In The Petrified Forest (1936), Humphrey Bogart played Duke Mantee, an escaped gangster who takes hostages at a desert diner in Arizona. Directed by Archie Mayo from Robert E. Sherwood’s play, the film follows Mantee as he confronts a disillusioned writer, played by Leslie Howard, and a young woman, played by Bette Davis, who dreams of leaving the desert.
Bogart had played Mantee on Broadway, and his film performance made him a screen star. He gave the gangster a quiet, weary menace, very different from the shouting villains of the time, and the role established the Bogart persona: tough, world-weary and compelling.
The Petrified Forest remains a signature Bogart role because it was his breakthrough, and because Duke Mantee introduced the audience to a new kind of screen tough guy.