No major events were scheduled for Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of Bogart's death from cancer at the age of 57. Officials at the Los Angeles cemetery where he is buried were unaware of any increase in visitors.

But the legend of arguably the most beloved actor in Hollywood history lives on, film experts say.

Whether it's as the world-weary private detective Sam Spade in 'The Maltese Falcoln' or the cynical restaurant owner Rick in 'Casablanca', Bogart's place in the cinematic pantheon remains untouchable.

"I stick my neck out for nobody," says Bogart in 'Casablanca'. In fact, his characters did just the opposite, always threatening to disappoint but invariably ending up doing the right thing.

And that's why we love him, say movie buffs.

"Bogart is the epitome of the guy who who says: 'I stick my neck out for nobody' and then sticks his neck out for everybody," said Howard Suber, a film expert at UCLA in Los Angeles. "That goes to the heart of his appeal."

Bogart, who appeared in some 75 films, was named the American Film Institute's greatest male star of all time in 1999. Entertainment Weekly magazine dubbed him Hollywood's number one icon.

International actors from France's Jean-Paul Belmondo to India's Ashok Kumar readily admit they were influenced by the acting style and persona of "Bogie".

An imperfect hero

An unlikely achievement for a a rough-hewn New York-born actor whose looks were far from the classic lines of leading men of his day and whose face was partially paralysed by a lip injury sustained in the Navy.

Oddly, this just added to his appeal.

"If you go to a party and you meet a bunch of people, and you meet someone who has an imperfection, you tend to remember them more," Suber said.

"They become more memorable because they're distinct. Because of his lip injury, Bogart had this distinct kind of snarl that was different to anything anyone had seen."

Rugged but vulnerable

Bogart's distinct lack of physical grace made him a hero to generations of men who sought to identify with the rugged but vulnerable diamond-in-the-rough characters he played.

In his stage and screen hit 'Play It Again, Sam', Woody Allen portrayed a nerdy and lovelorn film addict taking advice from Bogart until he learns to confront his imaginary mentor and stand on his own two feet.

"True, you're not too tall and kind of ugly, but what the hell. I'm short enough and ugly enough to succeed on my own," Allen says.

According to George Perry, co-author of 'Bogie - A Celebration of the Life and Films of Humphrey Bogart', the straight-talking actor was a hero for his time.

An incarnation of American individualism

In 1942's 'Casablanca', Rick spoke for a generation of audiences grimly soldiering through the hardships of World War Two.

"The secret of 'Casablanca's success is that it came out at a point when so many people were making romantic sacrifices in their own lives," Perry said in a recent interview with a British newspaper.

"What Bogie was saying in that famous hill of beans speech — that this thing is bigger than the problems of three little people — is the kind of stuff that people were having to face up to every day."

Perry said the hard-drinking, chain-smoking Bogart, an incarnation of American individualism who "refused to be pushed around", would have been outraged by the country's current political climate.

"Freedoms are being removed quite adroitly in the name of fighting terrorism. This is something that Bogie would never have stood for; he would have protested bitterly," Perry said.

Bogart died on January 14, 1957. Here's looking at you, kid.

AFP