Malabar Farm

After reading my web site, Shawn Wells of "The Old Time Radio Shop" sent me a very interesting email. He lives in Mansfield, Ohio, which we all know was the setting for Bogie and Bacall's wedding. Shawn kindly offered to go to "Malabar Farm" and take lots of photos , both inside and out. There were 37 photos on a disc. What a treasure. My favorite is of the wedding photos in a 3 frame stand. I hope everyone likes my choice. Thanks Shawn for your fine contribution. You are indeed a true fan.

Film Posters

These are some of my favorite Bogie posters I've seen in auctions over the years.

Kathy Sloan - Bogart's Secretary

Everytime Kathy Sloan (Bogart's secretary ) would write to me with matters concerning the English Fan Club, she would enclose a really personal photo of Bogie, either taken in their home or garden. She always made little notations on the back of each one. I never met her, but she seemed like a very nice lady, and told me about her young son. He was about 11 when we first started corresponding. In Lauren Bacall's book "By Myself ", she mentions that after Bogart died, nearly all of his clothes were given to Kathie Sloan's son. Anyway, I hope you enjoy looking at these treasured photos.

Books

This is a sample of my Bogart book collection. In my opinion the best one was Bogart by Sperber and Lax, published in 1997. It has over 600 pages, but contains a great deal of fresh information that I have not found in any of my other books.

Bogie’s Employment Card

This is Bogie’s employment card from 1936. Thought I would check out this address, 8152 Sunset Blvd. Of course it was demolished long ago, now replaced by a strip mall. While in the area, I decided to find the house that Bogie and Mayo Methot lived in around the years of 1937-1943 located at 1210 N. Horn Ave., West Hollywood. When I got there, I was dismayed to see a modern tower block of apartments right where the lawn and garden area should have occupied the whole corner of Horn and Shoreham. As I was about to leave, the mailman pulled up next to me, so I asked him what he knew of this neighborhood. He sent me to Bob, who had lived in the same house for 70 years on the other side of the street, and was always talking about the Hollywood people that lived around here decades ago. Bob was enthusiastic about my enquiries, and really surprised me when he said Bogart’s home was still there - hidden behind the 20-storey building. He took me to a side driveway along Shoreham, and at the top of a short, steep drive , there it was. It has been converted into four apartments, bit is still a very attractive building. I took many photos from all sides, no one seemed concerned, or thought I was intruding. Just when I was ready to leave, a lovely young lady named Jade became involved with my story and the reason for taking the photos, to update my website. She is a film editor and was intrigued to learn that Bogart had lived here during the years that he made High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and many others. She then took some photos of me on a balcony, and actually inside the main entrance. So, a special thank you to Bob of Horn Ave, Vic the mailman, and Jade from the Shoreham Apartments, who turned my day from one of disappointment, to one of delight at finding this house that is so well documented in all of the Bogart biographies. 

Below is a photo of the house on Horn Ave.

FBI Bogart File

When I discovered that the FBI had a file on Humphrey Bogart, I phoned Washington D.C. for instructions on how to obtain a copy. People in the department of Freedom of Information were very helpful, told me to put my request in writing. I had to send a check for nine dollars, the file contains 40 pages. Above is a cover page, and a copy of the letter from JOHN CATHCART who brought this information to light in 1976.

Framed Photo

I recently bought this photo in an old, gold frame on ebay. It was found propped up on the piano in the home of an elderly couple. Both photo and frame are at least 60 years old, and were part of an estate sale in Vermont. I think it’s a gem, and wonder about the people who treasured this for so long. I intend to keep it in this old frame.

Letter from Bogie

Mystery Photo

I have received many e-mails from several parts of the world with suggestions re the identity of the man pictured with Bogie & Bacall, but only one person felt he had the right answer. Dario Vidojkovic, a Law student at Regensburg University in Germany, said it was Delmer Daves who directed B&B in Dark Passage, and this photo could have been taken on the set of that movie. For two months I searched libraries, book stores, the Internet, but Delmer Daves must have been very camera shy; I found many articles about his work, but never a photo. He donated his life's work, 1930 to 1965, to Stanford University. It's in 74 boxes, and would take forever to search through them all for a photo. So, while visiting the LA area I contacted UCLA, and was directed to the Dickson Library. With the assistance of Lisa Kernan, Arts Librarian for Film, Television & Theater, we found a book which contained a photograph of Delmer Daves from later in his life, and it was clearly an older version of the man in my web site photo. Thank you Dario for solving the puzzle. 

Bogart's Will

Below are first two pages of Bogart's last will and testament. Bogart's will contains fourteen pages, and I thought fans might be interested in the first two pages up to the part which mentions the bequest to his secretary KATHRYN SLOAN. Fifteen hundred dollars does not seem much today, but in 1957, that could be 50 percent deposit on a house.

Bogart Bacall Fan Club

When I started the Bogart Fan club in England at the beginning of 1947, I was sent a stack of these 8x10s for each member as they joined the club. We issued a newsletter, called The Broadcast, every 2 months, and Bogie sometimes sent a letter to be added to the next issue. Unfortunately, none of the newsletters have survived. In 1949 I suggested that I change the Fan Club to the BOGART-BACALL Club. As you can see by the letter, this idea was well received. 

Movie Ads

This is a page from one of my scrapbooks. These are all ads I found in English newspapers for Bogie's films.

Letter

In this letter when Bogie's secretary writes of the Bogarts being on location in Mexico for his new picture, she is obviously referring to Treasure of the Sierra Madre, although no one outside of the film industry knew too much about it at that time. Well, certainly no one in my world, which was 6000 miles away.

Scrapbooks

My Bogart scrapbooks have safely weathered many overseas shippings, and even survived a serious housefire in my Mother’s home.

The image above is tirst time I found Bogie on the cover of The Picturegoer, 1944 in war-torn England. This was cut to a bi-weekly publication. You had to put your name on a waiting list and hope someone canceled their subscription. Below are some more clippings from my scrapbooks.

First Photo

This was the very first photo I got of Bogart, sent from Warner Bros Studios. It arrived on April 21st 1945. Great excitement as this dropped through the mail box. This was during the last few months of World War II in war torn England, and had taken 3 months to reach me via sea-mail. What a luxury. Everything had been so austere for 5 and a half years, that this one photo truly brightened my teenage life. How well it has been preserved for 56 years.

Bogart English Fan Club

The Bogart English Fan Club came into existence because I sent a letter to Warner Bros Studios, asking if they could furnish me with the address of the fan club in England. I knew there was one in Canada, and of course the U.S. My letter was forwarded to the Bogart’s secretary. In her reply she informed me there wasn’t a club in England. Although I was only a teenager, I wrote back and asked if I could start a club. Before long I received a letter from her saying Bogart had given his permission, I don’t think my feet touched the ground. In no time I was up and running. From this point on, every enquiry Bogart’s secretary received, she would send on to me, which really helped to build our membership. I ran the fan club until 1950 and at its peak we had around 80 members. On latter postings will be some of the letters I received from Kathie Sloan, Bogart's secretary.