To Have and Have Not
Tags: entertaining, murder

Plot synopsis:
***This synopsis has errors and timeframe issues. I'm in the process of correcting those and giving more detail to it, much of which I've already done. This is my favorite Bogart movie of all, and with all due respect to the original writer, I'm not completely re-writing it, but simply organizing it sequentially. I will have it completed in the next few days as time allows me.***Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) and his sidekick Eddie (Walter Brennan) run a charter fishing boat in Martinique (controlled by the French government at Vichy, which in turn was Nazi-controlled after 1940). Their current client is an American fisherman named Johnson who grudgingly pulls out money to pay for gasoline for the boat, and who then ineptly loses two large marlins by not following Harry's orders. The second loss also includes all the tackle he was using. He tells Harry he is leaving Martinique in the morning and will pay him after he goes to the bank in the morning, because he doesn't have enough money on him.Back at the hotel, Gerard (Frenchy), who is the hotel owner and a member of the Free French resistance, comes to Harry's room and asks him to take on a smuggling job for the Free French Resistance movement. Suddenly a sultry young woman (Lauren Bacall) appears in his doorway asking for a match. Harry tosses her a box of matches and she leaves. Harry asks Frenchy who she is, and he says she came that afternoon on the plane from the south. Harry tells Frenchy he doesn't want any part of the movement or their activities.Later in the dining room he notices Marie with his American client, who acts too fresh for her taste. She brushes him off and goes to stand by the piano, where Cricket (Hoagy Carmichael) is playing and singing "Am I Blue?" She joins him in the verse and they harmonize well. Harry sees Marie pick up Johnson's wallet and leave the room. Frenchy stops at Harry's table and tells him he hasn't been able to head off the men who want to hire Harry's boat for the smuggling operation, and Harry tells him he'd better head them off. Harry follows Marie upstairs and stops her as she's entering her own room and makes her come with him into his room. He makes her hand over the wallet and finds it's full of traveller's checks and cash, enough to pay his bill, along with a plane reservation for earlier the next morning than Johnson had said he'd meet Harry to pay him. Harry is glad Slim (as he calls her), took the wallet and didn't return it after all. She says she needed money to leave Martinique.Frenchy comes to the door with his group of comrades who offer to pay Harry to pick up two people secretly from another Caribbean island and bring them back to Martinique. Eddie comes in during this business and asks the French resistance leader if he was ever stung by a dead bee. The man tries to shut Eddie up, but Slim takes up the question seriously, delighting Eddie and getting Harry's approval. Eddie leaves with a coin for a drink. Harry refuses to get involved, despite their pleadings. He leaves the room, taking Slim downstairs with him to confront Johnson and return his wallet and ask for the payment Johnson owes Harry. As Johnson is about to sign over the traveller's checks, the pro-Nazi French police open fire in the lounge at the resistance group that had come down from Harry's room, and Johnson gets killed by a stray bullet.Capt. M. Renard (Dan Seymour), the head of the local Gestapo, closes the hotel lounge and picks out four people for questioning--Frenchy, Harry, and Slim being three of the four. At the station, they confiscate Harry's money and passport and question everyone. Harry gets riled at the methods of questioning and fights back, then grabs Slim and tells her, "Let's get out of here," which they do.Harry and Slim end up going to another bar, but they realize neither has any money, so Slim asks Harry if she should do her thing, and he says, "Go right ahead." She immediately turns on the flirtatious charm with a French officer there, and he gets up and starts dancing with her. Harry leaves, grinning. He knows she's "good" at what she does, but it begins to bother him.Later, she comes to his room with a bottle she has presumably charmed out of the man she was with, but Harry's reaction makes her feel cheap and she leaves, angry. He follows her across the hall to her room and they have it out. They have their first kiss, then another and, as she's leaving his room, she tells him to whistle if he needs anything. "You know how to whistle, don't you Steve? You just put your lips together and . . . blow." She shuts the door and he lets out a low wolf whistle.His American client dead without paying him, the rest of his money confiscated by the police, having refused Slim's last few dollars, Harry reluctantly takes the smuggling job. He's supposed to pick up the two Frenchmen from another island and deliver them back to Martinique in the middle of the night. He makes them pay him in advance, and he arranges a plane ticket for Slim for that afternoon to fly back to her home.Harry doesn't want to take Eddie with him into danger so he insults and slaps Eddie to keep him on shore while he goes out to pick up the Frenchmen. Eddie tricks him and smuggles himself aboard. Eddie comes out of hiding and confronts Harry, telling him he knew it was all a lie. Together they pick up their cargo which turns out to be a man and his wife, Paul and Hellene de Bursac (Walter Molnar and Dolores Moran). On the way back to Martinique they encounter a patrol boat and the Frenchman takes one in the shoulder. Harry shoots out the patrol boat's spotlight, and they head back to their destination in the foggy night waters.Harry and Eddie get the Frenchman and his wife back to Martinique. They find that Slim intentionally missed the plane home and has been hired to sing with Cricket and his combo. She helps Harry remove the bullet from de Bursac's shoulder while his wife makes demands and has hysterics and finally faints. Slim keeps her cool but is pointedly jealous of Madam de Bursac's flirting with Harry, and Harry's obvious response to her.Captain Renard tries to get Eddie drunk to find out where the Frenchman and his wife are. Harry intervenes and breaks up the questioning. It turns out that de Bursac is actually supposed to get a resistance leader off Devil's Island to help the cause, and he wishes he had Harry's courage. Soon afterward, Captain Renard again gets hold of Eddie, and tries to blackmail Harry into giving over the location of the Frenchman by threatening to withhold liquor from Eddie to make him go into delirium tremens and crack up. Harry gets a gun from his desk drawer and shoots one of Renard's henchmen and handcuffs the other and Renard. He beats them both until they agree to make the arrangements so that the de Bursacs, Harry, Eddie, and Slim can all leave the island for good.With everything fixed up, they gather in the hotel lounge where Slim wins over Eddie when she asks him, "Was you ever stung by a dead bee?" Eddie says she's all right and she goes over to say goodbye to Cricket who's playing piano. He asks her if she's happy, and Slim says "What do you think?" doing a dance back over to her "Steve."

Review: Both these stars smolder the screen in their love scenes.Walter Brennan plays Eddie, the drunken sailor that helps Morgan take tourists on fishing junkets.
Hearing sung by Bacall makes any other interpretation superfluous.This is a film to see to enjoy great acting under the magnificent direction of Howard Hawks..
That's actually a big reason this movie has such fame, because the Bogart/Bacall chemistry is right there for us to watch, and I mean the people, not the characters.
It's her way of telling him without words that she's attracted to him and she really doesn't give a good hoot whether he shaves or not.By now, just about everyone knows that this movie is all about "Steve" (Humphrey Bogart) and "Slim" (Lauren Bacall).
Also, a strong musical score ("Am I Blue?" -- "How Little We Know" -- "Hong Kong Blues") by Hoagy Carmichael with a strong assist from Johnny Mercer.In a very good Humphrey Bogart movie, which this certainly is, one would never suspect that a young ingenue actress, with little training or experience, could scene-steal from a polished veteran like Bogie.
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.
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.
"To Have and Have Not" is notable mainly for an electric first teaming of soon-to-be marrieds Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and this free adaptation of a Hemingway story gives the stars plenty of time to shine.
This, combined with his attraction to fellow American "Slim" Browning forces Harry to re-evaluate his "out for himself" values.Although the continued success of this film owes a lot to the pairing of Bogart and Bacall, there is enough going for the rest of the film to make it stand up down the years.
The two fell in love during the film and it does show on screen, with a great chemistry and real sexual tension between them  a heavy amount of classic scenes and hot moments also helps.
Lauren Bacall is great in her film debut - cool, beautiful, stylish and doesn't take a backward step to Bogart.
Walter Brennan did a decent job playing him, but every time he appeared I lost some interest in the scene.The other negative is that the Bogart-Bacall dialogue battles sometimes felt overdone.
Humphrey Bogart played the lead character of Harry Morgan - a fishing boat captain on the French island of Martinique during World War II who gets caught up in helping the French Resistance.
The cast also featured Walter Brennan as his rummy sidekick Eddie, and this was Lauren Bacall's film debut as Morgan's love interest Slim.
So, the cast is great; the story unfortunately less so.To me, it came across as a weak successor to the previous year's classic "Casablanca." In that classic, Bogie dealt with the challenge of helping the French Resistance and dealing with the Vichy authorities in North Africa.
At the end, when she and Bogie and Walter Brennan walk out of the bar, Hoagy Carmichael plays a lively little tune and Bacall does a sort of shimmy that must have sent shivers up the male spines of 1944.While I think of it, I'll give an example of what I meant by "amusing bits of business." The scene -- a French patriot must have a bullet extracted from his shoulder by Bogart.
He meets "Slim"--played by Lauren Bacall--a young woman with a dubious past, whose smoky presence alters the equilibrium of Steve's life.Shot in B&W on a sound stage--like "Casablanca"--"To Have and Have Not" has a moody, noir feeling that sometimes feels claustrophobic, as if the outside world does not exist.
He also makes time with sexy young singer Lauren Bacall.Bogart is great as usual.
Apart from Bogart and Bacall's marvelous performance, there is also one person who needs to be mentioned for his great role - Walter Brennan, as the drunken, yet adorable friend to Harry Morgan.
Everyone speaks of the chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, that you see them falling in love as they are making the movie, and that's pretty much right on.
She'll make you fall in love, so be careful.Accompanying the cast and story line is the piano and magnificent melodies of the great Hoagy Carmichael, who adds fun pieces (Hong Kong Blues, Am I Blue) and timeless pieces such as How Little We Know.
Excellent cast, witty dialogue and sharp direction by the multi talented director Howard Hawks ("Bringing Up Baby", "Only Angels Have Wings", "His Girl Friday", "The Big Sleep") make this a wonderful movie going experience.I cannot judge Ernest Hemmingway's novel as I have never read the book.
Popular but rather dreary film-adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's novel was worked on by a handful of writers (as well as by director Howard Hawks and the actors, though only Jules Furthman and William Faulkner are credited), but still it's a somewhat rusty semi-noir without much plot to hang its personalities on (which Hawks acknowledged at the time).
Bogie met future-wife Lauren Bacall on this film, her movie debut, but we never learn her place in all this (and her 'singing' is barely passable, to be charitable).
I am afraid this film does not come up to the standard of Casablanca, but it is quite a good film nevertheless.Walter Brennan is excellent as the alcoholic, and Lauren Bacall makes a great streetwise leading lady.The story is excellent, even if it does not follow Hemingway's original story too closely.The only real complaint I have about this film is that I put my lips together and blew; but there was no whistle..
'To Have and Have Not' is an interesting mixture of war-time adventure and hard-boiled film-noir, set on the island of Martinique under the Vichy regime, and Bogart's Harry "Steve" Morgan is forced to navigate swathes of low-lifes and immoral authority figures.Howard Hawks, perhaps Hollywood's most versatile master director, was a considerable fan of author Ernest Hemingway, but didn't think all too highly of his 1937 effort, "To Have and Have Not." Taking it upon himself to improve the story, Hawks set his writers upon Hemingway's "bunch of junk," and created what is considered by some to be one of his best films.
With its abundance of pistol-clad gangsters and Bogart's legendary noble tough-guy, comparisons with other pulp film-noirs {such as 'The Maltese Falcon (1941)' and Hawks' own 'The Big Sleep'} are perfectly justified, as are the noticeable parallels with Michael Curtiz's 'Casablanca (1942),' with its intriguing war-time tale of romance and loyalty, in addition to a suitably ambiguous ending that emphasises the sheer uncertainty of warfare.
A hilarious Walter Brennan provides the comedic relief as Eddie, a well-meaning but hopelessly addicted alcoholic who likes to ask people such inane queries as "was you ever bit by a dead bee?" Marcel Dalio, in a role that would ideally have suited Peter Lorre, is also good as Frenchy, the sincere owner of the local hotel with sympathies for the French Resistance.What ultimately separates a good film like 'To Have and Have Not' from a masterpiece like, say, 'Casablanca,' is the depth of the characters.
But be that as it may, the film is best remembered for the coupling of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, who quickly took their on screen romance out into the real world.
Howard Hawks directed this WWII intrigue that stars Humphrey Bogart as expatriate American Harry Morgan, who owns a boat-for-hire service on the island of Martinique with his alcoholic partner Eddie(played by Walter Brennan).
Famous for the first pairing of future husband & wife Bogart & Bacall, film is so similar to "Casablanca" that it feels like a remake!
He's supposed to be the comedy relief for a story about a man who owns a fishing boat (Bogart) and the dangerous world he lives in where the Vichy French are causing problems (a la "Casablanca").LAUREN BACALL just happens to land in Martinique in the midst of all this intrigue and soon finds herself in love with HUMPHREY BOGART, who seems to be playing Rick from "Casablanca" all over again.Both of them have a way with lines that saves the film from being less than impressive.
While Bogart is one of my favourites; this film is just a knock-off of "Casablanca": it is set during WWII, in a an area controlled by the Vichy French, involving a couple who Bogart helps move around against the wishes of the police, one of the characters plays a piano, much of it is set in a bar, after a shooting the bar is closed by the cops, Bogart helps out the resistance reluctantly, Bogart tries to send the girl away.
Howard Hawks casted in this Casablanca-like story the perfect pair: Lauren Bacall (who is extremely hot!!) and Humprey 'Boogie' Bogart.
Howard Hawks knew how to let them do their thing - Bogie was known for his stubbornness and selfish thinking - and giving satisfaction to his own `needs' (for a good movie that is).Bogart fills the screen as a cynical (like Rick in Casablanca) fisherman in Martinique during the second world war who only wants to earn money.
All those things just made me think about Casablanca and you don't have to look far for other references, for instance the club, the piano player (although it's a white edition), etc.But the movie rises above the copycat nature when Marie 'Slim' Browning' (Lauren Bacall) enters the movie.
This is a significant difference with Casablanca, it is a different Bogart that changes the picture and of course star director Howard Hawks (then known for hits like `Bringing Up, Baby', `Only Angels Have Wings' and `His Girl Friday')One of the strong points of the movie is the pace, which is quite fast.
The story is told very fluently by Howard Hawks but this is far from his best movie, knowing that his next one would also star the magical couple (`The Big Sleep') and become a true crime classic.
Take the plot of Casablanca, remove about 5 layers of its complexity, and you wind up with the plot of "To Have and Have Not." Truly, the only thing that makes this film worth seeing is the star power and chemistry of Bogart and Bacall.While other posters have noted the humor in this movie, I don't think they're distinguishing between humor and attempted humor.
There are a couple of scenes between Humphrey Bogart and the very young, and very beautiful, Lauren Bacall which stand head and shoulders over the rest of the film.
Originally the script called for Bogart to be interested in two women, but no woman could hold a candle to Bacall at that time and so that element of the plot doesn't convince anyone.Still, there are some scenes in this film that are not to be missed.
No it really is not Howard Hawks' best movie but for movie lovers and the fans of the genre and '40's movie-era this movie simply still is a great watch.The movie is being carried by its main lead Humphrey Bogart who was always perfect in a role such as this one.
I can think of no people other than Bogart and Bacall to make Hemingway's novel come to life.This picture was perfect for a true blue nostalgiaphile but not for anyone who's interested only in plots, acting and so forth and so on.
To Have And Have Not was the first movie to co-star Humphery Bogart and his future wife Lauren Bacall and they fell in love during filming.Bogie plays Harry Morgan and he and his sidekick are based in Martinique where they hire a boat out.
The chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall is real, since this film is the landmark of their torrid affair.
Of all Bogart's movies, this is the best classic because it was written by the master, Ernest Hemingway and directed by Howard Hawks.
This film is better than Casablanca, and Hoagy Carmichael plays his piano while Lauren sings a hot number called "How Little We Know"..
Although the plot is not as tight, or perhaps as complex, as in many Bogart films, the fine cast and the atmosphere created by Howard Hawks make watching the movie very similar to spending a couple of hours with some good friends.Not only does the Bogart/Bacall pairing click from the beginning, but we also have Walter Brennan, Hoagy Carmichael and his piano, and good character actors like Marcel Dalio and Dan Seymour.
This movie was criticized upon its release for being too much of a ripoff of Casablanca and that is very true.This is a cheaper version of that classic and too similar.But it is a must-see for the interactions of Bogart and Bacall, who famously fell in love on the set.
I am having a little Bogart revival here by watching all his films in date order and what a ride.This film is of similar content to Casablanca as it has the hotel come night time entertainment venue, Bogart playing the leader of a kind of resistance, the pretty girl, top Gestapo honcho, a few other likely characters and then Cricket the venue pianist.It's a fab little story with some piano routines and a bit of a sing song from the band and Lauren Bacall.
Set during the first few months of World War II, this Howard Hawks thriller stars Humphrey Bogart as a politically neutral American living overseas who reluctantly becomes instrumental in the safe transportation of a French Resistance fighter and his loyal wife.
Set in the French island of Martinique, the film has Humphrey Bogart as the cynical boat skipper, Steve Morgan who underneath has a heart of gold.
Along with his drunken mate Eddie (Walter Brennan) while low on cash Steve gets drawn into helping the French resistance to smuggle people on to the island that runs him on a collision against Nazi controlled police captain Renard.Romance comes in the shape of Lauren Bacall who plays the streetwise sultry lounge singer Marie Browning at the local hotel and both have the hots for each other.
Piano music and some excruciating songs come courtesy of Hoagy Carmichael who plays Cricket but I noticed he seemed to have played similar acting roles in other movies.Apart from the chemistry between Bacall and Bogart which also contains the now famous lines about 'knowing how to whistle' the film is too much of an inferior carbon copy of Casablanca for me..
The film is, in fact, an unacknowledged remake of "Casablanca", with which it shares the following features:-A wartime setting in 1940 or 1941 A setting in a French colony under the Vichy regime A world-weary American hero, played in both cases by Humphrey Bogart, who is initially cynical about the war but who later changes his mind and throws in his lot with the French ResistanceA glamorous blonde (here Lauren Bacall rather than Ingrid Bergman) to act as the hero's love-interest.
"How Little We Know," is unlikely ever to rival "As Time Goes By" in any list of "great songs from the movies", especially as Lauren Bacall did not have the world's most melodious singing voice.
Having seen Hawks' "The Big Sleep" I had high expectations for this, the film that kicked off 17-year-old Lauren Bacall's career.
"To Have and Have Not", directed by Howard Hawks and based on a novel by Ernest Hemingway, features the first pairing of Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall.
Also worthy of note is Hoagy Carmichael, who provides some musical support.Ultimately, the film stands out by being an entertaining adventure yarn featuring Bogart and Bacall both doing what they do best.
While not the highlight of any of their star-studded careers, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Howard Hawks all must have had a great time on the set of this Ernest Hemingway-based story since they were all either in their prime or just hitting it.
Viewwed this film many years ago and knew it would become a great classic film, because Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were lovers in real life and they both got married in 1945.
Just a couple years earlier, Humphrey Bogart starred in what was probably his best film, CASABLANCA.
Sure, Bogie's name was changed and Lauren Bacall was now his co-star, but the overall plot of the film of a jaded American who, down deep, is sympathetic to the Free French cause is once again here.
And possibly one of the other 'good' scenes comes towards the end, as some of the Casablanca vibe gets amplified "get on a plane" thing going on.Even in little moments when one comes to the startling realization that the film is in fact more dated than it should be, To Have and Have Not is a delight of an adventurous Bogie and young, half/worried half/intuitive Bacall in her debut (one of the best from any American actress by far).
There are some good lines in it, and the two main characters come alive.And, of course, Bogart and Bacall do a wonderful job of creating those two characters.But the rest of the movie is not at the same level.
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall star in "To Have and Have Not," a 1944 film directed by Howard Hawks.
The film also stars Walter Brennan as Eddie.Bogart's not in Casablanca anymore, though this film and that one have some common features: wartime, people trying to get out, a neutral person who can help but doesn't want to, a bar, a pianist, and a beautiful woman.
This Film Noir shot in 1944 by Howard Hawks (Scarface, The Big Sleep, Rio Bravo) is very close to famous classic "Casablanca", the character played by Bogart being forced to join the partisans of free France after being for a long time indifferent to their actions.