Bogiephiles who know their Sahara from their Sirocco may not find much new here, but anyone interested in early-to-mid-20th-century Hollywood history will discover plenty to spark further investigation.

He remains a potent figure, and this mostly well-judged documentary does its job by offering a fistful of reasons to start watching his best films over and over again.

Perhaps more could have been said about his spirited postwar anti-McCarthyite stand... But this is a very entertaining account of an actor who appeared to ascend, singly, to a higher plane than all others of the Hollywood golden age.

Ferguson’s approach is accordingly dutiful, presenting the fundamental events of Bogart’s life from cradle to grave with diligence and at an audience-friendly brisk pace.