To Have and Have Not

Having seen Hawks' "The Big Sleep" I had high expectations for this, the film that kicked off 17-year-old Lauren Bacall's career. Her acting off Humphrey Bogart is nothing short of marvelous, especially considering this as her debut on the silver screen. Their two characters jump off the screen as quite different and at the same time the same, as they make their own way in the world and seemingly are attracted to each-other by being too alike not to. I find the plot akin to that of "Casablanca", but not too much; Morgan (Bogart) is a free agent type of person with an alcoholic sidekick. They run through life on the island of Martinique during WW2 by letting tourists fish on Morgan's boat. Browning (Bacall) drops down, seemingly from nowhere and things start to conspire as Morgan tries to get hold of money that a tourist owes him. Entertaining dialogue, tight direction, great music and atmosphere and above all, wonderful acting and brilliant script at times. Highly recommendable just fo... Read more

Lauren Bacall's new film where Director Howard Hawks wanted to create a film star and he did so in spades! It's said that Lauren fell for Bogie during filming and Bogie's wife was a flipped out alcoholic causing him grief. Despite the between-scenes soap opera, the film itself was quite well done. Loosely based on a Hemingway novel, who also helped put together the screenplay, it takes place in Martinique, a former French island now run by the Vichy French government (think Nazi with a French accent and skip the history lesson). Bogie plays Captain Morgan, a world-weary boat for hire skipper with his sidekick (there's always a sidekick in these films!) a rummy played by Walter Brennan of all people! As an aside, I am amazed how some of these great actors later went on to silly sitcoms in the Sixties (Agnes Moorhead, Bewitched; Carolyn Jones, Addams Family and Walter Brennan in The Real McCoys). The story itself is full of action and a lot of macho testosterone flying ... Read more

A great and enjoyable movie......a terrific character study...it is amazing how good Bacall is, at such a young age, she is unquestionally one of the best actors of the 20th century!!!

This film starts on a black and white screen with a map and same type of narration that we find when we were watching Casablanca. The narration gives us a general background so that we know what context to the story we are watching. The Germans just took over France in the price of gas is $.28 a gallon yet our story takes place in Martinique in the Southwest Indies. Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) and out of work fishing boat owner is finally faced with making a decision. Harry's sidekick Eddie (Walter Brennan) inadvertently goes along for the ride. Soon everyone gets involved including Marie 'Slim' Browning (Lauren Bacall) a young lady who is down on her luck and just passing through. Besides some heavyweight actors, this film also has some major name writers and director producers behind it. Into this new music from Cricket (Hoagy Carmichael), is a major background character in the film. Of course, the film came out years before Blu-Ray yet many of the remastered versions ma... Read more

What's to say? Bogart and Bacall. Great story, on a great DVD, and at a good price. Winner all around.

To Have And Have Not is absolutely an essential film for your classic movie collection. This motion picture boasts great performances by Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Hoagy Carmichael. Dan Seymour is also very convincing as the Vichy government's Captain Renard; and look also for a great job by Walter Brennan as Eddie. When the action starts we quickly meet Harry Morgan and his sidekick Eddie (Walter Brennan). Harry runs a fishing boat day trip business in the port of Martinique just after France fell to the Germans in World War II. Even though the Vichy government controls Martinique as well, Harry gets good business from an American man simply named Johnson (Walter Sande). Johnson owes Harry a lot of money and he is just about to finally pay his bill when he dies in a hotel shootout. It's at the hotel Harry meets a young runaway, the lovely and very self-assured Marie 'Slim' Browning (Lauren Bacall) who tries to help Harry get his money by "lifting" Johnson's wallet. It'... Read more