He puts the famous couple under an informed scrutiny, giving the full background of both stars before they met and questioning everything they did after. He pins down every rumor or error connected to their histories ... Mr. Mann’s dissection of the marriage—and how its perception was shaped for the public—is the book’s most interesting section ... Mr. Mann locates who Bogart and Bacall were inside their manufactured images. Having kicked the tires on all sides, he officially declares their legend secure.
