The Comic Critic Reviews "To Have and Have Not"

To Have and Have Not was Lauren Bacall’s film debut and her talent was immediately recognizable. The chemistry between her and Humphrey Bogart was obvious. In the original script, Dolores Moran’s role was larger, with her and Bogart’s characters’ relationship having more depth. But everyone involved in the production immediately sensed the magic in Bogart and Bacall’s interplay. The script underwent revisions to take advantage of this. The novel was written by Ernest Hemingway. William Faulkner worked on the script, but a large part of the dialog was improvised by the actors themselves. Bogart was still riding high from the unexpected success of Casablanca. Audiences turned out to watch him continue to portray a tough character who plays low and cool, ruled by his own code. They were not disappointed; To Have and Have Not carried those same themes. But audiences were also rewarded with the performances of two actors falling in love on set. The studio would quickly parley this success into three additional movies featuring the entrancing duo, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, and Key Largo. Bacall and Bogart did start an affair during the making of To Have and Have Not. Bogart, who was in an unhappy marriage, would divorce his wife and marry Bacall, who was twenty years his junior. They remained married until Bogart’s death from cancer in 1957. At his funeral, Bacall laid a whistle on Bogart’s coffin in homage to her famous quote from the movie, “You know how to whistle, don’t you? You just put your lips together and blow.”