Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Radio review – Lux – “To Have and Have Not” (1946) ****

Bogie and Bacall are in terrific form, and why wouldn’t they be considering they fell in love during the original film? This is an enormously enjoyable version of Hemmingway’s novel (meant to be his worst but I’ve always liked it; some of the passages have stayed with me forever, eg the final few pages). Sure, it’s a redo of Casablanca, but at least its in a slightly unusual setting – Martinique – and you can’t knock that lead team.

There is some fun banter at the end between the stars and William Keighley, where Bogie tells Keighley to call Bacall “Betty” unless you’re angry at her, and the two stars speak of each other with great affection.

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