Lauren Bacall: A look back at her legendary first film 'To Have and Have Not'
Lauren Bacall made her screen debut in the movie 'To Have and Have Not,' which was directed by Hollywood legend Howard Hawks and costarred her future husband Humphrey Bogart. Lauren Bacall died on Aug. 12.
Lauren Bacall (l.) and Humphrey Bogart (r.) star in 'To Have and Have Not.'
Warner Bros./AP
It鈥檚 hard to find an actor or actress鈥檚 debut movie that tops Lauren Bacall鈥檚. Her 1944 movie 鈥淭o Have and Have Not鈥� had an impressive literary pedigree (it was based on a book by Ernest Hemingway and adapted by William Faulkner), got her noticed by critics, and costarred her future husband Humphrey Bogart.听
Bacall, who died Aug. 12, would go on to star in other movies with Bogart such as 鈥淜ey Largo鈥� and 鈥淭he Big Sleep鈥� and would earn an honorary Oscar as well as two Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Musical, among other work. But she was new on the scene when she was filming 鈥淗ave,鈥� which was released in 1944. The movie is based on the book of the same title by Hemingway, though the stories are often different, and follows a boat captain, Harry Morgan (Bogart), who is living in Fort-de-France in Martinique as the island is presided over by the Vichy regime. He works to help members of the French resistance as he gets to know Marie, otherwise known as 鈥淪lim鈥� (Bacall), an American who has recently come to the area.
The movie was directed by Howard Hawks, who is also behind such classic films as the original 1932 version of 鈥淪carface,鈥� the 1938 movie 鈥淏ringing Up Baby,鈥� the 1940 film 鈥淗is Girl Friday,鈥� and the 1953 movie 鈥淕entlemen Prefer Blondes,鈥� among others.
According to 聽(TCM), Faulkner, who worked on the script, suggested changing the movie鈥檚 setting from Cuba, which is where Hemingway鈥檚 novel takes place, to Martinique after France fell to Germany. The US Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs had not wanted the film to take place in Cuba, thinking that doing so would offend the other country (Hemingway鈥檚 book has Harry, someone breaking the laws of Cuba by taking illegal goods between the country and Florida, as a good person).
Bacall was cast in the movie after Hawks鈥檚 wife Nancy Keith saw her on the cover of the magazine Harper鈥檚 Bazaar and mentioned her to the director. According to the , Bacall and Bogart first became involved romantically on the set of 鈥淗ave鈥� and the actress created her trademark 鈥渓ook鈥� 鈥� gazing up at Bogart while her head was tipped down 鈥� because she was so nervous about acting with him at first that she was shaking and that helped hide it.听
According to TCM, when the film debuted, The New York Times wrote that she was 鈥渟lumberous of eye and softly reedy, she acts in the quiet way of catnip,鈥� while Variety called her 鈥渁n arresting personality.鈥�
Before her death, the actress provided voice work for the English dub for the 2012 animated film 鈥淓rnest and Celestine鈥� and guest-starred on a 2014 episode of the Fox animated sitcom 鈥淔amily Guy.鈥�