Review of To Have and Have Not (1945) by Katie M — 04 Sep 2011
Bogart and Bacall sizzle together on screen because they took to an actual affair three weeks into shooting. It's always better when no one's faking, right?
Bogart was 45; Bacall 19. According to a "Vanity Fair" piece, just a year earlier, before she ever saw Hollywood, she watched Bogie onscreen in "Casablanca" and thought to herself: "yuck." Yet a year later she had screen-tested, taken the leading role and found herself falling hard for Bogie's extramarital wooing. Another year later, they were wed - and remained together until he passed away 12 years later.She said they were the best years of her life. Most people have long forgotten, but it was during those years that Bogie & Bacall became charter members of "The Rat Pack.".
The feel of the film and the setting is certainly reminiscent of "Casablanca." It's Vichy/Nazi controlled Martinque instead of Morocco ... and it's a dive bar/hotel instead of a casino. Big diff. And the intrigue revolves around similar plotline, how shady people get in and out of town under the nose of the local, less-than-respectable law.
"Casablanca" is more for romance, I suppose, this one more about lust. Still, this film makes a great double-bill, with Bacall shooting steamy looks and fast talk all over Bogart, who at times almost looks dumbfounded for it.
Especially when she hits him with the now-iconic lines ... "You know you don't have to act with me, Steve. You don't have to say anything, and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together ... and blow.".
Hoagy Carmichael, in cameo as the dive's resident piano player, deals out the tunes. Walter Brennan, in the role of Bogie's alcoholic, limping wingman, looks pretty much exactly as old and as drunk as he did in "Rio Bravo" playing the same part fifteen years later. Yep, he's the "Real McCoy," all right.
TRIVIA: Based on a Hemmingway novel that was remade first in 1950 as "The Breaking Point" starring John Garfield & Patricia Neal, then again in 1958 as "The Gun Runners" starring Audie Murphy.
RECOMMENDATION: Bogie & Bacall ... are you kidding? Be there.
This review of To Have and Have Not (1945) was written by Katie M on 04 Sep 2011.
To Have and Have Not has generally received very positive reviews.
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