Was you ever bit by a dead bee?

I thought this would be the best movie to kick off our Classic Movie Monoblogue.

What movie, you ask? No, you didn't ask that, because you LOVE old movies. (just play along if you don't recognize it, I'll cover for you)

To Have and Have Not, of course! Humphrey Bogart: confident, cocky, just the right side of rude... Lauren Bacall: elegant and sassy onscreen, the perfect mix of vulnerable and defiant. Now that was acting.

Obviously, I love that movie. In fact, I think it was one of the first movies we ever watched together...but maybe I just want to remember things that way.

Talk about an all-star cast! I didn't realize that Hoagy Carmichael was in it until Jim pointed it out to me. Walter Brennan as Eddie is amazing. I always laugh at his antics, even though it's obvious that Bogart can't decide whether to laugh or cry most of the time. Sheldon Leonard is always a treat for classic movie lovers like me. Oh, and we couldn't possibly forget the suitably sleazy Dan Seymour as Captain Renard. I always ask where I remember him from--every single movie. What's funny about that is that he plays a similar character in most of the Hemingway movies. But he does it so well that it's new to me each time.

Still, that's enough gushing. There are things to criticize. I pick at the details, to distraction, in fact. It's not that I can't willingly suspend belief. The problem is, some things just have to be said. It's not my fault!

Jim mentioned right away that the story deviates from Hemingway's masterpiece, but not in such a way that it took away from the film. I, on the other hand, couldn't help but notice that the police were oddly selective about whom they interviewed and what they asked. That' didn't take me out of the story, but still, they didn't even ask Slim for her money. And wasn't she a little quick--and out of character--to turn domestic suddenly after that impromptu surgery? Not to mention the surprise search of Bogie's hotel room. They just accepted that Slim was the only person hiding there?

Well, I won't go on, because although there were gaps in likely logic, (digging a bullet out of a guy's shoulder and putting him on a boat the next day?) it was a helluva movie either way. And I enjoy finding the plot holes, even the tiny ones...almost as much as Jim likes reciting the quotes.

But anyway, there's my opinion of the classic movie To Have and Have Not

It's a keeper!