roddekker Having never seen this particular vintage picture (from 1945) before today, I had certainly heard plenty about it from those who hold it up highly in a special, nostalgic fondness that they have for films which come from this so-called "Golden Era" in Hollywood movie-making history.Since this picture is now 70+ years old, I am really trying to be as fair as I can be with my rating and comments of it. But, the honest truth is, To Have And To Have Not was barely passable entertainment regardless of it starring Humphrey Bogart and its strategic position in film-making history.What also seriously influenced my lower score of this certain film was the glorification of the "Eddie" character who nothing but a useless, bungling drunk. I know that Eddie was being presented in the story as comic relief, but, from a modern perspective on the ways of a chronic alcoholic, I found Eddie's clueless, drunken shtick to be utterly repulsive in the worst possible way.All-in-all- This film did not come anywhere near to living up to the lofty position that it holds for itself in the realm of classic, Hollywood movie-making.

ElMaruecan82 Exiled in Vichy-occupied French territory, Bogart is an American whose only sympathies are minding his own business. Yet he accepts to help a French Resistance agent and his wife, officially for money.. but we understand he's good at being noble. Rich in witty dialogs and featuring a colorful supporting cast including Marcel Dalio, Dan Seymour and a sympathetic pianist, it's one of the greatest love stories ever BUT it's not "Casablanca": we're in Fort-de-France, Martinique, Bogart is Harry Morgan, a fishing-boat Captain, Dalio is the hotel owner, at the piano, it's Cricket, not Sam and no love triangle but a real romance, real underlined.This is Howard Hawks' "To Have and Have Not" adapted by Prize-Nobel winner William Faulkner from a novel written by no-less Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway, and despite that pedigree, whether you call it a rip-off, a remake or a coincidence, there's nothing that the film 'has' and its glorious predecessor 'has not'… except for one element, one thing it'll always have, the sensual, dazzling and irreplaceable Lauren Bacall. And after her recent passing, movies like "To Have and Have Not" are important to show how naturally born for gracing the silver screen, at the precocious age of 20 (looking 25), she was. Bacall had the stuff legends are made on."The Maltese Falcon" and "Casablanca" established Humphrey Bogart's stardom with his trademark macho persona: a lone ranger, cynical yet not dishonest, strong yet not invulnerable… in the heart-department anyway. And while it's Bacall who asks him for a match all through the film, she's the first actress to ignite a burning –and inextinguishable- fire of desire in his heart, ironically, he's the one who found his match. According to Hawks, a woman tailor-made for Bogie had to be as insolent and indomitable as him. Bacall, covering her nervously shaking hand under her armpit, with a cigarette and a sensual gaze and sharp lines delivered with that unique husky voice, invented the perfect attitude that would conquer the hardened heart of good old Bogie."Who was that girl... who left you with such a high opinion on women", about kissing him, "I've been wondering if I'd like it" Naturally, she needed another kiss to make up her mind. Bacall leads the show, while Bogart reacts and hesitates but she resists his attempts of feigning reluctance. Her feelings implode with her signature line "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow", to understand this metaphor so delightfully enrobed of sexual innuendo, remember what she says before "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."In other words, don't put an act, just show, like she says "I'm hard to get, all you need to do is ask". No mystery here, the whistle is the core of a relationship that would end with Bacall putting a whistle in Bogart's coffin. That whistle that started it all, not Cupid and his arrow, but two nicknames, 'me Steve, you Slim' for enduring romances are always cemented by complicity. Bogart, a Last Century man, was married, straight-laced in infidelity matters and was twice the age of Bacall, but what Bacall had, his wife had not, and "To Have and to Have Not"'s merit is to showcase the growth of a real romance, it's not Slim and Steve but Bogie and Baby, and again, it shows in the film.As critic Leonard Maltin said, actors used to play characters loving each other, but this might be the first time where actors don't have to act, and the more restrained they are according to their 'attitudes', the more obvious the love is. And what a delight to see love in live. Indeed, there are moments in the film, where Bacall looks like a gal having the time of her life, look at her when she's waving the fumes of chloroforms away clearly in the direction of her passed out rival, Dolores De Moran, with that 'ain't I a stinker?' Bugs Bunny look, Actually, Moran's Ilsa-like role had to be shortened because she couldn't possibly rival with Bacall, no one would believe it.De Moran ended up having an affair with Hawks, who envied Bogart for taking Baby away. It still cost Bogie his marriage but what a small price to pay for legend. As for the film, it's liable to be seen as a B-version of "Casablanca", adapted from what Hawks considered Hemingway's worst (a story originally set in Cuba but changed for political reasons and to fit the context of the war), but if there's no Claude Rains, there's the greatest character actor Walter Brennan who steals the show as Eddie, the brave rummy sidekick who, asking either for money for a drink, or if "you was ever been hit by a dead bee". is the second highlight of the film far behind Bacall, whose chemistry with Bogie redeemed every minor flaw.As Howard Hawks said, a good movie should 'have' three good scenes and 'have not' a bad one. Let's start the count, no bad scene, the 'whistle' line followed by Bogart's practice and his genuine smile, that other defining moment when in the darkness of a hotel room, he realizes Slim's insecurity, leans over her, gently lifts her chin, and kisses her, as we witness the genesis of a real love story. And there's that ending when Cricket asks Slim if she's happy, her off-character little hip dance perfectly captures that mix of glamor and naughty innocence, Bogart grabs her like saying 'stop fooling around, kid, you're mine, now'. Indeed, she'd never leave that arm, not with that gorgeous smile, of an enamored 20-year old girl… and Brennan handing the bags follows them, concluding the film with the perfect little pirouette.She's happy, we're happy... and they lived happily ever after.

hall895 Humphrey Bogart plays an American who reluctantly gets mixed up with resistance fighters in a French overseas territory during World War II. Gee, where have we seen this before? As successful as Casablanca was you can't blame a studio for wanting to churn out a Casablanca imitation. But where Casablanca is undeniably a classic film To Have and Have Not comes up somewhat short. The story is not as compelling, the characters not as engaging. It's a decent film but in going so out of its way to be like Casablanca in every respect this film can't help but suffer in comparison. All the elements of Casablanca are here but all those elements worked better in the earlier film.This time rather than Morocco we're in Martinique. Bogart plays fishing-boat captain Harry Morgan. Before the client to whom Harry's been renting his boat can pay him complications ensue. And now Harry is mixed up in something he wants nothing to do with. Meanwhile a pretty young woman shows up and you just know she's going to complicate things further. Harry quite begrudgingly agrees to help the resistance fighters with their cockamamie plans. And meanwhile he falls in love with the young woman. Much of the film takes place in a nightclub with a piano player warbling away because, well because that's how they did it in Casablanca. Much as the Bogart-Bergman interactions made Casablanca spark to life here it is the chemistry between Bogart and young Lauren Bacall which perks things up. They make for a great couple but the movie which surrounds them lets them down somewhat. The story is just not all that interesting. So similar to Casablanca yet for whatever reason the story here just doesn't grab you the way it did back then. No romantic rival for Bogart here along the lines of the Paul Henreid character in Casablanca, that removes some tension this film could have dearly used. Could have used someone to fill a Claude Rains kind of role too. This movie is so focused in on Bogart and Bacall. This famous couple does a fine job but they could've used a little help. They have to carry pretty much the entire weight of this film on their shoulders. Their back and forth provides some great moments. But there are not enough great moments to make this a great movie.

orde wingate In 2014, one can rejoice in the fact that movies like this were made and still exist for us to enjoy. This film will only grow more dear with time, since at its most basic it is a tale that mixes two universal, albeit disparate, facets of human existence: standing up against oppression, and nascent love.Bogart is Bogart, which is to say something to forever cherish. He is exactly what one has come to expect from most any character he played. While other actors might be criticized for playing to type, Bogart is a type that never disappoints and would be a letdown if he had ever appeared in another form. Lauren Becall makes an acceptable debut, with a few slips here and there, but despite that she has enough to carry the screen when she's on it. Don't miss her little jig at the end. Walter Brennan, as a kind of comic relief, is deceptively superb, making his character seem easier to play than it must have been. His is an underrated skill, throughout his career. There are also a few pleasant surprises, too, with Dan Seymour playing a combination of Sidney Greenstreet and Victor Buono as the unctuous and rotund, and okay maybe stereotypical Capt. Renard, Marcel Dalio (of Casablanca fame) as the saloon keeper Frenchy, and the drop dead gorgeous and oddly yet powerfully sexy Dolores Moran as Madame Hellene du Bursac. 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. Yes, his voice is not the best, but the delivery and his mien fit perfectly the mood of the film. His role is what helps make the whole greater than the sum of the parts.Get this on DVD or Netflix, grab a bottle of whatever makes you happy, and just sit back and enjoy. Then enjoy it all again.