BrianRxm Coins in Movies 269/407
Png The Petrified Forest (1936)  
A drifter at an Arizona desert restaurant pays with a silver dollar
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The 1936 film "The Petrified Forest" features Bette Davis handing drifter Leslie Howard a silver dollar.
 
The film was based on a popular stage play which was set in the early 1930's, when groups of desperados, including John Dillinger and Bonnie and Clyde, roamed the American Midwest committing robberies and murders.
 
The film is about a group of residents and travelers of an Arizona desert restaurant being held hostage by one such group of desperados led by Humphrey Bogart and a romance that develops between drifter Leslie Howard and waitress Bette Davis.
 
The Petrified Forest
1. Title
The film opens with a scene of the Arizona desert.
 
The Petrified Forest
2. In the desert
Alan Squier is hitchhiking in the Arizona desert when he arrives at a small restaurant.
 
The Petrified Forest
3. The Petrified Forest BAR-B-Q
The building design is based on the Southwestern Pueblo designs.
 
Alan has spent the past several years in Europe married to a wealthy woman. She has let him go, and he has returned to America, broke.
 
Gabrielle Maple works at the restaurant which is owned by her father and grandfather.
 
The Petrified Forest
4. Gabrielle
Gabrielle's father was in the service during World War I and married a French woman who spent a short time in America and then went back to France, leaving Gabrielle, who wants more than anything to go to France and live there.
 
She is reading a book of poetry by Medieval French poet François Villon.
 
The Petrified Forest
5. Alan and Gabrielle
Alan stops for a meal and meets Gabrielle.
 
Gramp is Gabrielle's grandfather who has lived in the area since the 1880's.
 
The Petrified Forest
6. Gramp reading newspaper
The headline is about a gunfight between the police and a criminal gang led by Duke Mantee, who is based on John Dillinger.
 
Gramp likes to tell stories of the "Old West" and Billy the Kid. Gramp states that the desperados of the 1930's are the modern version of the old Western outlaws. He reads out loud that Duke and his gang are in the area and hopes to witness a real gunfight.
 
Alan tells his life story to Gabrielle and his mention of living in France gets her attention and admiration. Alan is broke and Gabrielle hands him a silver dollar.
 
The Petrified Forest
7. Gabrielle hands silver dollar to Alan
The coin is probably a dollar-sized prop coin.
 
The Petrified Forest
8. Alan wonders if it is for him
Another view of the silver dollar.
 
The Petrified Forest
9. Silver dollar views
Theee merged views of the silver dollar which appears to be some kind of token or prop coin with a man's face on it.
 
Alan and Gabrielle fall in love but their relationship is interrupted by the arrival of Duke Mantee and his gang.
 
The Petrified Forest
10. Duke and two members of his gang
Duke's group are waiting for another car carrying other members of his gang.
 
The Petrified Forest
11. Hostages
The customer hostages include Alan, a wealthy couple, their uniformed chauffeur, and Gramp. Behind Gramp is Slim, a member of Duke's gang.
 
Alan is carrying a $5000 life insurance policy, and while Gabrielle is out of the room, he signs the policy over to her and then asks Duke to do something for him.
 
The Petrified Forest
12. Alan signs the policy
Alan asks Duke to kill him when his group leaves.
 
Deputies arrive and begin a gun battle with the gang.
 
The Petrified Forest
13. Duke in gun battle
Duke appears to be holding a Winchester rifle which is right out of the "Old West."
 
The Petrified Forest
14. Deputies firing
The deputies are wearing cowboy hats and western outfits.
 
The deputy on the left resembles Hopalong Cassidy, a popular Western film star.
 
Alan is shot during the battle, tells Gabrielle about the insurance policy, and dies in her arms.
 
The Petrified Forest
15. Finale
Cast, Directors, Writers:
 
Leslie Howard as Alan Squier
Bette Davis as Gabrielle Maple
Humphrey Bogart as Duke Mantee
Charley Grapewin as Gramp Maple
 
Director: Archie L. Mayo
Writers: Charles Kenyon, Delmer Daves, Robert E. Sherwood
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