To Have and Have Not

Movie Review: To Have and Have Not

Year of Release: 1944
Country of Origin: USA
Director: Howard Hawks
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan, Lauren Bacall

Plot outline: A skipper-for-hire's romance with a beautiful drifter is complicated by his growing involvement with the French resistance (IMDb).

To Have and Have Not was Howard Hawks’ answer to Casablanca and while he never quite equals Michael Curtiz’s classic, he does deliver a good picture thanks in large part to Lauren Bacall. Making her movie debut at only 19 years of age, Bacall exudes the confidence and charm of a veteran actress, easily matching star Humphrey Bogart’s considerable screen presence. The chemistry between the two makes the movie, and the sparks flying on screen didn’t stop when the camera’s stopped rolling, as Bogart married Bacall in 1945. Bacall’s great chemistry didn’t stop there though. Her scenes with Dolores Moran (who found her role reduced in favor of Bacall’s) are dynamite, especially the subtle gag when Bogart asks her to fan some fumes away. Despite her relative inexperience, Bacall refuses to allow anyone to overshadow her, yet she goes about it in such a subtle, seductive way, that you can’t help but admire her. To Have and Have Not is considerably weaker when Bacall is off screen, as the rest of the cast is somewhat lacking, especially compared to Casablanca. Dan Seymour has neither the intensity of Conrad Veidt nor the presence of Sydney Greenstreet, and thus makes a sub par villain, while Walter Brennan’s character seems to exist solely as a plot device. Finally, while the script does a good job maximizing the Bogart-Bacall romance, the abrupt ending will no doubt leave some scratching their heads. (FML)

My judgement: **1/2 out of 4 stars