MovieChat Forums > To Have and Have Not (1945) Discussion > Can someone explain Brennan's character,...

Can someone explain Brennan's character, mannerisms, etc. to me?

posted 15 years ago by jgroub
6 replies | jump to latest

I'll start off by admitting that I dislike Brennan. But WTF is with this character?

First off that walk - did he just get back from the bathhouse where he got his a$$ pounded one too many times?

Next up, this stung by a dead bee business - is he a psycho or just a retard? Why doesn't Morgan just tell him to STFU?

Now, my semi-joking criticisms aside, what is the deal between him and Morgan? Why would a stand-up guy like Morgan keep a forgetful rummy like him around? I wouldn't trust him to handle a loaded shotgun, that's for sure. He is not "a good man."

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] jayrussell1993 10 years ago

Watch Walter Brennan in Bad Day at Black Rock, you'll like that performance.

[–] 3rdrowleft 10 years ago

As far as keeping him around and trusting him with a loaded shotgun, those are basically the only two things from the book that was used in the film. At one time Eddie was reliable and Harry did need an extra hand at that time.

But throughout it all, my motto was "Dignity! Always dignity!".

[–] Cosmonican 10 years ago

When I was in college, I used to hang out with my friends at a dive bar, every Friday and Saturday night. The bar was a couple of blocks from the bus station, which was the first stop away from the state prison for prisoners being released, They always stopped there, because it's a college town, and they thought the could get lucky with a girl.

We would give some of these guys a beer or two. One of them liked to pretend to play the piano, which he said he did before he got in the joint. He also liked to say, "You know what a Lizard is? It"s a Snake. Bite ya'".

The Walter Brennan character is no invention, just reality.

[–] jgroub 10 years ago

LOL!!!

I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] fanaticita 8 years ago

I would say that the Brennan character was a comedic element in the film. I don't know if he was in Hemingway's book, but I liked Brennan in his role.

[–] slimone (7996) 6 years ago

I agree with you! His walk was funny, he sort of had his own way of walking, or maybe he had a tick of some sort. Or maybe it had to do with his drinking somehow? He was not retarded.