Casablanca Goes to the Caribbean
About.com Rating 
By Laurie Boeder, About.com Guide
.
lauren bacall singing and Hoagy Carmichael playing the piano
.
To Have and Have Not
Warner Brothers
A must-see if only for the smokin’ hot screen debut of 19-year-old Lauren Bacall and the origin of her legendary off-screen romance with Humphrey Bogart, To Have and Have Not is a pretty good little movie. Made with a sure hand by director Howard Hawks, featuring southern novelist William Faulkner in the writing credits, based on an Ernest Hemingway novel, it has a nice pedigree, and one of the most famous lines in film history: “Just whistle. You know how to whistle, don’t you?”
The Plot
The legend is that one drunken night, director Hawks allegedly bet Hemingway that he could take what both considered his worst novel - To Have and Have Not - and turn it into a screen hit. To do it, Hawks borrowed quite a bit from Casablanca, with Bogart as a live-and-let-live American expat unwilling to be drawn into the war in Vichy-controlled Martinique (not quite as exotic as Morocco, but close), and threw in brave resistance fighters, a quirky piano player in the bar, an underground leader who needs help, and of course, The Woman.
.
In this story, Bogie’s Harry Morgan captains a pleasure fishing boat, and is approached to provide transport for a resistance hero. He doesn’t want to get involved, but a couple of plot twists leave him broke just when needs money to do a favor for the mysterious young woman who’s just shown up. Reluctantly, he buys in, and we’re off on a wartime adventure as Bogie rescues the good guys and foils the villains. The plot doesn’t reach the heights of Casablanca, and the action scenes are a bit lame. Nevertheless, it offers up snappy dialogue, showcases Bacall in a number of fetching costumes, and dishes up a gorgeous French woman who tries to give Bacall a run for her money. (No contest.)
The Cast of ‘To Have and Have Not’
Bogart does a nice job in the weary virility style of action hero. (Think Indiana Jones, Marshal Matt Dillon, and just about any character played by James Garner.) He’s a reluctant hero with nothing to prove, but a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do. If he gets a little knocked around in the process, well, that just makes him more attractive to the leading lady.
.
Bacall sizzles the celluloid as Marie Browning, a dame who can crack wise with Bogie, and even at her tender age (19 when the film was shot, although she plays older) knows how to hustle a chump on the make when she wants a drink. She picks up a few bucks by singing with Cricket the piano player (Hoagy Carmichael), and does a creditable job with the tunes. The Bogart-Bacall chemistry jumps off the screen, and her jealousy is very believable when the wife of the resistance leader gets a little too fond of Harry.
.
Walter Brennan is endearing as Harry’s sidekick Eddie, a scruffy drunk who’s more than a little soft in the head. Carmichael is captivating as Cricket, although a few of his song lyrics are sadly dated. The rest of the cast is a serviceable group, but nothing close to the standout ensemble of minor characters that gave Casablanca so much of its charm.
The Backstory
Bacall was discovered by Hawks’ wife, who saw her picture in a Harper‘s Bazaar photo shoot. Both Hawks and Bogart were married when the film was made, and the gossip was that Hawks was none too pleased that Bogart was the one who got the girl off screen, leading to one of Hollywood’s most successful and long-lived marriages. It didn’t stop them from teaming up again for The Big Sleep, one of the truly great noir films.
.
.Bacall has said that “The Look” made famous in the film - her head downcast, sultry eyes looking up at Bogart - was a product of her nervousness, trying to keep her voice from shaking as she played against the older, established star. Whatever. Between “The Look” and her beautifully tailored, glamorous costumes, she became an instant icon of American style and sensuality.
The bottom line - ‘To Have and Have Not’
Not a masterpiece, but a must for anyone who loves the glamour of old Hollywood and a legendary romance.
Recommended for you:
If you liked To Have and Have Not, you may like other Humphrey Bogart films, especially Casablanca, The Big Sleep, and The African Queen.
Just the Facts:
Year: 1947, Black and White
Director: Howard Hawks
Running Time: 100 minutes
Studio: Warner Brothers
.
http://classicfilm.about.com/od/epicswarmovies/fr/To_Have_Have_No.htm
.
PetrusGM
2 de Junho de 2008
.
Lauren Bacall sings "How Little We Know" in the 1944 Howard Hawks' "To Have and Have Not" movie. Notice the absolutely disarming look she gives Bogey!
.
To Have And Have Not - Original Trailer 1944
.
.
foxter65
8 de Janeiro de 2009
.
Humphrey Bogart plays Harry Morgan, owner-operator of charter boat in wartime Martinique. Morgan's right-hand man is Eddie (Walter Brennan), a garrulous alky whose pet question to anyone and everyoone is "Ever get stung by a dead bee?" While in port, Harry is approached by Free French activist Gerard (Marcel Dalio), who wants to charter Harry's boat to smuggle in an important underground leader. Adopting his usual I-stick-my-neck-out-for-no-one stance, Morgan refuses. Later on, he starts up a dalliance with Marie Browning (screen newcomer Lauren Bacall), an attractive pickpocket. In order to help Marie return to America, Harry agrees to Gerard's smuggling terms. He uses his boat to bring resistance fighter De Bursac (Walter Molnar) and De Bursac's wife Helene (Dolores Moran) into Martinique. The Vichy police, suspecting that something's amiss, hold Morgan's pal Eddie hostage, tormenting the poor rummy by denying him liquor. Predictably, Morgan comes to Eddie's rescue and manages to escape Martinique, with the delectable Marie as cozy company. In the hands of director Howard Hawks and screenwriters Jules Furthman and William Faulkner, the end result bore only a passing relation to the original story by Ernest Hemingway: instead, it was a virtual rehash (but a good one!) of the recently released Casablanca, replete with several of that film's cast members. The film's enduring popularity is primarily -- if not solely -- due to the sexy chemistry between Bogart and Bacall, especially in the legendary "You know how to whistle, don't you?" scene. The most salutary result of To Have & Have Not was the subsequent Bogart-Bacall marriage, which endured until his death in 1957. It's widely believed that Lauren Bacall's singing voice was dubbed in by a pre-puberty Andy Williams; this is not true. For the record, a more faithful-to-the-source cinemadaptation of the Hemingway original was filmed in 1950 as The Breaking Point.
Humphrey Bogart - Harry Morgan
Walter Brennan - Eddie
Lauren Bacall - Marie Browning (Slim)
Dolores Moran - Helene De Bursac
Hoagy Carmichael - Cricket
How Little We Know Lyrics
Artist(Band):Frank Sinatra
Writer(s): Springer/Leigh
How little we know
How much to discover
What chemical forces flow
From lover to lover
How little we understand - what touches of that tingle
That sudden explosion - when two tingles intermingle
Who cares to define
What chemistry this is
Who cares with your lips on mine
How ignorant bliss is
So long as you kiss me - (and) the world around us shatters
How little it matters - how little we know
(How little we know, how little we know,...)
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário