The one actor Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman agree is the greatest of all time
Friends, frequent collaborators, and six-time co-stars, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine have probably never run out of things to talk about on set, but if the well of conversation ever did start running dry, they could always talk about their shared belief that one actor should be called the greatest of all time.
Having spent plenty of time together on Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, the first two instalments of the Now You See Me franchise, and Zach Braff’s Going in Style, the esteemed veterans deepened their mutual respect for each other, even if they developed the recurring habit of constantly falling asleep.
That’s easily forgiven, since they’re both old guys who’ve earned the right to take a breather between scenes, but they still remembered how to do the job when they woke up. Between them, Caine and Freeman have three Academy Awards from 11 nominations, and boast more than a few classic films between them.
Their paths to prominence were markedly different, though, with the former working his way up the ranks before becoming an international star in the 1960s when Alfie became a cross-continental smash hit, while the latter had to bide his time and wait until he was 50 years old before Street Smart put him on the map. Once they’d established themselves, they’d rack up well over 100 credits each.
Freeman was inspired by many actors, at least 15 by his own estimation, but there was one who stood out as being in a class of their own. As well as naming him as a major influence and one of the all-time greats, the Shawshank Redemption alum also referred to Humphrey Bogart as “one of my movie heroes,” who he sought to emulate both on and offscreen.
Not content with trying to emulate the ‘Golden Age’ icon’s career in front of the camera, Freeman’s approach to the publicity side of the business, which has seen him become increasingly honest in being a money-grabbing mercenary, was indebted to what he called “Humphrey Bogart’s dictum” of being reticent to divulge too much personal information, not that it always worked.
Of course, it goes without saying that Bogart is also Caine’s favourite actor. Not only did he adopt his stage name from 1954’s The Caine Mutiny, but the leading man’s timeless turn in Casablanca took centre stage in a movie that has endured as the cockney legend’s single favourite movie since the first time he saw it.
When he was cast opposite Sean Connery in The Man Who Would Be King, helmed by his favourite director, no less, he didn’t think it could possibly get any better. “Bogart was my favourite actor,” Caine said. “I was going to play a part that Bogart was going to play, and I was going to be directed by John Huston!” It was a pinch-me moment, and just one of many reasons why he continues to call it the best film he’s ever made.
Bogart was a touchstone for many actors of the generation who followed in his wake, and beyond, with Caine and Freeman hardly alone in seeing him as a towering presence in Hollywood history.
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