strong, if stagy, adaptation of Sherwood's play, has Howard and Bogart reprising roles they had played on Broadway. Bogart is the jailbird on the lam, holding a group hostage at a desert diner. Howard and Davis are the two dreamers thrown together by ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Channel 4 Film (--)
The Onion A.V. Club (Noel Murray)
In 1931, Warner Brothers released the compact, brutish gangster classic Little Caesar to a movie-going public that had escaped the eye-opening inhumanity of the Industrial Revolution and World War I, only to land in the thick of Prohibition and the Great ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at The Onion A.V. Club (Noel Murray)
Crazy for Cinema
Showcasing one of Bogart earliest standout performances, THE PETRIFIED FOREST is a strange mix of romance, suspense and metaphysical meandering. It has to be one of the most verbose thrillers ever made. Leslie Howard plays Alan Squier, a rambling ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Crazy for Cinema
Movie Mirror
Adapted from Robert Sherwood's play, a writer falls in love with a waitress while they are taken hostage by a gang of killers.
In the Arizona desert service station owner Jason Maple (Porter Hall) defends the United States. Boze (Dick Foran) tries to ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Movie Mirror
filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
Today, The Petrified Forest is best known as the starmaking role of Humphrey Bogart's film career. Formerly an unheralded supporting actor in 'B' films, his role as gangster Duke Mantee caused a sensation. Bogart quickly became the bad guy of choice in ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at filmsgraded.com (Brian Koller)
Classic Film Guide (--)
It's an interesting film about "dreamers", or those searching for something other than their current situation, AND people who accept who they are (no matter how pathetic). The characters played by Howard and Davis fall into the former group, while ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Classic Film Guide (--)
Time Out (--)
Based on a play by Robert Sherwood rather than Maxwell Anderson, but otherwise astonishingly similar to Key Largo, and for a time almost as good as the setting is established (a rundown desert roadhouse) and the characters introduced (dissatisfied girl ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Time Out (--)
rec.arts.movies.reviews (Mark O'Hara)
About the only thing corny about the film is that use of period slang, a mix of tough-guy talk and early-century cuteness. ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at rec.arts.movies.reviews (Mark O'Hara)
Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
Adapted from the stage play, The Petrified Forest is filled with memorable characters and vivid dialogue. Filmed on a set it nonetheless evokes the look and feel of a remote desert café/service station with its blinking neon sign flashing 'Bar-B-Que' ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Three Movie Buffs (Patrick Nash)
Chicago Reader (Don Druker)
Humphrey Bogart's first screen success (1936) was a re-creation of his stage triumph as the infamous Duke Mantee, a southwestern thug who keeps a seedy diner full of people hostage overnight. Among the hostages: a dreamy girl with romantic illusions ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Chicago Reader (Don Druker)
Lawrence Russell's Film Court (Lawrence Russell)
The 30s, the Depression, the Arizona desert, wind, dust, tumbling sage. A man with a backpack and a tall stick walks a dirt road, the horizon fading endlessly before him. This is Alan Squire (Leslie Howard), a hobo "writer" who lived in France for ten ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Lawrence Russell's Film Court (Lawrence Russell)
At-A-Glance Film Reviews
Insightful dialogue and skewed characters highlight this film version of a Broadway drama about a killer and his gang who hold hostage the staff and customers of a gas station in the middle of the desert. Leslie Howard is superb as an intellectual ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at At-A-Glance Film Reviews
DVD Times
If there’s one film which seems a little out of place in the Warner Gangsters Collection, it’s The Petrified Forest. A talky, static adaptation of Robert Sherwood’s hugely successful Broadway production, it is a very different animal to Little ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at DVD Times
Almost Fabulous Movie Reviews
It was clear that the movie was from a play, but it worked very well. Bogey was one rough looking character, but he showed his sensitive side expertly. Grapewin stole the show, though. I loved his character. I also loved the way, at one point, when Bogey ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Almost Fabulous Movie Reviews
New York Times (Frank S. Nugent)
The Warners continue to display their skill at transcribing plays into film. With their excellent version of "Ceiling Zero" scarcely out of the first running, they now have brought in an entirely satisfactory screen edition of Robert E. Sherwood's ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at New York Times (Frank S. Nugent)
eFilmCritic Reviews
On the edge of the Arizona desert, there is a gas station, miles from anything else. People come and go, stopping only to eat and refuel. The petrified forest is a place where trees have died and turned to stone. The people in this part of the world are ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at eFilmCritic Reviews
Movie-Page.com review
Who reads plays by Robert Sherwood anymore? Or watches movies starring a young Humphrey Bogart and Bette Davis?
A good deal of people, I am sure! And if they don’t, they oughtta!
About the only thing corny about the film is that use of period ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Movie-Page.com review
DVD Verdict
Though it's somewhat a stretch to label The Petrified Forest a gangster film, it features one of the most memorable gangsters in all of cinema: Duke Mantee, as played by a young Humphrey Bogart. The film adaptation of Robert E. Sherwood's Broadway smash ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at DVD Verdict
Slant Magazine - DVD Review
Due to the scowly presence of Humphrey Bogart in its second half, the 1936 film The Petrified Forest would later be considered one of the decade's great gangster pictures, though in actuality it's more a caged-in character study where the nation itself ...read the complete Petrified Forest movie review at Slant Magazine - DVD Review
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