Hollywood star Humphrey Bogart expressed his disappointment on multiple occasions about being too old to serve in WWII, but the veteran actor did his part working for the USO and making this film, “Report from the Front”. The plot of this 3 minute short is simple: As Humphrey Bogart (clad in his distinctive overcoat and trademark fedora) and his wife Mayo Methot arrive home after a Red Cross tour, they are met by reporters who ask Bogie about the work of the Red Cross overseas. The film then shows footage of U.S. servicemen fighting, relaxing, and being cared for by the Red Cross including by the nurse corps.
According to A. M. Sperber’s book “Bogart”, Bogie arrived on the Warner Brothers set with his four page monologue memorized and insisted on Methot being included in the short. He made a few rewrites to the script to make the final plea for donations a little stronger.
The plane in the background is, by the way, only a set. Still with the outfit Bogie is wearing and the plane tail looking somewhat similar to the end scene of Casablanca, it’s hard not to see this short as a great postscript for that film, the most wonderful drama to emerge from WWII.
Incidentally, Bogart was a U.S. Navy veteran who served in 1918, spending most of his career on a converted passenger ship the USS Leviathan that ferried troops to and from Europe. He was at one time AWOL from ship but managed to get an honorable discharge nonetheless.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
