To Have and Have Not

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  February 28, 2009

  pier007

  Who could ask for a better cinematic couple than Bogie and Bacall when their chemistry is so obvious that sparks off the screen. great direction, songs, performances, and snappy dialogues.

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  January 2, 2009

  kiriyamakazou

  Too similar to the superior Casablanca for me. Bogart is back and once again he's stone cold, yet charming. The main reason to watch this is for the chemistry between Bacall and Bogart. Bacall burns up the screen every time she's on it. Pure sex, from the way she moves to the thi...( read more)ngs she says and how she says them. A great set of supporting characters also help proceedings. It's well shot and has some excellent musical moments, but the end felt a bit empty, as though there was one more act to go.

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  November 8, 2008

  smith44

  Yet another classic from Warner Brothers, adapted from an Ernest Hemingway novel, flawessly acted with a great story. By far this is Lauren Bacall's best film, she simply sizzles in her role as slim, no wonder Bogart fell in love with. Their chemistry together is unrivaled. Almos...( read more)t like Casablanca meets A Star Is Born, the star being Bacall and the blanca being Boggie. "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow."

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  October 28, 2008

  PvtCaboose91

  "You know Steve, you're not very hard to figure, only at times. Sometimes I know exactly what you're going to say. Most of the time. The other times... the other times, you're just a stinker."
  

  
  Director Howard Hawks once bet Ernest Hemingway he could make a good film

  ...( read more)using one of the author's worst books as the source material. Needless to say, Hawks won the bet after creating this exquisite, classy, stylish, slick piece of screen entertainment. The legacy of Bogey and Bacall (i.e. Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall) was established in director Howard Hawks' To Have and Have Not.
  By the early 1940s, Humphrey Bogart had become a firmly established screen star and a near icon thanks to a string of major movies, including genuine classics such as High Sierra and the unforgettable Casablanca. Betty Perske was a fresh-faced, 19-year-old model from New York who managed to convince Warner Bros. executives to give her a shot at acting. Betty Perske later had her name changed to Lauren Bacall...and the rest is history.
  
  In order to capitalise on the success of Casablanca, Warner Bros. demanded Bogart be returned to his café setting, or something similar. Original script drafts for To Have and Have Not bore many resemblances to Hemingway's novel. But as more drafts were turned in, the script was steadily transformed into an essential Casablanca facsimile. A magnifying glass would be needed to find the crumbs of the novel that remain. Considering the panning taken by Hemingway's novel (even the author reportedly described it as a piece of junk), these changes were wise.
  
  Even with the names of Howard Hawks and Ernest Hemingway slapped onto the film, no-one really cares about that anymore. Now the film is recognised for being the first filmic pairing of Bogey and Bacall. The twosome have become such an iconic and legendary screen couple over the decades. Their chemistry is sizzling. In the original screenplay for To Have and Have Not, Bacall was assigned a reasonably minor role. However, once it was apparent that Bacall and Bogart were burning up the screen together, Hawks re-wrote the script himself to bolster the screen-time of Bacall's character. Following the success of this movie, Howard Hawks went on to direct The Big Sleep featuring the impeccable duo of Bogey and Bacall once again. Hawks decided to emphasise the Bogey and Bacall element in The Big Sleep. Fans of that delicious film noir have often noted that the plot frequently doesn't make sense, but the interaction between Bogart and Bacall is compelling enough to keep even the most inattentive viewer from losing interest.
  While filming To Have and Have Not, the two commenced their mutual liking for each other. After production of The Big Sleep wrapped up, Bogey & Bacall married. Bacall was Bogart's fourth wife, and the two remained married until Bogart's death in 1957. The legacy of Bogey & Bacall was preserved in four movies: To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage and Key Largo.
  
  Harry Morgan (Bogart) is an adventurous fishing boat captain operating out of Martinique. He offers his boat for rental, making his living by taking usually tourists out for fishing expeditions. With World War II transpiring around them, Harry and his alcoholic partner Eddie (Brennan) are forced to violate their preferred neutrality when a group of French resistance fighters enter the picture. At first he doesn't want a scrap of it - Harry is not wanting into the politics. However circumstances change when Harry's latest client fails to pay a hefty sum he was looking forward to receiving. (Unfortunately, an unexpected case of death prevented any further dealings between Harry and said client.) Harry also meets French sympathiser and nightclub singer Marie Browning (Bacall), who influences Harry's decision on getting involved with French resistance. When local Gestapo-like officer Captain Renard (Seymour) offers Harry a handsome reward for turning over the French resistance fighters he decided to harbour, Harry must choose between money and principals.
  
  To Have and Have Not is essentially Howard Hawks' answer to Casablanca. There are striking similarities between the two, such as the setting and the nature of a number of the characters. Humphrey Bogart is of course Humphrey Bogart: he's gruff and heroic, and only a female can influence his decisions. Surprisingly, Hawks' film actually stands up when compared to Casablanca. By no means does Hawks even get close to rivalling the 1942 masterpiece, but he's crafted an extremely entertaining and classy film with To Have and Have Not. That said, the film isn't without faults. For its duration the film is fairly uneventful. Where Casablanca moved from one fascinating scene to the next as characters spouted memorable dialogue, To Have and Have Not encompasses a thin premise that is seldom extended. At times the story is fairly feeble. Be that as it may, Howard Hawks' touch is a valuable one. The director knows how to keep an audience riveted. Even with exciting happenings being so few and far between, the dialogue is well-written and the actors are sublime. The black and white photography still looks fantastic. Hawks also keeps things slick and fast-paced, with the infrequent action quite entertaining.
  
  The script combines serious dialogue with subtle comic inclusions and witty lines. Where Casablanca had the piano-playing Sam responsible for the immortal As Time Goes By, Hawks includes American song-writing legend Hoagy Carmichael. Where the actor playing Sam only pretended to play the piano, this is the real deal! We get plenty of his catchy, enjoyable music and have the opportunity to listen to his delightfully laconic, laid-back style.
  
  Humphrey Bogart places forth a trademark performance. He had this style of character down pat by now. The actor was in his 40s at the time, but he still possessed an irresistible charm.
  Lauren Bacall was a teenager when the cameras started rolling. At times she appears to have trouble acting. She looks delightful and youthful, but she's occasionally contrived. Bogart appears to take a backseat position as the young Lauren Bacall shines here. It takes no imagination to determine why she so captivated the older Bogart. Only very few actors have had the pleasure of such a memorable screen debut. Her immortal image in the first scene was just a mere hint of the presence that she was to exert in the rest of this film.
  Hawks' rewrite of the script was to boost Bacall's role and diminish that of Dolores Moran (at the time apparently the lover of Howard Hawks). Bacall couldn't actually sing, so her singing scenes were dubbed; using the voice as Andy Williams as a replacement.
  Bogart's Harry and Bacall's Marie never call each other by their proper names. Instead, they are known as "Slim" and "Steve" - the endearments by which Hawks and his wife addressed each other in real life.
  Walter Brennan is suitably irritating as the drunken mate. There are other additions to the cast worth mentioning, but it goes without saying that they are all overtaken by Bogey and Bacall's scorching chemistry.
  
  To Have and Have Not is a generally underappreciated and overlooked entry to Humphrey Bogart's filmography. It's noted mostly for conceiving the legacy of the Bogey and Bacall partnership, but remembered for little else. The film bears little resemblance to the novel that spawned it; however it doesn't matter. This is a highly entertaining movie and an enduring classic. Not quite the calibre of The Big Sleep or Key Largo (the other Bogey/Bacall flicks), but it's of adequate quality. It might be fairly similar to a raft of other Bogart films - most notably Casablanca with which it does have some obvious superficial elements and similarities - yet this one is superior to most. The sheer chemical overload between the leads just adds that additional level of "stuff" that makes the film very memorable and entertaining indeed. A film worth seeing!

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  September 22, 2008

  FangsFirst

  The film that paired Bogie and Bacall. What do you say about that? A film that starts an offscreen romance that lasts until one of the actors dies? Well, I guess I'll figure something out. The first thing I noticed about this film (apparently, as many note in reviews, Howard Hawk...( read more)s directed it on a bet that he could make something of the worst novel Ernest Hemingway wrote, and made major changes to the novel to end up with this film) was its similarity to Casablanca from two years earlier. Harry "Steve" Morgan (Bogart) is a working stiff who runs a boat rental for fishing services on the French island of Martinique. His friend Eddie (Walter Brennan, in a very fun role) is a drunk, which does not sit well with his customer Johnson (Walter Sande). When Johnson attempts to stiff Morgan, Harry finds himself in the middle of an unsolicited deal with bartender Gerard, aka Frenchy (Marcel Dalio) to pick up two members of the French resistance--Vichy France having fallen to the Nazis--from Devil's Island. The men Frenchy wishes Harry to meet are suspicious to local inspector Capt. Renard (Dan Seymour), who is loyal to Vichy France. Finding himself in need of money, Harry caves to Frenchy's friends requests for help and takes on the mission. Now he must take a stance, or at least role, in a war he previously ignored in favour of self-interest. Sounds familiar, no? Well, we've also got the slightly obese Raymond who bears that trait in common with Sydney Greenstreet, and even Cricket (Hoagy Carmichael) a pianist who works in the hotel and plays assistant to Rick. I mean, Harry.
  
  That's not fair though. Yes, the movie bears a strong resemblance to Casablanca, but it's not a derivative feeling, or a negative. It's saved more by performance than plotting though--despite a nice, tight plot and solid action, that portion is too familiar. I was a bit disappointed as I started the film and it felt so achingly familiar. But then the romantic subplot began with the appearance of Marie "Slim" Browning (Bacall). There's an absolute magnetism in the interactions between Bogie and Bacall (as most point out, likely inspired by their real life love developing), something that instantly drew me in to the rest of the movie. Walter Brennan's performance, too (with a voice almost as distinct as Andy Devine's, and a probable similar ratio of imitation) is engaging. Carmichael's Cricket is a little less forced into participation than Casablana's Sam, more often simply doing his job as pianist and darting off quickly with a nod to do something for Harry, but with little interaction. I suppose this is natural considering he is not an employee of Bogart like Sam was, but it was still a little more exciting for that. Or it could be the strange feeling that Carmichael looked familiar--my brain sorting through names like John and David Carradine, Billy Drago and others before finally settling on the name that eluded me and matched the face in my brain: Scott Glenn. He seemed like a more laidback and friendly version of Glenn (insert discussion here about who is a version of whom in light of age) which I found quite appealing. Seymour has a perfectly slimy nature about him (as well as a slippery accent that seems like a perfectly handled bad French accent, or possibly some kind of regional one with which I'm unfamiliar--in either case, it's consistent at least). Dalio (and Walter Szurovy and Dolores Moran as his rescued associates) is passable but does not make a name for himself. Bogie and Bacall, without a doubt, dominate though. Witty banter (including a line of now unknown origin, suspected to be either Hawks' own for Bacall's screentest or perhaps William Faulkner--yes, that Faulkner--as screenwriter) abounds, including the infamous line about whistling Bacall hands Bogart. When Harry steps on a line from Slim it's hard not to smile with the delight of perfectly attuned onscreen chemistry. Bogart is always entertaining for this reason though, perfect at the deadpan sarcasm and barbs that he's always got written for him it seems.
  
  It tends to remind me of that difference I always note between films from the first half of the 20th century and the second half: there's a feeling of stage training and interest in acting for entertainment more visible in the first half, a sort of conscious ignorance of "realism" in acting that leaves it completely entertaining and interesting without being saddled with that scrutinizing eye of reality that so besets the other half of that film-making century (as well as current films). It seems like the division developed around the 60s when I think of those revolutionary films like the looseness of Easy Rider or the later method acting in films like Scorsese's. My tastes show I have no absolute preference, but I do miss that easy familiarity of films from the 1940s, where an indepth history of a character was not required for a performance, and stars were made from stage actors and faces instead of the endless myths, rumours and sordid truths of tabuloid garbage, obscuring any interest in talent.
  
  It's a very good film, though, but it's difficult to get around the Casablanca resemblance completely. Best to accept this as you go in and just enjoy one of the greatest onscreen pairings I've had the pleasure of seeing.

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  November 13, 2009

  jackgbowman

  great classic with Bogie, Becall and a whistle

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  October 28, 2009

  JATbobDYLAN93

  Bogart & Bacall are just so amazing together.

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  October 27, 2009

  lovablemisanthrope

  You do know how to whistle, don't you, Steve?
  
  Probably my favorite Bogie and Bacall movie (alongside The Big Sleep).

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  October 10, 2009

  queenofpalmtree

  This movie was ,of course, Lauren Bacall's very first movie and she was ONLY 19!!! I was blown away when I found that out,& what a Life Long Love Affair that started.They were married a couple of years later.I sure it was a shock to everyone because of their age difference He was...( read more) born 1899 & she in 1925 I know I would be.

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  September 28, 2009

  anumba1thaduke

  Checked this out over the weekend! Its hot! Really enjoyed!

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