To Have and Have Not (1944)

Bogart and Bacall

'To Have and Have Not' is a romantic war adventure film made in 1944, directed by Howard Hawks and starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall in their first movie together. They actually fell in love during the making of the movie and married soon after filming was finished. They worked together again in Hawks's follow up film in 1946, 'The Big Sleep' and their memorable partnership would continue in 'Dark Passage', and 'Key Largo'.

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The movie was an attempt by Warner Bros. to duplicate their massive, and unexpected success with 'Casablanca' in 1942. So the movie contains the same basic ingredients: Bogart again as the outwardly tough ex-patriate American with a soft and tender side, an exotic foreign locale during WWII (Martinique), a dramatic plot with French resistance fighters and a beautiful love interest to bring out Bogart's softer side. The love affair is given great play and almost edges WWII from centre stage. The real-life sprk between Bogart and Bacall, in her first movie at age 19, as the girl who drifts into his life and takes over leads to a more upbeat ending than the resigned romanticism of 'Casablanca'.

Hawks packs every scene in 'To Have and Nave Not' with memorable dialogue: hilarious but sexy love talk between the stars ("You do know how to whistle?"), comedy relief sidekick Walter Brennan asking "Was you ever stung by a dead bee?", Hoagy Carmichael singing "Hong Kong Blues" and accompanying a husky Bacall on "How Little We Know?", and Bogie snarling at various petty officials and nasty fascists with the genuine voice of a democratic wiseguy who won't put up with any totalitarian nonsense.

'To Have and Have Not' was only loosely based on the 1937 novel by Ernest Hemingway and is a decided improvement on it.