Tuesday, September 16, 2014

TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT

Maybe it's my age or maybe it's something else, but watching Bogart and Bacall tonight in TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT, the film where they first met and fell in love on screen when she was only nineteen and not just in her first film role but starring opposite the already movie icon Bogart, who was forty-four and married for the third time...

...whatever it is, I laughed louder and more often during this umpteenth time watching it tonight than I ever have. The dialogue is so quick and smart and fun and witty and adult it made me mourn for the time when even a teenager could come across as a grown up (and why not, it was made during World War Two in which my two oldest teenage brothers were in the military)...

Bacall was a sensation in it and it's so easy to see why, she's gorgeous yet down-to-earth, witty yet unpretentious and instantly iconic herself. Just to see her do that little boogie boogie dance at the end of the film is worth watching it all the way through. Oh how I wish they made movies with this kind of dialogue these days (though the diner scene in SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK came close)....

Whenever the world is too much for me, a Bogie and Bacall flick, especially the first two when they were still falling in love but not together in real life yet—TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT and THE BIG SLEEP—will make me forget any troubles and laugh loud, and a lot, not just out of delight but gratitude...

6 comments:

JenW said...

Totally with you, Kid! Love Bogie and Bacall always, and To Have and Have Not is one of my absolute favorites (for over 40 years now) It's not your age, it's the magic of those two. Gotta watch it again soon... Glad it made you laugh. It makes me do Lauren's little boogie woogie dance- with sweet joy for those two and life. Gratitude and magic:-)

-K- said...

Tonight, because of the intense heat wave here in L.A., I did nothing more than just simply sit and watch "The Big Sleep" and I probably enjoyed it more than I ever have before.

I assume the same would have been true for "To have and To Have Not." Neither will ever be a huge favorite but the dialogue and supporting cast are both great examples of why this is my favorite era of movie-making.

AlamedaTom said...

Sometimes recalling the obvious is exactly what you should do:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MheNUWyROv8

~ Willy

JenW said...

Yup, but this is happy-->>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs4vI2XnQJ4&sns=em


JenW said...

Oops- I think I just copied yours Willy.
THIS is happy...

http://youtu.be/fs4vI2XnQJ4

Lally said...

according to my clicks on the links you got it right both times Jen...that's the boogie exist scene...love it always...and man is her look to Bogie at the end of it the clearest and most innocent and fresh and honest look of love ever on a star's face in a movie or what?...and thanks Willy for yours and K, I love KEY LARGO too and it certainly is a more compellingly dramatic flick...all four movies Bacall and Bogie were in together are a treat to watch anytime for my money...but it's TO HAVE AND HAVE NOT and THE BIG SLEEP that have that fast paced '40s' movie dialogue a la the screwball comedies that make me laugh so hard...impeccable ...some of those lines come directly from the source material they're based on, and some are from screenwriters etc. but they way the actors put them over, especially the underlying romantic and teasing attraction in Bogie and Bacall's scenes is just delicious...