SimonJack All Harry "Steve" Morgan wants to do is to take Martinique vacationers and tourists deep-sea fishing. The year is 1940, and the expatriate American has his world jolted when the first waves of World War II reach the Caribbean. Martinique is a French colony and has just fallen to the Germans. The Vichy government is now in charge. This makes for an interesting movie from here on, and "To Have and Have Not" is similar, as many others have noted, to "Casablanca" of 1942. The story is supposed to be based on a 1937 Ernest Hemingway novel by the same title. And, Warner Brothers touted it as such in the credits and the build up to the movie. But, about the only things that resemble the original novel are the names of some characters, and the fact that they are in the Caribbean. A featurette short on my DVD gives some interesting background on the making of this movie. "A Love Story: The Story of 'To Have and Have Not'," tells of the real romance that begins in this film between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. But it also tells of the difficulties with the film and how it wound up so different from the novel. Apparently, director Howard Hawks boasted that he could make a movie out of the worst thing Hemingway ever wrote. "What's that?" Hemingway asked. Hawks replied, "That bunch of junk, 'To Have and Have Not.'"I read the story, which took place during the depression years of the 1930s. Harry got into running rum, guns and illegal aliens. The setting was completely different – between Florida and Cuba. This movie was made in 1944 and the government had a good neighbor policy with nations of the Caribbean, so nothing could shine a negative spotlight on Cuba. The short featurette explains that in more detail. And, since WWII was underway, it made for a logical tie-in. So, Howard Hawks brought in William Faulkner who completely revised the Hemingway plot, the setting and many characters. So, this turns out to be a sort of "Casablanca" of the Caribbean. Bogart plays Steve Morgan who owns and operates a fishing boat for hire. He takes an old sot with him, an old timer who helped him once in the past. Now Steve looks after Eddie (played by Walter Brennan), and gives him just enough money to keep him from getting the DTs. Rick's … er, Steve's love interest in this film isn't an old flame as in the Mediterranean "Casablanca," but a new young, sultry gal named Marie Browning. Steve immediately tags her as "Slim." It was Lauren Bacall's film debut, as a co-star, and her star rose thereafter. Rare indeed is the performer who has had a first role with a major lead that catapulted her or him to stardom; but Bacall got it in this film. The featurette special explained that Hawks had brought her to Hollywood after he discovered her modeling. Apparently, he was taken with her and became upset when she and Bogart began to click. At the time, Bogart was in a tumultuous marriage to Mayo Methot. She was sinking deeper in her alcoholism and they fought often. Hollywood lore of the time referred to them as the battling Bogarts. A couple more comparisons with the 1942 "Casablanca" seem appropriate. Dooley Wilson played Sam in the first film. He sat at the piano, played and sang. In "To Have and Have Not," Hoagy Carmichael does the piano and singing honors as Cricket. Conrad Veidt was the nasty Nazi, Major Heinrich Strasser in the 1942 film. In this film, Dan Seymour plays the unsavory Vichy Captain M. Renard. In "Casablanca," Rick (Bogart) helped French expatriate Victor Laszlo (played by Paul Henreid) escape the clutches of the Nazis. Here, Steve helps French expatriate Paul de Bursac (played by Walter Szurovy, aka Walter Molnar) avoid the clutches of the Nazis. All of these characters and some more are superb in their roles in this film. Among the others is Dolores Moran as Hellene de Bursac. Marcel Dalio plays Frenchy, and Sheldon Leonard plays Lt. Coyo. This is an excellent, entertaining film with a good mix of drama, a little intrigue, some action, romance, war and wartime underground. Oh, yes, and just the right amount of witty and clever lines. Only here, they mostly are between Slim and Steve, where in the first film they mostly are between Rick and Capt. Louis Renault (Claude Rains). The first film was shot in three Arizona locations, a California airport, and on several Warner Brothers stages. But this one was shot completely on two WB stages in Burbank, California. Yet the harbor, street, sea and café scenes seemed as real as could be. That's a fine testimonial to the quality of the major studio productions of the past.The best line in the movie belongs to Bacall. Slim says, "I'm hard to get, Steve. All you have to do is ask."
LeonLouisRicci This is One of those Films where it's Reputation Precedes it. A Good Film Rich with Folklore but Not a Great Movie. It is Another Artificial Looking Howard Hawks Film with HIs Trademark Overlapping Dialog. A Flourish that Hawks used for a "Realistic" Touch. Problem is, Most of His Movies Appear so Staged and Studio Bound His Actor's Speaking Patterns, on top of one another or Not, made Little Difference, it Still Looked Faked.Bogart has been Much Better without the Captain's Hat and the Dungarees. For some Reason He is Constantly Pulling them Up and it Looks Awkward. Speaking of Awkward, Lauren Bacall's Debut is not Exactly Silky Smooth. She Appears Amateurish at Times but does Manage to be On Screen so much that Eventually the Viewer is More Comfortable with Her than She is with the all of those Sexy Shenanigans.The Villains of the Piece are Clownish and where Victor Buono got that Speaking Pattern and Voice, no one will ever know. No Human Being Ever Talked like that. Walter Brennan as Bogey's Side-Kick, Eddie, is a Scene Stealer and Hoagy Carmichael's Piano Player is a Character He would Repeat for Years.Overall it is an Entertaining Movie if not Viewed Critically.
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.
