The Accidental Way Lauren Bacall Invented The Look

"The Look" wasn't aimed at romancing the screen audience or her costars, although in the case of Bogart, that was the end result. "The Look" instead came from Lauren Bacall's jangly on-screen nerves. She was just 19 years old, in her first Hollywood production, and working with Bogart, by then already a famous actor, and being directed by Howard Hawks, who was in the midst of his storied filmmaking career (per Britannica). The chemistry between Bacall and Bogart may have also led to her nervousness.

"It was quite a terrifying experience for me," Bacall recalled in a 1994 NPR interview. "I was this kid and I was scared to death of all these pros around me. ... My head would shake and my hands would shake, and I discovered if I kept my head down and looked up, my head would not shake, so I started to do that when I could when it was appropriate in a scene."

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