To Have and Have Not
Composite Score: 85.67
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan, Dolores Moran, Hoagy Carmichael, Sheldon Leonard, Walter Szurovy, Marcel Dialo, Walter Sande, and Dan Seymour
Director: Howard Hawks
Writers: Jules Furthman and William Faulkner
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Film-Noir, Romance, Thriller, War
MPAA Rating: Passed
Box Office: $12,459 worldwide
Why should you Watch This Film?
To Have and Have Not is the 1944 film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s novel of the same name, which follows an American fishing captain living in Martinique who gets entangled with a lounge singer and a French Resistance leader in the early 1940s. The film stars Humphrey Bogart in the leading role of Captain Steve Morgan, joined by Lauren Bacall as the sultry lounge singer Marie “Slim” Browning, Walter Brennan as his first mate Eddie, Dolores Moran and Walter Szurovy as his French charges, and Dan Seymour as the villainous police captain, Renard. The film is notable for its dense dialogue, rich with double meanings and subtle jokes, and for the strong chemistry between its romantic leads – Bogart and Bacall (no surprise, considering their ensuing affair and then marriage the following year).
Why shouldn’t you Watch This Film?
It’s not totally outside the realm of analysis to simply call To Have and Have Not a rehash of Casablanca’s story in slightly different locales and with a different leading lady. A lot of the film feels eerily similar to the noir classic, and it’s not just Bogart that does it. He’s got an outcast sidekick, is helping French revolutionaries travel surreptitiously through an exotic locale, and has a unique relationship with the local constabulary. The biggest difference comes in the form of Lauren Bacal’s role, which feels like a combination of Ilsa from Casablanca and Bonnie Lee from Only Angels Have Wings. Don’t get me wrong, this is by no means a cheap knock-off. It’s a high-quality riff on those predecessors that happens to not do a great deal of innovation in the thematic or story progression department. If you like Casablanca (or even Only Angels Have Wings), you’ll like this film too. If you’ve only got room for one such noir romance in your movie watching time, though, I’d recommend skipping this one and sticking with Casablanca.
So wait, why should you Watch This Film?
The saving grace that keeps To Have and Have Not just individual enough comes in the form of one Marie Browning, called “Slim” by Captain Morgan, played by Lauren Bacall. She provides an electric spark of chemistry, romance, and banter that sets this film apart from its similar contemporaries. Bogart and Bacall have this undeniable compatibility that leaps off the screen from their first interaction and continues in every one that comes after. In particular, the “whistle” scene stands out as one of the most flirtatiously tense scenes in cinematic history, carried by Bacall’s sultry line delivery and Bogart’s customary aloofness. The jealousy she feels regarding Mme. De Bursac’s apparent infatuation with Morgan only serves to spice the plot and the romance up all the more. By the time it’s all said and done, if Slim Browning isn’t one of your favorite characters from the 1940s, I don’t know how it’s possible that you’ve watched the same film that I did. Likewise, Bogart does his typical best to play the jaded but principled loner who comes along in the end and overcomes his self-serving tendencies to endanger himself for the cause. Additionally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Dan Seymour’s Renard as one of my personal favorite villains of the era thanks to the presence and charisma that he brings to every scene, emanating menace and cunning at every turn to the point that, even when it’s all been resolved, you can’t feel fully comfortable until you see “The End” across the screen.
To Have and Have Not is full of a slew of iconic characters that help set it apart from its predecessors with similar stories and still earn a deserved spot among the Greatest Films of All Time. The story might still feel a bit too close to the most iconic Casablanca, but Bogart, Bacall, and their supporting cast do a great bit of work in making sure that you don’t feel snubbed by watching this one too. You can currently rent this film on most streaming services if you’d like to check it out in the near future.
