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.
