Review of To Have and Have Not (1945) by Bárbara C — 29 Jan 2010
To Have and Have Not is based on a story by Ernest Hemingway (it's said Hemingway considered it his worst) and features the big screen debut of Lauren Becall. It might be impossible for a film with names like Howard Hawks, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway and Humphrey Bogart involved in it to be terrible, but at the same time this film rarely rises above average.
Bogart stars as captain Morgan, a seaman who rents his boat out for deep sea fishing expeditions for wealthy playboys. He bases his operations out of a french port in the Caribbean, which is controlled by the Vichy regime at the time (WWII).
When members of the French resistance approach him about smuggling some people onto the island, he at first refuses, but soon is sucked into a conflict he has no interest in. At his side are alcholic pal, Eddie (Walter Brennan) and the sexy "slim" (Becall).
While there are some great individual scenes, there's not alot of intrigue or suspense (or even romance for that matter) here, and Brennan's character, supposedly the comic relief, is just absolutely grating.
Bogart and Becall are great as always, but I'm afraid the material is just too sparse, they just weren't given enough to work with.
This review of To Have and Have Not (1945) was written by Bárbara C on 29 Jan 2010.
To Have and Have Not has generally received very positive reviews.
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