To Have and Have Not

To Have and Have Not ~ Okay, confession time, I've never seen this film until very recently, but I've owned it forever. When I first got a VCR (yeah, we're talking that long ago) I taped several movies from PBS that were perfectly uncut classics, this was one of them. I got a chance to watch most of them, but somehow never got around to To Have or Have Not. Later I even bought a proper VHS copy of the film, and never got around to that either, but on the most recent TCM Classic Cruise, I finally caught it on the TCM Stateroom Channel, a favorite chosen by guest programmer Raquel Welch of all people. But yeah, finally.

Set in World War II, post-fall of France St. Martinique, while we were ironically docked in St. Maarten, this classic brings Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall together in a tale of treachery and intrigue. Bogart does his usual American caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Bacall does her immortal line, You know how to whistle, don't you? Just put your lips together and blow." but there's so much else to this than that. This is where the couple's real spark and charisma sizzles, where the chemistry really heats up more than other vehicles with the two. They are gold together, on screen as much as in real life.

There are surprises, more action and violet sequences than is usual in these types of films, and it works well in the context of the day and today. Walter Brennan provides wonderful comic relief, but Hoagy Carmichael stands out to me as the best of the supporting characters, providing a terrific musical soundtrack as it happens - one of the better bits right after a shoot out in the club. Classic songs and talent, love it.

I also loved finding where Barbra Streisand calling Ryan O'Neal 'Steve' in one of my favorite movies, What's Up, Doc?, comes from. Equally fun is Bogie's equally unwanted nickname for Bacall, 'Slim.' Great stuff. This movie is a classic for a reason, and now, after far too many years, it's one of my favorites too. One of the best, see it now, don't wait like me.

Bedazzled 1967

Bedazzled ~ This Faustian tale from 1967 features the comedy duo of Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, at the time very popular on British television and film. They also wrote this film. Bedazzled was their only starring performance in a movie, although they do appear in and steal a number of other films, Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies springs to mind immediately.

Cook is the real star here as The Devil tempting Moore and doing dastardly deeds throughout the film. Quite often it's difficult to pay attention to the dialogue and plot watching and laughing at the deviltry of Cook done in the background. Moore plays Stanley Moon (an alias he would use in his own life for years afterward), a mild mannered short order cook who sells his soul for seven wishes all designed to garner the affections of a waitress he adores. Each wish is given a separate skit like vignette.

The real fun however is the verbal swordplay between Cook and Moore, and the skewering humor aimed at organized religion. One wonders how they got away with it back in the day. Raquel Welch is also fun as Lust. She is barely in the film, but as you can see by the advertising, they took full advantage of her appearance, and her popularity at the time.

It should be noted that even though it shares a title and a plot with its reputed remake in 2000 starring Brendan Fraiser and Elizabeth Hurley, it is a completely different kind of movie. So different that comparison is pointless, they are both terrific in their own way.

This Bedazzled is a wonderful time capsule of its irreverent generation in the late 1960s, and great fun. Recommended.