To Have and Have Not (1944)

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To Have and Have Not (1944) – H. Hawks

On the surface, director Howard Hawks seems to be capitalising on the earlier success of Casablanca by placing Bogie in a very similar role. Here, he plays Harry Morgan, a former smuggler turned charter fishing boat owner working out of Martinique. The French Vichy government (working with/for the Nazis) has taken over but most of the island’s inhabitants are Free French.  Of course, Bogie claims not to be interested in politics and just minding his own business trying to make a buck, but, as before, he can’t help but throw his lot in with the Resistance. But beginning with the Hemingway novel (and with Faulkner as credited screenwriter), Hawks manages to invest the film with his usual theme:  the importance of honour/professionalism/loyalty and the unspoken bond/love between men who work together. Of course, this is also the film where Bogie met Bacall and apparently the script was rewritten to give them ample screentime to show their chemistry – her role isn’t really central to the main action.  Bogie also loves Walter Brennan’s too-far-gone lush (his first mate) and shows real fondness for Marcel Dalio’s bar owner, Frenchy, for whom he agrees to smuggle some people into (and out of) Martinique. It’s a thriller with time for a few musical numbers (courtesy of Hoagy Carmichael and Bacall) and an easy-going classic charm.