Review of To Have and Have Not (1945) by Dianna D — 19 Apr 2013
Lauren Bacall, who gave men the license to whistle, was blessed by nature with two advantages: the personality of a buddy and the look of a Femme Fatale...
This combination initially took the only 19-years-old actress to the top with her first two films - 'To Have and Have Not' and 'The Big Sleep' - scoring a success even the deadpan expressions of a Buster Keaton could not undermine...
It helped, of course, to be co-starred in them with Humphrey Bogart who fell in love with her during shooting, and to have Howard Hawks, who deliberately set out to prove that he could make her a star, directing her every move in the same totally controlled way Joseph Von Sternberg had done with Marlene Dietrich...
'To Have and Have Not' is an almost unrecognizable adaptation of the Hemingway novel... The Rick character again appears, though with a new name... The film is a fairly routinely adventure, with a plot that isn't all that interesting, and with a frequently laughable dialog, but it sparks into life when Bacall steals the entrance with her sultry voice and sophistication with her trademark Cigarette in hand.
This review of To Have and Have Not (1945) was written by Dianna D on 19 Apr 2013.
To Have and Have Not has generally received very positive reviews.
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