We’ve
said this here at TotED before, but we’ll gladly say it again:
For our money, there seemed to be no genre that Hawks couldn’t tackle with the
greatest of ease, and there’s never been a more perfect romantic team than
Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, the latter becoming Mrs. Bogart in 1945, and
staying happy together until Bogart’s death in 1957. (Damn
cancer!) Admittedly, the kind of perfection I’m talking about has
nothing to do with such trifles as linear, crystal-clear plotting.
(Clarity? We don’t need no stinkin’ clarity!) The elements that made
Hawks’ best films so entertaining and unforgettable included charismatic actors
in memorable roles, whether they were big stars or character
actors; zesty direction; rapid-fire delivery, which inspired the late Robert
Altman’s directorial style; and those sleek, smart, bewitching Hawks women,
almost all of whom try to seduce the hero to one degree or another. I
know I’ve said this elsewhere, too, and I still mean it: I want to be a
Howard Hawks kind of woman when I grow up!Screenwriter Jules Furthman (from the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty; Nightmare Alley; Rio Bravo) and novelist/screenwriter William Faulkner (The Big Sleep; The Long Hot Summer; Intruder in the Dust) were no slouches in the excitement department when it came to crafting entertaining movies! Our story starts in: “Martinique in the summer of 1940, shortly after the fall of France.” Meet Harry Morgan (not to be confused with the co-star of the TV version of M*A*S*H), a rugged fisherman for hire (the ever-awesome Humphrey Bogart of The Big Sleep; Across the Pacific; All Through the Night). World War 2 is on, and Martinique is Vichy-controlled, so it’s not exactly the most carefree place in the world. War is Hell indeed! Harry and his first mate, Horatio (Sir Lancelot), charter fishing boats for tourists. Harry’s current client, Mr. Johnson (Walter Sande of Don Winslow of the Navy; The Blue Dahlia; Detective Mathews in the Boston Blackie movies), is a handful.
Johnson is an inept fisherman who blames others for his careless and expensive mistakes, as well as being a cheapskate and a whiner. Right now, he’s complaining about Harry’s longtime friend Eddie (three-time Oscar-winner Walter Brennan from Come and Get It; Kentucky; The Westerner; and the hit 1957 TV series The Real McCoys). Apparently Eddie’s cheerful blathering is getting on Johnson’s nerves—aw, poor baby, our hearts bleed for you! Hey, if Harry and Horatio can shrug off Johnson’s whiny personality—not to mention losing the rod and reel due to his ineptitude—he should be able to put up with Eddie’s gabbiness and occasional mistakes (which our hero matter-of-factly sets right). Eddie can’t help it, though, with his alcoholism:
Johnson: “I don't see
why you want that rummy around.”
Harry: “Eddie
was a good man on a boat before he got to be a rummy.”
Johnson: “Well, he's no
good now... What do you look after him for?"
Harry: “He
thinks he’s lookin’ after me.”
So since then, Harry has
taken Eddie under his wing, looking after Eddie as if he was an addled but
endearing old dad. Harry’s kindness to Eddie endeared me to him right
away. Note that even with Eddie’s issues, he’s still more capable on the
boat than bumbling "Blame Game" Johnson, who comes mighty close to
getting tossed overboard when Johnson tries to get tough with Eddie (“Are you a
good swimmer, Mr. Johnson?”)! TH&HN has terrific atmosphere, thanks to
Charles Novi’s Art Direction, Casey Roberts’ Set Decoration, and Sid Hickcox’
cinematography.
I like the AMC Website’s response
to Eddie's recurring Dada-esque question: “Was you ever bit by a dead bee...a honey bee?” It’s a perfect Rorschach-style personality character test for every character that crosses Eddie’s path. Harry, of course, understands Eddie, so they’ve long since passed the “Dead Bee” test with flying colors. If Eddie’s question triggers confusion, impatience, and/or anger from others, we know these people are, if not full-tilt villains, then at the very least, they’re not Harry’s kind of people (or ours)! “Frenchy” Gerard (Marcel Dalio from Grand Illusion; Sabrina; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), a member of the French Resistance, offers Harry big bucks to smuggle a good-guy member of the French Resistance out of the country. Being no fool, Harry sticks his head out for no one. But then along comes a woman who’s just checked in at Frenchy’s hotel: the sulky and sultry Marie Browning, played by native New Yorker and model-turned-actress Lauren Bacall in a film debut that puts the “WOW!” in the “Wow Factor”!
Although Marie seems cool, calm, and insolent, she’s actually living by her wits, starting with cozying up to the unsuspecting Johnson in the café and picking the big boob’s pocket. Granted, Johnson is getting a little too hands-on with Marie, but Harry isn’t letting her get away with it: “You ought to pick on someone to steal from who doesn’t owe me money.” Lucky for Harry, our gal Marie gains Harry’s trust when Johnson gets tripped up by his own lies about being penniless until the next day, when in fact Johnson was all set to hop a plane at dawn! But no sooner does Johnson begin to sheepishly sign his Traveler's Cheques than gunfire rings out in the café, leaving the joint in a mess and Johnson dead in the crossfire. As Harry says, “He couldn’t write any faster than he could duck. Another minute and his cheques would have been good.” Thanks to that vile Vichy gunfire, both Harry and Marie are in the soup, and we don’t just mean vichyssoise! Now the slimy Vichy Captain Reynard (Dan Seymour from Key Largo; Johnny Belinda; The Way We Were) and Lt. Coyo (Sheldon Leonard, who went from supporting roles like Another Thin Man in the movies to becoming a wildly successful TV producer) have Harry and Marie over a barrel.
Actual dialogue from the film:
“He couldn’t write any faster than he could duck.
Another minute and his chequewould have been good.”
Harry can tell that Marie’s life hasn’t been a bed of roses, unless
you count the thorns; during Reynard’s grilling, Marie takes a slap in the face
without batting an eye. She admits she’s trying to get home to the States: “I’d walk,
if it wasn’t for all that water.” In the great Hawks tradition, Harry and Marie get
closer, including cool pet names: “Steve” for Harry, and “Slim” for Marie—which were actually
Mrs. and Mrs. Howard Hawks’ pet names for each other in real life! The mating dance between “Steve” and “Slim”
is tantalizing, yet still yields Harry’s better instincts as he agrees to help
Marie get back home in exchange for smuggling Frenchy’s refugee
friends.
Well, they say that adversity brings people together in hard times, so our
heroes have no choice but to help Frenchy and his Resistance allies, and help
Marie in the bargain.
Actual dialogue from the film:
“He couldn’t write any faster than he could duck.
Another minute and his chequewould have been good.”
 | |||
| Cricket and Slim make beautiful music together at the café! |
 |
| Two’s company and a gaggle
of Resistance Fighters is a crowd when "Slim" and "Steve" are interrupted's by Frenchy and his Resistance pals! |
Will
the lovely and well-meaning but maddeningly
overprotective Hellene deBursac turn out to
be Hell on wheels?
 |
“Harry, you was ‘fraid I’d get hurt. You was thinkin’ of
me!”
"That’s right, Eddie, this is all about you. Now
let me steer before we crash into a luxury liner or Nazis, will ya?!" |
Mme.
de Bursac goofs and ends up knocking herself out with Harry’s chloroform.
Thank goodness, we thought that dame would never shut up!
Thank goodness, we thought that dame would never shut up!
Now scram, toots, and let “Steve” and me catch up on our nookie!
Bacall wasn’t the only one making a film debut in TH&HN; so was Oscar-winning singer/songwriter Hoagy Carmichael (for Here Comes the Groom; Starlight; Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), playing piano man Cricket at the café. In fact, the catchy background music at the café makes me wonder if anyone considered making this a Broadway musical. I’d see it if I had the dough!
Whether Bogart and Bacall are being playful
or serious onscreen (or offscreen, for that matter), the sparks between them
are hotter than July 4th fireworks—and nobody even had to get
naked, at least onscreen!
