To Have And Have Not

Year: 1944

Grade: A-

Country: USA

Director: Hawks

Review

i fell in love tonight. the object of my affection is lauren bacall. sure, i’ve seen a couple bacall films before (though not this one), but today was the first time i really saw a bacall film; or bacall for that matter. rather than make this entire film review about lauren bacall, i’ll summarize by saying that in this film bacall is more sexy than any other actress i can recall having seen in a film. perhaps there have been hotter women in film before, but seeing bacall in this film made me forget all the other women; she’s that foxy. and it’s not just about good looks, it’s about her presence. from her first appearance on the screen she steals the show – she’s cooler, even, than bogart, she’s talented, she’s sexy, she’s all woman. her first appearance on the screen is an interesting one because the camera is following bogart as he’s walking down the hall and into his room. bacall is staying in the room across from his and we catch just a sliver of her as she exits her room, and he enters his. most people probably wouldn’t even catch this as her first appearance, but it is, and it’s brilliant because when i saw that sliver of her body i thought “is that lauren bacall?…who is that woman?…when am i going to get to see her next?” that’s good filmmaking right there, and it wasn’t a mistake – i’m sure hawks knew exactly what he was doing. it reminded me of a technique polanski used in the over-rated horror classic “rosemary’s baby.” there’s a scene in that film where the old lady neighbor (who turns out to be a rather unsavory character, but to this point seems very friendly) goes from one room to the bedroom to make a phone call. the protagonist is pregnant and needs a good doctor, the old lady offers to call someone she knows for her. the camera stays in the hallway and the old lady sits on the bed to make the phone call. the camera is perfectly positioned so that the audience can see only the back half of the old lady as she sits on the bed making the phone call. the technique, in this instance, makes the audience want to sort of peer around the doorway which is blocking the other half of the old lady, so that we can see the rest of her. in that film it’s a good way of hinting that the old lady has something to hide. in this film, seeing just a glimpse of a good looking woman makes the audience eager for her next appearance; at least that’s the intention – and it worked for me.