James Berardinelli review - *** out of ****

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Despite boasting an impressive roster of talent both in front of and behind the camera, To Have and Have Not remains a "lesser" film on Humphrey Bogart's resume, often euphemistically referred to as a "minor" or "overlooked" classic. Labeling it as such is charitable – the movie is entertaining in its own right, and representative of the era in which it was produced but, aside from the legendary interaction between Bogart and Lauren Bacall, there are only moderate reasons to recommend the film, which often comes across as little more than a low-rent attempt to regurgitate elements that allowed Casablanca to succeed two years earlier.

For director Howard Hawks, this represented his first opportunity to work with Bogart (they would re-team shortly thereafter for The Big Sleep). The decision to use an unknown model to play the taciturn leading man's love interest was Hawks' idea. The producer/director, who fancied himself as a star maker, decided that Lauren Bacall had the looks and presence to make a name for herself. However, to Hawks' dismay, Bogart took a liking to her, and she to him (likely stymieing designs he may have had on her – instead, he contented himself with having an affair with the movie's other actress, Dolores Moran). The rest, as they say, is history. No love affair in the history of Hollywood has been as romanticized or publicly followed (not even Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn).

In title and intent, To Have and Have Not is a loose (emphasis on the word "loose") adaptation of the 1937 Ernest Hemingway novel, but the plot, as re-worked by Jules Furthman and William Faulkner, bears a stronger resemblance to Casablanca than to anything penned by the Pulitzer-prize winning author. Many of the elements are similar: the World War II time frame, an exotic setting (Martinique instead of Cuba, where the book was set), a mercenary lead character whose political neutrality changes as the story develops, anti-German/Vichy freedom fighters, and a bar with a piano player. Ultimately, however, To Have and Have Not's narrative is not as compelling as that of Casablanca, the dialogue is (for the most part) neither as sharp nor memorable, the tone is more flippant, and the romance does not require an ennobling sacrifice.

According to legend, Hawks bet Hemingway that he could make a movie out of the author's worst book. When Hemingway inquired what that was, Hawks responded, "To Have and Have Not." Once permission was granted, Hawks enlisted the aid of Furthman, who wrote a reasonably faithful adaptation, then Faulkner (who had not yet earned his own Pulitzer) to re-shape things in a way that would be more cinematically appealing. Although Hemingway's name appears prominently on the title screen ("Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not"), a magnifying glass is needed to find the crumbs of the novel that remain.

To Have and Have Not opens in Martinique shortly after the fall of Paris to the Nazis. Harry Morgan (Bogart), an American expatriate, has landed in the city of Fort de France, where he is making a living taking visitors out on his boat, the Queen Conch, for fishing expeditions. Harry is accompanied on these trips by his faithful drunkard sidekick, Eddie (Walter Brennan). New to Fort de France is 22-year old Marie Browning (Bacall), whose trail of tears has left her on the island without enough money to buy a ticket home. She tries lifting the wallet of one of Harry's wealthy clients, but Harry catches her – only to learn the client was planning to stiff him.

The plot that forms the background for Harry and Marie's relationship is a thin story about two French resistance fighters, Paul de Bursac (Walter Molnar) and his wife, Hellene (Moran), who end up in Harry's care when he accepts a job to transport them to Fort de France without discovery. When Paul is wounded, Harry is forced to endanger his own safety and security to provide medical care. Meanwhile, Marie hangs around to help and provide plenty of sexual chemistry. And, when the local Gestapo-like officer, Captain Renard (Dan Seymour), offers Harry a handsome reward for turning over the de Bursacs, he must choose between money and principals.