To Have and Have Not (1944)

To Have and Have Not (1944) – An American fishing charter captain (Bogart) finds himself being drawn into involvements with a mysterious young woman (Bacall) and the French Resistance on the island of Martinique in 1940.

Directed by Howard Hawkes                      Starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan

What’s not to love about this movie?  Original story by Ernest Hemingway (although much of the original story gets left out) turned into a movie script by William Faulkner (and Jules Furthman).  Directed by Howard Hawkes, starring Bogart and Bacall in their first movie together.  A great supporting cast, led by veteran character actor Walter Brennan who very nearly steals the movie as the alcoholic friend of the captain.  Oh, and toss in a Hoagy Carmichael/Johnny Mercer tune just for fun. It really is everything you could wish for.

In addition to being a fine movie all on its own, “To Have and To Have Not” is the legendary movie where Bogey and Bacall meet and fall in love in real life.  The chemistry between them is amazing.  As “Slim” (Bacall) and “Steve” (Bogart) carefully fence their way back and forth, you can almost see the two actors playing out their real life on the screen.  Bogart was on his third marriage and twice Bacall’s age (he was 44, she was 21).  But what happens on screen is one of the truly amazing partnerships in Hollywood history.  It amazes me that they only did four films, including this one, together.

Legend says the movie began as a bet between Hawkes and Hemingway.  The director said he could make a good movie out of even the author’s worst novel.  Different stories say who chose “To Have and Have Not” but it got the nod as the “worst Hemingway novel”.  That surprises me because I liked the book a great deal (review).  Hawkes won his bet by editing out large portions of the original.  It is Harry Morgan that is the best part of the book and Hawkes focuses on him here.

At the beginning, I asked what’s not to love here.  If you want to be picky there are two things.  First, for Hemingway devotees, the huge difference in the two stories may be a problem.  Second, at some point, you will notice how similar this movie is to Bogart’s now classic 1942 movie “Casablanca”.  He plays an American who wants no part of the war, only to be drawn in by a woman.  There is a resistance fighter and his wife, a boat in the place of an airplane, and even a “fat man” (Sheldon Leonard as the corrupt French police officer.  He’s the villain here).  The parallels are intentional according to legend.  Just enough to be familiar, just different enough to be unique.

With that in mind, let me compare the two leading ladies, Ingrid Bergman and Lauran Bacall.  Bergman is more of the head-snapping beauty.  Bacall was more about how she carried herself.  She gets the nod for sultry sexiness, and, if we’re honest, acting chops.  Bergman would grab your eye from the first glance, while Bacall would call you back for a second look.  But once you see her, you’ll never take your eyes off of her, even if Bergman walked through the door.

Why You Will Like It – Watching all the pieces come together so flawlessly and watching the air sizzle between the stars.

Rating – ***** Must See