To Have And Have Not (1944) Humphrey Bogart

To Have and Have Not (1944)

To Have and Have Not is a 1944 romance-war-adventure film. It was directed by Howard Hawks and starred Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, in her first film. Although it is nominally based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway, the story was extensively altered for the film.

The film is set in Fort de France, Martinique, under the Vichy regime in the summer of 1940, shortly after the fall of France. In this exotic location, the world-weary fishing-boat captain Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) is urged to help the French Resistance smuggle some people onto the island. He refuses, until the client, Johnson (Walter Sande), who has been hiring out his fishing boat (and owes him $825) is shot before paying him.

The hotel owner Gerard, commonly known as Frenchy (Marcel Dalio), asks Harry to rent him his boat for one night to transport some members of the resistance. Broke, Harry ends up smuggling Helene (Dolores Moran) and Paul de Bursac (Walter Szurovy). Meanwhile, a romance develops between Harry and Marie Browning (Lauren Bacall), an American wanderer who has come to the island.

After picking up his passengers, Harry is spotted by a patrol boat, and Paul is wounded before they escape. Harry is surprised to find that Marie has stayed in Martinique to be with him. At Frenchy's request, Harry removes the bullet from Bursac's shoulder and learns that the de Bursacs have been assigned to help a man escape from Devil's Island. Bursac asks for Harry's assistance, but Harry turns him down.

Later, the police, who have recognized Harry's boat the previous night, reveal that they have Harry's alcoholic buddy, Eddie (Walter Brennan), in custody and will coerce him to tell the truth about the boat's cargo. At gunpoint, Harry forces Police Captain Renard (Dan Seymour) to arrange for Eddie's release and sign harbor passes, so that he can take the Bursacs to Devil's Island. Slim says goodbye to her piano-playing friend Cricket (Hoagy Carmichael). As soon as Eddie returns, he, Harry, and Marie leave Martinique.


NY TIMES Review published October 12, 1944
' To Have and Have Not,' With Humphrey Bogart, at the Hollywood -- Arrival of Other New Films at Theatres Here
By BOSLEY CROWTHER
Published: October 12, 1944

Having once cornered Humphrey Bogart in a Casablanca café and beheld his tremendous potential in that sultry and colorful spot, it was logical that the Warners should have wanted to get him there again