When Eddie (Humphrey Bogart) is having a drink in the bar with his TV reporter friend (Harold J. Stone), Leavitt raises his glass to Eddie and toasts, "L'chaim", to which Eddie replies, "I'll need it." L'chaim means "to life". Eddie's response is more as if Leavitt had toasted him, "Good luck." Bogart almost certainly knew this in real life, so why he didn't offer a more apppropriate reply is a little odd.
shareI don't know how narrowly L'chaim is defined.... Maybe he meant that he felt that he didn't have much of a life or much left?
shareOr maybe Eddie does not know the exact meaning of the toast? Art is obviously Jewish, Nick might, but there is no indication Eddie is.
I didn't learn the meaning of the word "chai" until somebody explained the meaning of the popular trinkets that are shaped like the Hebrew letters for it.
Eddie isn't Jewish, but he's from New York City, and I think most New Yorkers would know what l'chaim means. (I'm from NYC, not Jewish, and early on learned what the phase meant.) Or, if not, he'd know enough not to give an inapt reply. But probably he was just being sarcastic, or had a heavy air of resignation. It's not a big deal, just a little curious.
shareI wondered the same thing. I am Jewish and the phrase definitely means (literally and figuratively) "to life." My only explanations are that it was a mistake in the script or Bogey's character felt like he had betrayed himself and that his life was taking a turn for the worst. So "to life" was, for him, an expression of hope that things would get better.
shareYes, I think you're probably right about Bogart's take on his character. It might also be a mistake on the part of the screenwriter, Phillip Yordan, though I assume he knew what it meant too, or it could even have been a mistake (just saying the wrong line) or an ad lib on the part of actor Harold J. Stone. Whatever the case, I think your explanation about Bogie's character's feelings seems good.
shareI agree. "To life" could be loosely interpreted as "here's to a good life" or "may you have a good life", so the "I'll need it" response makes perfect sense.
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You got your mind right, Luke?
Yeah, if Art said Mazel Tov as a toast, Bogies response woulda made sense.
Yeah, if Art said Mazel Tov as a toast, Bogies response woulda made sense.
I thought it was just a comic relief moment, Eddie thinks it means "Good luck" and that's it. He might be from NYC but maybe he's always been misinformed about the word's meaning.
Darth Vader is scary and I The Godfather