Thursday, April 01, 2010

Good Old Movies: To Have and Have Not (1944)

Forget Hemingway, this film has very little to do with the novel of the same name. Nevertheless, it is one of my favorite movies. Why? Because Humphrey Bogart is in it, because Lauren Bacall is in it and because Walter Brennan is in it!

“Slim” is as sexy as she can be. When she sings “Am I blue” with Hoagy Carmichael at the piano you’ll get shivers down your spine.

The bond between “Steve” and “Slim” is immediately evident (and we all know how it ended up...). However, I have always wondered if my favorite cinematographic couple’s chemistry would have worked in “Casablanca" (“To have and have not” tries unsuccessfully to remix all of Casablanca elements): would Bacall have been better than Bergman? I must admit that Ingrid Bergman is much more appropriate than Lauren Bacall for the part of saintly companion to a Resistance hero; had she been played by “Slim”, she and Rick would still be making wild love in Paris!

Re-watch it, if only for “Eddie” doing the forgetful drunk and “Cricket” playing and singing…

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Posted via web from Captain Marlow

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