Bogie and Bacall - The Signature Collection (The Big Sleep / Dark Passage / Key Largo / To Have and Have Not)

Romance and Choices in Martinique
The summer of 1940 in Martinique as people began to choose sides is the setting for another Howard Hawks masterpiece. William Faulkner, who had adapted Raymond Chandler's complex novel for the director's other Bogart screen classic, "The Big Sleep," expanded a thin Hemingway story with writing partner Jules Furthman into another. This is sort of "Casablanca" with grit rather than gloss, and is just as enjoyable. "To Have and Have Not" does, in fact, outshine that film with its upbeat ending, and marks the real contrast between the two films, despite their similarities.

Bogart is Harry Morgan, trying to stay neutral about the local politics while he and his pal Eddie (Walter Brennan) take tourists ocean fishing in the waters of Martinique. His pal Frenchy (Marcel Dalio) wants him to use his boat to pick up a couple that will put him square in the middle of all that's going on both in Martinique and the rest of the world as the Germans make their move across the globe...

If You Want Them, This Is It
"Bogie and Bacall -- The Signature Collection," brings us the four movies the near-legendary Hollywood stars, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, made together, from first, Howard Hawks's 1944 "To Have and Have Not," in which the couple, just meeting, literally fall in love on screen, through probably their best together, 1946's "The Big Sleep," again directed by Hawks; their strangest, 1947's "Dark Passage," written and directed by Delmar Daves; and their last, the 1948 "Key Largo," directed by John Huston.

All four films are made by Warner Brothers, in black and white; all but "Dark Passage" made entirely on studio back lots, despite the ostensible tropical settings of "To Have and Have Not," and "Key Largo." In most, Bogie plays a character that will be familiar to his fans from his previous work, particularly the great wartime hit "Casablanca" that directly preceded "To Have." We see some of the familiar Warner Brothers company of supporting players in these films, and...

Holy Smokes --- what a pairing!
Watching this movie can give you the vapors. Ye gods, has anyone's big screen debut been as sizzling as that of the 19-year-old Lauren Bacall's? Even 60 years later, Bacall's sensual presence absolutely smolders on the screen. While this is not the most gripping Bogart performance one is likely to think of, he is nonetheless fascinating to watch in this film. As the film progresses, it is unmistakeable that he is absolutely HOOKED by his co-star.

The storyline itself is a conventional thriller for its time, although it has the distinction of being the product of two of the greatest American writers, Hemingway & Faulkner. Not that they would have seen much merit in that --- Hemingway had a lukewarm attitude towards this work, and Faulkner hated every minute he spent in Hollywood, prostituting his talent (as he saw it).

This movie is not on a dramatic par with "Casablanca" or "The Maltese Falcon," and the subsequent Bogart-Bacall "Key Largo"...

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