Yea, Bogie could be a bit everyman, a bit hard-bitten, a bit suave, a bit hustler, depending on the role. Even in Casablanca he's just trying to get by, make a buck, and not get shot as a collaborator. He's not "the man", he's a man. And as I think about it, the characters would've lived through WWI - that would make you tough enough whether you served or not.

He did a lot of stuff like this such as "To Have and Have Not".

And Huston was an important/influential director from the era.