To Have and Have Not

USA 1945

Howard Hawks inevitably tapped Bogart as the lead for his 1944 adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s To Have And Have Not, which screenwriters Jules Furthmann and William Faulkner fashioned into a mini-Casablanca (dressed up with such classic lines as “Was you ever bit by a dead bee?” and “You know how to whistle, don’t you?”). Bogart plays a Martinique fishing-boat captain who runs a rescue operation for the well-paying French resistance, while Lauren Bacall plays a con-artist lounge singer who smolders one moment and resembles a gawky teenager the next. Hawks runs through his standard obsession with communities of risk-taking men and the women who can’t help but love them. – Noel Murray, Onion AV Club

One of the legendary Bogart movies, this is the picture that never fades thanks to Bogey and Bacall’s romantic sparring, knowing it’s being echoed off camera in their real lives. Hollywood fantasies get crimped a bit when we find out that Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh or Bogie and Bergman were really just professionals feigning all the love stuff; but here we can imagine the depth of glossy romance behind the surface of the story.

Howard Hawks makes To Have and Have Not one of his classier pictures, again sketching a man’s world where a laconic pro can stack his wits against personalities and politics and seldom bat an eye. There’s a lovable sidekick, colorful bit players with nicknames, and surly villains that talk big put are really pushovers for our charismatic hero…

To Have and Have Not has all of Howard Hawks’ strengths as a story-teller. The even flow of scenes downplays structure to emphasize his pleasant mood of adventure and manly-man camaraderie. Harry Morgan’s little fishing boat is not exactly glamorous, but his loyalty to his alcoholic sidekick Eddie (one of the defining roles for Walter Brennan) makes us side with Morgan unconditionally. Now of course, we think he’d be a better pal by somehow helping Eddie dry out, but in Hawks’ world, a man has to decide for himself when to get on the wagon and reestablish his dignity. There must have been a lot more ignorant drunks back then.

Hawks downplays the moral and political issues and just lets Morgan’s loyalties slide to where they’ll naturally come to rest anyway. Morgan doesn’t lose sleep deciding to help the good guys, he’s just that kind of self-sacrificing guy. Again, Hawks’ manly-man world is a fantasy that’s too attractive not to like. Audiences adored the atmosphere of saloons and cigarette smoke where attractive types like Bogie and Bacall stayed witty and sexy no matter how much they drank. – Glenn Erickson, DVD Savant

Watch the trailer here