Old Movie Classics: To Have and Have Not

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

To Have and Have Not

1944 Silverscreen Classic
Starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren bacall - a thriller romance war adventure film directed by Howard Hawks and starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall that is nominally based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway.

This was Lauren Bacall's first film, at the age of 19. Howard Hawks' wife "Slim" noticed Bacall on the cover of Harper's Bazaar and showed the photo to her husband, who soon sought out Bacall and signed her for the role. After filming began, a romance developed between Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, despite the disapproval of Hawks. This romance eventually led to Bacall's first marriage and ended Bogart's marriage with Mayo Methot, his third wife. It created a memorable onscreen chemistry between Bogart and Bacall, which would be used in The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and Key Largo.

The film is set in the Caribbean city of Fort de France, Martinique under the Vichy regime in the summer of 1940, shortly after the fall of France to the Germans. In this exotic location, the world-weary fishing boat captain Harry 'Steve' Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) is urged to help the French Resistance smuggle some people onto the island. He refuses, until the client, Johnson (Walter Sande) who has been hiring out his fishing boat (and owes him $825) is accidentally shot before paying him.

The hotel owner Gerard, commonly known as Frenchy (Marcel Dalio) (the leader of the Free French), asks Harry to rent him his boat for one night to transport some members of the resistance underground. Broke, he ends up smuggling onto Martinique Helene (Dolores Moran) and Paul De Bursac (Walter Szurovy). Meanwhile, a romance unfolds between Harry and Marie 'Slim' Browning (Lauren Bacall), an American pickpocket who has come to the island.

After picking up Helene and Paul De Bursac, Harry is spotted by a patrol boat, and Paul is wounded before they escape. Harry is surprised to find that Marie stayed in Martinique to be with him. At Frenchy's request, Harry removes the bullet from De Bursac's shoulder and learns that the De Bursacs have been assigned to help a man escape from Devil's Island. De Bursac asks for Harry's assistance, but Harry turns him down.

Bogie and Bacall - The Signature Collection (The Big Sleep / Dark Passage / Key Largo / To Have and Have Not)

Humphrey Bogart - The Signature Collection, Vol. 1 (Casablanca Two-Disc Special Edition / The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Two-Disc Special Edition / They Drive by Night / High Sierra)

Later, the police, who recognized Harry's boat the previous night, reveal that they have Harry's buddy, a rummy, Eddie (Walter Brennan) in custody and will coerce him to tell the truth about the boat's cargo. At gunpoint, Harry forces the police to arrange for Eddie's release and sign harbor passes, so that he can take the De Bursacs to Devil's Island. Slim says goodbye to her piano-playing friend Cricket (Hoagy Carmichael). After Eddie returns, he, Harry and Marie leave Martinique for a more committed life together.