To Have and Have Not (1943)

To Have and Have Not (1943)

starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall

directed by Howard Hawks

110 minutes

Captain Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) runs a fishing boat for tourists from the island of Martinique during World War 2. He finds himself in a bit of trouble after he gets stiffed by a client. The police confiscate what money he has, after his client turns up dead. "Slim" Browning (Lauren Bacall), a guest of the same hotel where Morgan is staying, tries to help him out but the odds are against them.

Harry winds up taking a job, which he previously turned down, ferrying a married couple from another island to Martinique. The couple are wanted by the Vichy government which controls Martinique. Morgan and his drunken friend Eddie (Walter Brennan), have a run in with the Martinique coast guard, while ferrying the married couple. They escape but Captain Renard of the local police department is on their trail.

Thoughts

I saw this movie once before, in the mid-1980s, on television. I think this is the first time I have watched it since then. I didn't remember too much about it. I knew that it was the first of four on screen pairing of Bogart and Bacall. I remembered there was a boat in it but that was about it. A few more things came back to me as I watched it.

There are some definite similarities between this movie and Casablanca (1943). I had not seen Casablanca at the time I first saw To Have and Have Not. Casablanca is by far the better film.

This is Bogart's film. Bacall is along for the ride. She may be the co-star but she gets very little in the way of a story of her own.

This is the only one of Bogart and Bacall's films they made together that was released before they got married. It was her first screen role.

Dan Seymour played the part of Captain Renard. He was also in a much less serious film that I saw for the second time not so long ago, A Night in Casablanca (1946).

This movie has its moments but it is not a great film. The ending is a little too happy and abrupt for me, especially considering how precarious things seem up to that point. I didn't love the musical numbers, especially the ones sung by Lauren Bacall but honestly none of them really did it for me including the ones sung by Hoagy Carmichael.

There is some chemistry between Bogart and Bacall but I think that people like to read a lot into what they see on the screen.