To Have and Have Not (1944)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Howard Hawks

Writers:

Jules Furthman (screenplay) and
William Faulkner (screenplay)

Release Date:

20 January 1945 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Music | Romance | Thriller | War

Tagline:

At Last! Bogart makes love his kind of woman !

Plot:

Harry Morgan and his alcoholic sidekick, Eddie, are based on the island of Martinique and crew a boat available for hire...

Plot Keywords:

Martinique | Singer | Alcoholic | Fugitive | Island

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Harry 'Steve' Morgan
Walter Brennan	...	Eddie
Lauren Bacall	...	Marie 'Slim' Browning
Dolores Moran	...	Mme. Hellene de Bursac
Hoagy Carmichael	...	Cricket
Sheldon Leonard	...	Lt. Coyo
Walter Szurovy	...	Paul de Bursac (as Walter Molnar)
Marcel Dalio	...	Gerard (Frenchy)
Walter Sande	...	Johnson, fishing customer
Dan Seymour	...	Capt. M. Renard
Aldo Nadi	...	Renard's bodyguard

Also Known As:

Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not (UK) (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

100 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G (TV rating) | Australia:PG (original rating) | Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (Ontario) | USA:Approved (certificate #10052) | Canada:PG (video rating) | South Korea:12 (2003) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Finland:S (re-rating) | Germany:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) (cut) | UK:PG (video rating) (1988) (uncut)

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Many of aspects of Lauren Bacall's screen persona in her film debut To Have and Have Not (1944) were based on director Howard Hawks' wife at that time, Slim, including her name, glamorous dresses, long blonde hair, smoky voice and demure, mysterious demeanor.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The scene showing the patrol boat firing at Morgan's boat, the machine gun is not recoiling, the bolt is not moving nor is there any gun smoke. This type of MG the bolt would recoil after every fired cartridge and would cause the whole gun to have some recoil effect. The gunner was just standing there, he would have to move his fingers or thumbs to fire the gun.

Quotes:

Title Card: [first lines]
Title Card: Martinique, in the summer of 1940, shortly after the fall of France.
Title Card: Forte de France
Steve: Morning.
Officer at port: Good Morning, Captain Morgan. What can I do for you today?
Steve: Same thing as yesterday.
Officer at port: You and your client wish to make a temporary exit from the port?
Steve: *That* is right.
Officer at port: Name?
Steve: Ha - Harry Morgan.
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sole Survivor (1983)

Soundtrack:

How Little We Know

When Harry met Slim

This film has nothing to do with the Ernest Hemingway's book, which is not one of his best novels. Howard Hawks took a big gamble in trying to have the great Hemingway write the screen treatment, but Papa didn't comply with the request. Instead, Mr. Hawks hired two other writers to work on the scenario for this movie, William Faulkner and Jules Furthman, not too shabby a combination! Mr. Hawks had an enormous talent for giving the American public films that were entertaining, as well as well crafted. Mr. Hawks is responsible for discovering Lauren Bacall, a young model from New York with no experience in the cinema. Well, Mr. Hawk's instinct paid handsomely as Lauren Bacall went to have a fabulous career of her own.

This film is interesting as well, for it marked the beginning of the romance between Mr. Bogart and Ms. Bacall. Their love is there in front of the viewers to see. This movie shows us a Bogey with a heart. He was an actor that excelled in this type of picture and under Mr. Hawks's direction, his Capt. Morgan makes a remarkable impression.

The story has all the right ingredients to keep us interested in what is going on with all these characters in Martinique. World War II makes a detour and comes to the island.

The cast for this movie is first rate. Humphrey Bogart is a tough Capt. Morgan who falls head over heels for young and lovely "Slim" Browning, a mysterious young woman who loves adventure. Ms. Bacall has a way to sing a song that makes it unique because of her sense of style. Both these stars smolder the screen in their love scenes.

Walter Brennan plays Eddie, the drunken sailor that helps Morgan take tourists on fishing junkets. Marcel Dalio, is Frenchy, the owner of the local hotel; he is the one responsible for putting Morgan in touch with the partisans operating in the island. Dolores Moran and Walter Szurovy are the De Bursac, who are smuggled into the island by Morgan, at his own risk; they are sought by the local branch of the Gestapo.

Hoagy Carmichael, the great musician puts an appearance as Cricket, a pianist that entertains at the hotel lounge. The three musical numbers are done flawlessly. Mr. Carmichael's rendition of "Hong Kong blues" stays in one's mind forever. Also we hear two other of his songs, "Am I blue?", and a sultry rendition by Lauren Bacall of his hit, "How little we know". Hearing sung by Bacall makes any other interpretation superfluous.

This is a film to see to enjoy great acting under the magnificent direction of Howard Hawks.