I strongly feel that "The Maltese Falcon" is not an important picture

During his career, George Raft had rejected a lot of roles. He seemed to have made a habit of turning down good parts, often in films that turned out to be classics, e.g. Dead End (1937), High Sierra (1941), The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Double Indemnity (1944). (After rejecting Double Indemnity, Raft later said: "I wasn't very intelligent then".)

One of the roles Raft had refused was the role of private investigator Sam Spade in John Huston's The Maltese Falcon. Raft didn't want to work with an inexperienced director —the film was Huston's debut— and he had no faith in Dashiell Hammett's story as it had been filmed twice before, having flopped both times*. Raft chose to do Raoul Walsh's Manpower (1941) instead, in which he received third billing after Edward G. Robinson and Marlene Dietrich.

*The Maltese Falcon (1931), the first version, was a pre-code starring Ricardo Cortez as Sam Spade. The second version was Satan Met a Lady (1936), a loose comedy adaptation of Hammett's story, starring Bette Davis and Warren William as the detective, renamed Ted Shane. 

The role of Sam Spade eventually went to Humphrey Bogart, turning him into a major star. Bogart had been Huston's first choice from the start and Huston was over the moon when Raft rejected the part. I guess we should be grateful to Raft for considering The Maltese Falcon "not an important picture", as he wrote to his boss Jack Warner in the following letter on 6 June 1941. Had Raft accepted and played Spade instead of Bogie, The Maltese Falcon would most likely not be the classic it is today.

Mr. Jack Warner
Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.
Burbank, California

June 6, 1941

Dear Jack:

I am writing to you personally because I feel any difference of opinion that may have arisen between us can be settled in a most friendly manner. As you know, I strongly feel that The Maltese Falcon, which you want me to do, is not an important picture and, in this connection, I must remind you again, before I signed the new contract with you, you promised me that you would not require me to perform in anything but important pictures — in fact, you told me in the presence of Noll Gurney [agent], you would be glad to give me a letter to this effect. A long time has passed since you made this promise to me and I think you should let me have this letter now.

I understand that you are quite agreeable to use someone else in The Maltese Falcon, provided you get an extension of my time. This I think is only fair....

Very sincerely,

George Raft 

Source: Inside Warner Bros. (1935-1951) (1985), selected and edited by Rudy Behlmer.

Controversy on the set of Manpower

In April 1941, production of Raoul Walsh's Manpower was held up by two incidents involving the film's principal actors Edward G. Robinson and George Raft. During the first incident on 18 April, Raft verbally abused Robinson following a disagreement about a line of dialogue. A week later, on 26 April, Raft again engaged in verbal abuse and also pushed Robinson around on the set, this time witnessed by a photographer from Life magazine whose photo of the incident appeared in Life's May 1941 issue. Raft's feelings of animosity towards Robinson reportedly stemmed from his being third billed —Robinson received top billing and leading lady Marlene Dietrich second billing— despite having the largest role in the film. Also, Raft was infatuated with Dietrich and believed he had a rival in Robinson.

This is the picture that appeared in the Life magazine issue from 12 May 1941 under the headline Robinson & Raft Stage Impromptu Fight On Set. Alan Hale (behind Robinson) tries to break up the fight while Ward Bond (sitting left) looks on.

On 30 April 1941, Roy Obringer (head of Warner Bros.' legal department) wrote the following letter to the Screen Actors Guild, giving a detailed description of the two incidents as mentioned above. The dispute between Robinson and Raft was eventually settled by SAG, after which the film was completed. While the two men buried the hatchet years later —they would star in one more film together, A Bullet For Joey (1955)— in his 1973 autobiography All My Yesterdays Robinson maintained that Raft was "touchy, difficult and thoroughly impossible to play with."

 

Screen Actors Guild
care, Kenneth Thomson, Executive Secretary,
1823 Courtney Avenue
Los Angeles, California 

April 30, 1941

Gentlemen:

On or about March 24, 1941, the undersigned corporation commenced photography on its motion picture entitled Manpower, with Edward G. Robinson, Marlene Dietrich, and George Raft, as principal players... As production on this motion picture progressed it became apparent to a number of persons engaged in and about the production that a feeling of hostility was being evidenced by Mr. Raft against Mr. Edward G. Robinson... The situation culminated in an unusually heated and disagreeable verbal attack by Mr. George Raft upon Mr. Edward G. Robinson on 18 April, 1941, on the premises of the undersigned Company at Burbank, California, and immediately outside Stage No. 11, on which the production was then being photographed... The controversy at that time appeared to arise over the inclusion or deletion of a certain line of dialogue in the final script covering said photoplay. Apparently, Mr. Raft was of the opinion that the line should not be spoken, although assigned to Mr. Robinson, whereas Mr. Robinson took the view that the line was in the script and was satisfactory to him, and that inasmuch as he considered the line an important one, he preferred to speak the line. Mr. Robinson then said, in substance, to Mr. Raft, "Look, George, you may think the line does not make any sense, but I have to speak it and it is all right with me." Thereupon, in the presence of the persons above named, and perhaps in the presence of other persons engaged on said production, Mr. George Raft directed toward Mr. Robinson a volley of profanity and obscene language with the express purpose and intent of embarrassing and humiliating Mr. Robinson and lowering his professional dignity and standing in the eyes of all those persons with whom he was obliged to work and come in contact in connection with the production of said photoplay.

In the opinion of those persons to whom representatives of the undersigned corporation have talked, the attack on Mr. Raft's part was wholly uncalled for and actually brought about a very serious disturbance in the production of said photoplay. The interruption and disturbance of production of the picture became so serious because of the situation that Mr. Hal B. Wallis, Executive Producer of the undersigned corporation, was called into the controversy, Mr. Edward G. Robinson left the set and went to his dressing room, and the entire production was stopped for several hours, resulting in a great and substantial loss to the undersigned. Several hours after the controversy had been temporarily quieted, production was proceeded with and approximately a week passed and, except as called for by the script and by the Director, Messrs. Robinson and Raft did not speak to one another, although the script proceeded upon the theory that the characters portrayed by Messrs. Robinson and Raft were close friends.

Just prior to twelve o'clock noon on Saturday, April 26th, while the cast in said production was engaged on said Stage 11, Mr. Robinson was rehearsing a scene wherein the script called for him  to be provoked by one of the other characters. The script called for Mr. Robinson to attack this character and during the attack the script required that Mr. Raft, playing the part of "Johnnie" in the production, make his entrance and seek to quiet the disturbance. Instead of conducting himself as called for by the script, Mr. Raft immediately undertook to and did violently rough-house and push the said Edward G. Robinson around the set in an unusually vigorous and forceful manner, with the showing of a great deal of personal feeling and temper on Mr. Raft's part, causing Mr. Robinson to wheel around and say to Mr. Raft, "What the hell is all this?" In reply to Mr. Robinson's question to Mr. Raft, Mr. Raft thereupon told Mr. Robinson to "shut up", and in the immediate presence of the persons hereinafter mentioned, directed toward him a volley of personal abuse and profanity, and threatened the said Edward G. Robinson with bodily harm, and in the course of his remarks directed and applied to Mr. Robinson in a loud and boisterous tone of voice, numerous filthy, obscene and profane expressions. Thereupon, Mr. Robinson walked into his dressing room on the set. A minute or so later Mr. Robinson returned to the set and addressed himself to Mr. Raft, substantially as follows: "George, what a fool you are for carrying on in such an unprofessional manner. What's the use of going on? I have come here to do my work and not to indulge in anything of this nature. It seems impossible for me to continue." Following such remarks Mr Raft directed another volley of profanity and obscene language toward Mr. Robinson, whereupon Director Raoul Walsh, Assistant Director Russell Saunders, and others, fearing further personal violence on the set between the two men, jumped in and separated them, and Mr. Edward G. Robinson left for his dressing room off the set and the entire production was stopped...

As a result of the controversy between the two Principals on Stage 11, all further work involving the two principals was suspended from just prior to noon on Saturday, April 26, 1941, until Monday morning, April 28, 1941, and the general confusion, etc., on the set was such that the undersigned corporation lost an entire day in production, resulting in a large financial loss to the undersigned corporation. The effect of the disturbance was such that Mr. Robinson became highly nervous and such nervous condition affected his voice and made the same husky so that he was unable to properly and clearly speak his lines and otherwise give the artistic and creative performance of which he is capable. The said Edward G. Robinson, by reason of the above-mentioned occurrences, has demanded of the undersigned corporation that it give him full protection on the set from bodily harm and insulting demeanor from Mr. George Raft, making the position of the Company an extremely difficult one in its effort to produce a photoplay of artistic merit under the circumstances shown...

The undersigned feels that the above occurrences are of such serious import that they should be officially called to the attention of the Screen Actors Guild...

Yours very truly, 

WARNER BROS. PICTURES, INC. 

By: Roy Obringer 

Above and below: two scenes from Manpower with its three leading actors Robinson, Dietrich and Raft. The film became a solid box-office success despite the problems on the set. 

Source of the letter: Inside Warner Bros. (1935-1951) (1985), selected, edited and annotated by Rudy Behlmer.

Bogart is ideal for it

George Raft was one of the leading male stars at Warner Bros. before Humphrey Bogart entered the picture. When offered the lead roles in High Sierra (1941) and The Maltese Falcon (1941) Raft, however, made some very poor choices. He rejected the roles, both of which went to Bogart. Consequently, Bogie became a star and Raft's career started to decline. One of the stories surrounding Raft is that he also turned down the male lead in Casablanca (1943). This story, however, is a myth. Warner Bros' studio executive Jack Warner did have Raft in mind for the role of Rick Blaine (like he stated in a memo to producer Hal B. Wallis dated 2 April 1942: "What do you think of using Raft in Casablanca? He knows we are going to make this and is starting a campaign for it"), but Wallis had someone else in mind for the role. And, as Casablanca was being produced independently by Wallis under the Warner Bros' logo, he was free to choose his leading man and didn't have to follow Warner's suggestion. Thus, on 13 April 1942, Hal Wallis (clearly annoyed with Raft) sent the following memo to Jack Warner.

Source: the humphrey bogart estate (facebook page)

Transcript:

INTER-OFFICE COMMUNICATION

TO MR. WARNER                                           

FROM MR. WALLIS

DATE  April 3, 1942                                    

SUBJECT "CASABLANCA"

Dear Jack:

I have thought over very carefully the matter of George Raft in "CASABLANCA", and I have discussed this with Mike, and we both feel he should not be in this picture. Bogart is ideal for it, and it is being written for him, and I think we should forget Raft for this property.

Incidentally, he hasn't done a picture here since I was a little boy, and I don't think he should be able to put his fingers on just what he wants to do when he wants to do it.

HAL WALLIS

*Note:  Mike whom Wallis mentions in his memo is director Michael Curtiz.

left photo: Hal Wallis with Ingrid Bergman on the set of "Casablanca"; right: studio chief Jack Warner

Complaining about George Raft

As mentioned in my previous post, Humphrey Bogart's road to fame came with his lead roles in High Sierra (1941) and The Maltese Falcon (1941). For both films, George Raft (at the time a major star at Warner Bros.) had been first choice. Raft, however, didn't think either film was interesting enough and refused both parts, inadvertently turning Bogie into a big star. These poor decisions would ultimately lead to the decline of Raft's career.

George Raft passed up The Maltese Falcon for a role in Raoul Walsh's Manpower (1941). As Raft's co-star, Bogart was cast. However, Raft refused to work with him, and Bogart was fired just after filming began (he was replaced by Edward G. Robinson). In hindsight not a bad thing for Bogie, since he was now free to play the lead in The Maltese Falcon (while Raft got stuck with Manpower, for which he got third-billing after Robinson and Marlene Dietrich).

The following telegram is another telegram from Humphrey Bogart to Hal Wallis, producer at Warner Bros.. In it, an upset Bogie complains about George Raft and his stand-in Mack Gray. The telegram is dated 6 March 1941 and was most likely sent during production of the above mentioned Manpower. Probably not long thereafter, Bogart was removed from the film.

Via: telegrams from last century

Transcript: 

LOS ANGELES CALIF MAR 6 1941

HAL WALLIS

WARNER BROTHERS STUDIO

DEAR HAL I AM SENDING YOU THIS WIRE BECAUSE I AM EXTREMELY UPSET AND WANTED YOU TO KNOW THE TRUE FACTS AND YOU CAN TAKE MY WORD FOR IT THAT ANY STATEMENTS TO THE CONTRARY ARE UNTRUE. ANY REMARKS AND ACCUSATIONS BY MACK GRAY, GEORGE RAFTS STANDIN, WHICH WERE ATTRIBUTED TO ME ARE COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY UNTRUE. I HAVE NEVER HAD ANYTHING BUT THE VERY FINEST FEELING OF FRIENDSHIP FOR GEORGE. I UNDERSTAND HE HAS REFUSED TO MAKE THE PICTURE IF I AM IN IT. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT FOR SEVERAL WEEKS HES BEEN TRYING TO GET ME OUT OF THE PICTURE AND THAT HE SPOKE TO DAN KELLY AT UNIVERSAL ONLY YESTERDAY AND SAID HE WOULDNT PLAY IN THE PICTURE IF I WAS IN IT BECAUSE HE DIDNT FEEL I WAS RIGHT FOR THE PART. GEORGE ALSO TOLD MY AGENT SEVERAL WEEKS AGO THAT HE DIDNT THINK I SHOULD DO THIS PART AS IT WAS COMPLETELY WRONG FOR ME AND WOULD HURT ME. I TRIED TO GET GEORGE TO TELL ME THIS MORNING WHAT HE WAS ANGRY ABOUT AND WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE SAID BUT HE WOULDNT TELL ME. I FEEL VERY MUCH HURT BY THIS BECAUSE ITS THE SECOND TIME I HAVE BEEN KEPT OUT OF A GOOD PICTURE AND A GOOD PART BY AN ACTORS REFUSING TO WORK WITH ME. I WAS ON THE SET PREARED [sic] TO MAKE THE TEST  WHEN MACK GRAY CAUSED THE SCENE AND NOBODY MADE AN EFFORT TO STOP IT. IT SEEMS TO ME ITS A FINE STATE OF AFFAIRS WHEN AN ACTOR WHO IS PREPARING TO GO TO WORK HAS TO PUT UP WITH SUCH A SITUATION AS OCCURRED THIS MORNING ON THE SET. I COULD SEE NO WAY TO PROTECT MYSELF AGAINST THESE INSINUATIONS AND ACCUSATIONS AND I THINK ITS UP TO THE COMPANY TO PROTECT ME INASMUCH AS WE ARE ALL CONCERNED IN THE BUSINESS OF MAKING GOOD MOTION PICTURES. REGARDS=

HUMPHREY BOGART.