To Have and Have Not

1944 | Film Noir | 100 minutes | English

Info

It’s 1940 and Harry Morgan is busy operating a small fishing boat in Fort-de-France, Martinique, a French colony in the Caribbean. World War II is raging in Europe and France has fallen. Martinique is now controlled by pro-German Vichy France. The island is a hotbed of dissent as many inhabitants continue to be sympathetic to a Free France. At Harry’s hotel, Gerard, the hotel owner, urges him to get involved with the French Resistance. Harry refuses, preferring to stay out of the political turmoil. Harry then becomes smitten after he meets Marie “Slim” Browning, a beautiful American singer who is looking for a way to get off the island. Meanwhile, Gerard offers Harry a job to transport two resistance members, Paul de Bursac and his wife Helene, to the island. Harry needs the money so he reluctantly accepts. Harry also wants the money to buy Slim a plane ticket back to the U.S. Harry’s boat is spotted by a navy patrol boat. Paul is wounded and taken back to the hotel. When Harry returns he finds out that Slim did not use the plane ticket. She wants to be with him. The police close in at the hotel. With Slim’s help Harry gains access to a gun. Well, it’s a Bogie film, so you know Morgan will force, at gunpoint, the police to issue harbor passes. As they board the boat, Harry agrees to help Paul and his fight for a Free France.

Cast

Humphrey Bogart (Harry Morgan) / Lauren Bacall (Marie “Slim” Browning) / Marcel Dalio (Gerard) / Walter Szurovy (Paul de Bursac) / Dolores Moran (Helene de Bursac)

Why Stream This Film?

It’s rare for an actor, no matter how talented, to give superlative performances in back-to-back films. Humphrey Bogart achieved this big time, first with Casablanca and then in To Have and Have Not. Critics raved about the chemistry between Bogart and Bacall. That’s when they fell in love and got married one year after the completion of the film. She was 20 years old he was 45.