MovieChat Forums > To Have and Have Not (1945) Discussion > Top Drawer !!

Top Drawer !!

posted 20 years ago by 80334080
9 replies | jump to latest

I believe that this movie is right up there with the best adventure movies ever made such as Treasure of the Sierra Madre and the icon Casablanca but it has not received as much credit as it deserves. The characters and acting are extremely believable- and very memorable which I think is an important test of value. Everyone remembers "Steve" and "Slim" but "very memorable" also applies to Cricket and to Eddie as played by the great Walter Brennan. Brennan should have received an academy award nominination fot best supporting actor. It is cerainly true that this movie was an attempt to capitalize on the success of Casablanca by Warner Bros. and the plot has a lot of similarities to Casablanca (all usually a receipe for mediocrity at best) but I think it worked brilliantly this time!
Incidentally, it's interesting that while 63850 IMDB users responded for Casablanca (1-10) only 3801 responded for To Have and Have Not. To me that suggests thst once a movie gets on the top 250 list (let alone the top 7) it has a huge advantage. Everyone wants to see it and it's like when you tell everyone that Picasso is one of the greatest painters ever, that's how people will rate everything he does ! Although I will admit that 3% of the Casablanca users gave it a rating of one so not everybody acts that way.

[–] CamelCamelCamel 20 years ago

Bacall's character in this has a history only hinted at, and Bogart's is hinted at even less. I was all set to get a backstory on Brennan's character too, but no dice. I think people, myself included, might prefer Casablanca if only because the characters are more fleshed out.

Now if you should want to call me, use this number. This other one is the old number.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] seoulless 20 years ago

What does this film have and what does it have not? The chemistry between the lead characters is even hotter than in Casablanca. But that's about it. The supporting cast is vastly outclassed, which isn't surprising since Casablanca has arguably the greatest bunch of scene stealers in history. Where is the equivalent of Claude Raines in this movie? Then there are the inimitable Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S. Z. Szakall (did I spell that right?), etc. All indelibly great. And the countless memorable lines. Mon dieu! I can quote them at the drop of a bottle of Vichy water. There are only a few of them in this movie. It's good, but it's unfair to compare it to an all-time classic.

[–] thejanet 20 years ago

But "To Have and Have Not" has the great Hoagy Carmichael on the piano, and that trumps all the rest.

[–] shepardjessica-1 20 years ago

Great script, Brennan is superb, Bacall is gorgeous, and Bogie never looked more relaxed and comfortable during a movie.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] fluffapr9 20 years ago

Did you mean Marcel Dalio who plays Emil the croupier in Casablanca? He's Frenchy in this one...
I was surprised to notice Sheldon Leonard as the face slapping thug.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] tstein5 20 years ago

Seymor was also one of the hoods in "Key Largo".