To Have and Have Not (1944)

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 | Fugitive | Alcoholic | Singer | 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:

The screenplay was rewritten to boost Slim's role to take advantage of the public interest in the real life romance between Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Frenchy takes Capt Morgan to the cellar to remove a bullet, Frenchy unlocks the cellar door and promptly relocks it after they enter the cellar. A few minutes later, Slim comes down the stairs in the cellar with the first aid kit and the hot water. Frenchy has been in the room with the wounded man all this time and couldn't have unlocked the cellar door.

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 "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Magic Sword (#5.11)" (1992)

Soundtrack:

Hong Kong Blues

To Have Hawks and Have Wit...

Most film fans know the famous bet made between Ernest Hemingway and legendary director Howard Hawks (SCARFACE, BRINGING UP BABY). Hawks claimed he could make a good film out of Hemingway's worst novel. He does and Hemingway hopefully paid up. The great author must have forgot the star power Hawks had in access to in Bogart and Walter Brennan because that is exactly what drives the film. They are backed by the writing of William Faulkner and the direction of Hawks, who is always able to have his actors deliver slick lines quickly and effectively to have the story run smoothly. Oh yeah, an actress named Betty Bacall makes her debut opposite these screen legends and makes what I consider the most auspicious debuts of any actress from the 1940's. She meshes well with Bogie, trading quips and matching her future hubby line for line. The real star of TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT is Howard Hawks, a director who could create comedy, suspense, and art amidst a rather dull story.

I never read Hemingway's novel, so I couldn't tell you whether it was his worst. I believe Hemingway made the gesture and Hawks showed him up. Notice touches of the previous year's all-time classic CASABLANCA (this time the owner of the foreign booze bar is the roulette manager from CASABLANCA). World War II is a backdrop, Bogie is a cynic with that heart of gold, and he helps his "rummy" buddy, played by Walter Brennan. Bogie helped the low-life likes of Peter Lorre and Sidney Greenstreet in 'Blanca and in this one, his scenes with Brennan are comic relief. Brennan plays a funny drunk who is prone to spilling his guts after a few rums. Bogie's "Harry Morgan" rents his boat to rich Americans for fishing and will lend a hand towards the French war effort with his sailing skills much like his power to give the infamous "letters of transport" to Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid. Similarities aside, there is an original piece of work to see in this well-paced semi-thriller, with Bogie, Bacall, and Hawks to send them sailing into cinematic history.

"Just put your lips together and blow," will live in filmgoer's minds forever, as will the fact that Bogart and Bacall practically fall in love right in front of our eyes. A problem I had with the film was the annoying interference of the copycat (CASABLANCA) French police. Sorry, no Claude Rains to add some spice to it. I understand the movie contrasts starkly with the novel, depicting the characters at an earlier age. It is predictable and you know which girl is Bogart's. It is entertaining to see Walter Brennan squirm and tick as a hopeless alcoholic who can't seem to remember a conversation that took place 5 minutes prior. True, Hawks has no official writing credit, but the film has that Hawks touch because of the humor and genuine quality the main characters present. TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT is a picture to sit back and watch as brash, Hollywood filmmaking of the 1940's and a nice piece of classic Hawks who moved onto THE BIG SLEEP with Bogart and Bacall soon after. Its good but not the best of Hawks or Bogart.

RATING: 7 OF 10