To Have and Have Not 1945

While dismissed by earlier critics for its morally dubious protagonists, their primarily financial motives, and its similarities to Casablanca released two years before, this wartime romance is now considered a Hollywood classic. Perhaps it shouldn’t be surprising. After all, To Have and Have Not is the only film written by two Nobel Prize winners, as of writing. And while Ernest Hemingway based it on a novel he considered his worst, the moral of doing good in spite of poverty and rationing was pretty compelling. Regardless of what caused the change in reception, it was clear that the biggest factor in making this story work for the screen is the outstanding chemistry between Humphrey Bogart and then-newcomer Lauren Bacall. It certainly was the beginning of one of Hollywood’s best known relationships.