In the fall of 1939, on a Warner Bros. backlot built to look like a working-class Chicago street, Humphrey Bogart climbed into the sidecar of a motorcycle and immediately climbed back out. “I’m not riding with that crazy so-and-so,” he snapped. “He’s liable to kill me.”
The man at the handlebars was a baby-faced 21-year-old named William Holden. What followed became one of Hollywood’s strangest near misses and the start of a grudge that Bogart never let go.
The Dangerous Motorcycle Stunt Gone Wrong
The film was ‘Invisible Stripes,’ a crime feature starring George Raft as an ex-con trying to go straight. Bogart played his prison friend, while Holden, in only his third credited role, was the younger brother pulled back into the shadowy world.
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One scene called for a simple chase with Holden driving the motorcycle and Bogart in the sidecar. Holden, who rode bikes in real life, noticed something was wrong. He later called it a “bad machine,” saying the front wheel had a dangerous wobble. The crew brushed it off, but Bogart did not. He refused to ride, and a stuntman took his place.
Soon they started filming. Holden sped up, but the bike began to shake, and he lost control on a turn. The front gear snapped, and the rider and stuntman crashed straight through a brick wall. The motorcycle was wrecked, and its pieces flew everywhere.
Holden, still shaken, joked, “I had to go through the brick wall. You think I’m immune to bricks and you’re gonna get away with it?”
Why Humphrey Bogart Believed William Holden Wanted To Murder Him
Bogart, though, did not find it funny. He believed the crash was not an accident and thought the younger actor had somehow set it up. “That fella tried to kill me,” he told people on set.
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The rumor began to spread quickly, but Holden always said it was just a mechanical failure. Years later, on The Dick Cavett Show in 1972, he looked back on the moment and said, “I think I almost killed him. But it was accidentally.”
The Underlying Rivalry Between Humphrey Bogart and William Holden
The tension between the two stars reflected more than just one incident. At 40, Bogart was already established, but he could see a new generation rising. Holden was one of them. Bogart had a reputation for being sharp-tongued and difficult.
Holden, on the other hand, was relaxed and charming, which made him an easy target. Bogart mocked his hair, called him “Smiling Jim,” and kept his distance.
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Years later, they worked together again in ‘Sabrina‘ directed by Billy Wilder. The old tension was still there. There were arguments on set, and at one point Bogart pushed things so far that it almost turned into a fight.
Lessons From Hollywood’s Most Famous Near-Death Stunt
In the end, the crash did not kill either man. Bogart died in 1957 and Holden in 1981. But the story of that motorcycle stayed alive.
It remains one of those strange moments from old Hollywood, where a simple stunt turned into something much bigger because of fear, ego, and suspicion.
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