Tener y no tener

Harry Morgan owns a fishing boat for hire on the small island of Martinique. France has fallen and tensions are high, although Harry is happy to stay out of it and just earn his money. However an offer to carry some revolutionaries off the island sees him caught up in police suspicions when the deal comes to light. This, combined with his attraction to fellow American "Slim" Browning forces Harry to re-evaluate his "out for himself" values.

Although the continued success of this film owes a lot to the pairing of Bogart and Bacall, there is enough going for the rest of the film to make it stand up down the years. The plot is very interesting in Hawks look at a man who tries to take a distanced approach to the problem of others before standing up to be counted; I don't know enough about the period to really know what context he was putting this forward in but it is still interesting enough and does make the character of Steve/Harry a lot more complex. The plot goes down a standard road of wartime thriller but it is still very engaging and well told. The direction is top notch and has a real sense of atmosphere despite the production being limited to soundstages.

Of course a major reason the film works is the cast. Bogart does "downbeat but ultimately heroic" better than many others and he does it well here – tough, smart and morally challenged. Bacall has less of a character to speak of but she makes up for that by sheer force of personality; personally I don't find her that attractive but she fair sparks across the screen and her delivery is very sexual throughout. The two fell in love during the film and it does show on screen, with a great chemistry and real sexual tension between them – a heavy amount of classic scenes and hot moments also helps. Support is good from Brennan and Seymour but the "Free French" are not that well developed and are not as interesting as they should have been.

Overall this is a classic film with an interesting plot, interesting characters, a tough and heavy atmosphere, good performances and a central duo that really spark off each other. It may be a standard wartime thriller on the surface but everything seems to come together really well and produce a film that is memorable for a collection of reasons.

There's not a lot of difference from before, as Martinique trumps Morocco and takes the floor, for two people to engage, to take true love right off the page, along with passion, feeling, fire, it's still amour. This time it's Steve, or is it Harry, could it be Rick, who sides against the baddies with their stick, although Dan Seymour isn't Claude, and his accent is a fraud, Slim as Ilsa brings the right amount of click. Perhaps events that happened away from the screens, suggests this film has more importance than it seems, but I'm not sure just what arouses, Lauren's interest in those trouser, as men of a certain age, should not wear jeans.

Loosely based on Ernest Hemmingway's novel, To Have And Have Not features crisp dialogue, seamless direction from Howard Hawks and top tier acting. But be that as it may, the film is best remembered for the coupling of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who quickly took their on screen romance out into the real world. The rest as they say is history.

The story is set in the Caribbean city of Fort de France, Martinique, shortly after the fall of France to the Germans. Harry 'Steve' Morgan (Bogart) is a world wise fishing boat captain who is wanted to do a secretive people smuggle from a nearby island for the French Resistance. Initially very reluctant, Harry has to take on the job when a series of events leave him flat broke. Also into his life comes Marie 'Slim' Browning (Bacall), an American pickpocket who has come to the island more by default than design. So with his alcoholic pal in tow {Walter Brennan} and the Gestapo breathing down his neck, Harry has a whole heap of issues suddenly making his once neutral and tranquil life explosive.

Legend has it that Hemingway & Hawks were involved in a debate one day during one of their fishing trips in Florida. The out-shot of that argument was that Hawks proclaimed he could make a winner of a movie out of what he considered was Hemingway's worst novel, To Have & Have Not. Hawks duly delivered this hugely endearing, often funny and entertaining movie that is a lesson in on screen chemistry and finely tuned writing {Jules Furthman and William Faulkner}. The similarities to Casablanca are many, so in that, this is weak by comparison. In fact dig away the buzzing like atmosphere here and you find a pretty weak plot. But in its purest escapist form the film is a triumph. Savvy, sexy and not short on suspense, To Have And Have Not holds up to its classic status. 8/10

Most film fans know the famous bet made between Ernest Hemingway and legendary director Howard Hawks (SCARFACE, BRINGING UP BABY). Hawks claimed he could make a good film out of Hemingway's worst novel. He does and Hemingway hopefully paid up. The great author must have forgot the star power Hawks had in access to in Bogart and Walter Brennan because that is exactly what drives the film. They are backed by the writing of William Faulkner and the direction of Hawks, who is always able to have his actors deliver slick lines quickly and effectively to have the story run smoothly. Oh yeah, an actress named Betty Bacall makes her debut opposite these screen legends and makes what I consider the most auspicious debuts of any actress from the 1940's. She meshes well with Bogie, trading quips and matching her future hubby line for line. The real star of TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT is Howard Hawks, a director who could create comedy, suspense, and art amidst a rather dull story.

I never read Hemingway's novel, so I couldn't tell you whether it was his worst. I believe Hemingway made the gesture and Hawks showed him up. Notice touches of the previous year's all-time classic CASABLANCA (this time the owner of the foreign booze bar is the roulette manager from CASABLANCA). World War II is a backdrop, Bogie is a cynic with that heart of gold, and he helps his "rummy" buddy, played by Walter Brennan. Bogie helped the low-life likes of Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet in 'Blanca and in this one, his scenes with Brennan are comic relief. Brennan plays a funny drunk who is prone to spilling his guts after a few rums. Bogie's "Harry Morgan" rents his boat to rich Americans for fishing and will lend a hand towards the French war effort with his sailing skills much like his power to give the infamous "letters of transport" to Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid. Similarities aside, there is an original piece of work to see in this well-paced semi-thriller, with Bogie, Bacall, and Hawks to send them sailing into cinematic history.

"Just put your lips together and blow," will live in filmgoer's minds forever, as will the fact that Bogart and Bacall practically fall in love right in front of our eyes. A problem I had with the film was the annoying interference of the copycat (CASABLANCA) French police. Sorry, no Claude Rains to add some spice to it. I understand the movie contrasts starkly with the novel, depicting the characters at an earlier age. It is predictable and you know which girl is Bogart's. It is entertaining to see Walter Brennan squirm and tick as a hopeless alcoholic who can't seem to remember a conversation that took place 5 minutes prior. True, Hawks has no official writing credit, but the film has that Hawks touch because of the humor and genuine quality the main characters present. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT is a picture to sit back and watch as brash, Hollywood filmmaking of the 1940's and a nice piece of classic Hawks who moved onto THE BIG SLEEP with Bogart and Bacall soon after. Its good but not the best of Hawks or Bogart.

RATING: 7 OF 10

The screen adaption of Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not enjoys its place in cinematic history because it is the first screen teaming of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Turns out to have been a personal milestone for the both of them as well.

I was watching my VHS copy of To Have and Have Not today and included was the movie trailer and in it Warner Brothers announced it was introducing two exciting new screen personalities, Lauren Bacall and Dolores Moran. Ms. Moran was pretty enough and gave a nice performance as the wife of the resistance leader, but some careers take off and some don't. Didn't hurt Lauren that she married her leading man either.

The location of our story is Martinique right after the fall of France in 1940. As a French colonial possession Martinique fell into the hands of the Vichy collaborationist government. They didn't get free of them until 1943, months after the Germans occupied all of France in November of 1942.

Humphrey Bogart is an expatriate American along the lines of his Richard Blaine character in Casablanca. He doesn't own a swank nightclub, he's just got a charter fishing boat that lives on and runs with an alcoholic pal, Walter Brennan. But like in Casablanca, a shooting in a nightclub of his client Walter Sande gets him involved with the local Vichy police and the politics of the island.

It also gets him involved with Lauren Bacall who's just looking for a way to get back to the USA. She's not above a little light fingered action to help herself, but all that does is get her introduced to Bogey. And their sizzling scenes made cinematic history.

To Have and Have Not is fortunate to have the presence of Hoagy Carmichael one of the greatest musical talents America ever produced. He plays Cricket, the club piano player and he sings and plays Hong Kong Blues one of his greatest songs. Hoagy also wrote for this film, How Little We Know, which Bacall sings for her supper.

Dan Seymour and Sheldon Leonard play a couple of especially smarmy Vichy police officials. They have the upper hand until the very end when tables get turned rather suddenly. The only two film I've ever seen something turn that quickly is John Ford's Wagonmaster and the Richard Widmark police drama, Madigan. You can only push Bogey just so far.

Even in revivals today when Lauren Bacall tells Bogey all he need do is whistle and she'll come running, the whistles of affection will go up in theater. As well they should.