Bogie and Bacall in To Have and Have Not.

To Have and Have Not is a legendary movie for (at least) two different reasons.

First and foremost it is the movie that brought Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall together. In four movies and a famous marriage that lasted until Bogey’s death in 1957 they were one of Hollywood’s most iconic couples. Although he was 44 and she was only 19 they seemed made for each other. Their sparkling chemistry resonates in every single scene.

Secondly this movie is legendary for its pedigree. It is the only movie to be based (albeit incredibly loosely) on the work of a Nobel prize-winning novelist (Ernest Hemingway) that has a screenplay co-written by another Nobel prize-winning novelist (William Faulkner). Ironically, its most famous line was penned by neither man. It was Howard Hawks who came up with Bacall’s flirtatious, “You know how to whistle, don’t you Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.”

This movie capitalized on the success of Casablanca. Like in that movie Bogey plays an expatriate American living in an exotic locale (in this case it’s the Caribbean island of Martinique), romancing a beautiful woman, and eventually rekindling his patriotism by fighting Nazis. In both movies there is a singing piano player (Hoagy Carmichael instead of Dooley Wilson) who performs the occasional song and comments on the goings on around him. Also in both movies Bogey gets involved with rescuing a man and his wife who are fighting for the resistance. Several familiar supporting faces from Casablanca show up here including Marcel Dalio and Dan Seymour. The end result, while very good, is not in the same league as that classic. But then what movie is?

Bogey plays Captain Morgan (first name Harry although Bacall insists on calling him Steve) that rents his boat to fishing tourists. Walter Brennan plays his rummy sidekick to comic effect. Bacall (officially named Marie Browning but Bogey dubs her Slim) shows up as a stranded sultry singer with a scandalous past… You get the picture. The plot isn’t as important as the individual scenes between these two legendary stars. Watching them size each other up while doing that age-old dance of seduction is what makes the movie memorable.

Yes, To Have and Have Not is a legendary movie and a must see for any serious movie buff.
 

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