Bogey Man

Radford Mallon knows his Bogey. There's no use trying to stump the actor with trivia questions about Humphrey Bogart; Mallon knows that Bogart was the original Gerber baby, has seen the star's obscure film debut ("It was Bad Sister, for Universal, in 1931 -- which was also Bette Davis' first movie"), his worst film ("Dark Victory, where he played Bette Davis' Irish stableman!"), even Bogey's best ("Definitely The Maltese Falcon; it's the best example of film noir there is").

Here's looking at you two, kid.

Details

Opens Saturday, December 22, at The Playhouse on the Park. Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays, through January 6. Tickets are $25-$27, with $7 student rush tickets available 30 minutes before curtain. Call 602-264-0402 for more information.

The Playhouse on the Park, in the Viad Corporate Center at 1850 North Central

Related Content

• Singles Serve
  November 3, 2011
• 10 Movie Womanizers, From the Sick to the Sublime
  December 15, 2011
• Breakfast Noir at the 5th Avenue Cafe
  October 3, 2011
• Midnight in Paris: Investigating the Problem of Time
  May 26, 2011
• Silence of the Lamb
  December 29, 2011

More About

• Radford Mallon
• Humphrey Bogart
• Bette Davis
• Woody Allen
• Claude File

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Events Newsletter: What's happening in town? From underground club nights to the biggest outdoor festivals, our top picks for the week's best events will always keep you in on the action.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

These bits have come in handy just lately. Mallon has the lead in Arizona Jewish Theatre Company's Play It Again, Sam, the Woody Allen comedy about a loser who conjures up Bogart whenever he's in need of advice.

"I'm having an amazing time working with [director] Claude File," Mallon says. "We don't sit around analyzing characters, we don't memorize the script word for word, we just get up and do it. Claude says, 'Scream, yell, thrash around on the floor, whatever it takes.' And it really works."

When he isn't rolling around on the floor hollering, Mallon can occasionally be found sitting on the floor playing with plastic power tools. "I've done industrial shows, where you get paid to demonstrate products for a manufacturer. The best one I ever did was where I was the Fisher-Price Tool Man. I got paid hundreds of dollars to sit around with businessmen, showing them how to play with rubber hammers."

There are worse ways to make a living. "Like some of the God-awful children's theater I've done," Mallon says. "You really start to wonder if acting is worth it when you're pulling on a pair of tights so you can go out and have kids throw spitwads at you. I'd love to work for Childsplay one day, but I'm cured of wanting to play to an audience that's peeing in its pants."

Here's looking at you, kid.