Quartile rating: 7.5/10 · 1 rating
A Martinique charter boat skipper gets mixed up with the underground French resistance operatives during WWII.
To Have and Have Not is most famous for the electric chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, whose debut performance is genuinely exceptional and elevates the entire film. The plot, loosely adapted from Hemingway, is fairly thin and episodic — a Casablanca-lite adventure that never fully capitalizes on its wartime intrigue setup. Hawks directs with his trademark relaxed confidence, and the cinematography is competent studio-era noir without being visually distinctive. The film has a certain singular identity thanks to its cast chemistry and the iconic 'you know how to whistle' scene, but structurally it borrows heavily from Casablanca's template. The ending resolves rather abruptly and anticlimactically, failing to deliver the dramatic payoff the buildup deserves.