1h 40min || 11 October 1944
Director: Howard Hawks
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Walter Brennan, Marcel Dalio
Genres: Adventure | Comedy | Romance | Thriller | War
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037382/
The first of 4 pairings of Bogie and Bacall. Their chemistry is the whole point of this film. Audiences are voyeurs, and we're peeping the beginning of their love story. Great stuff.
The synopsis makes this sound like Casablanca 2, which it's not. For understanding resistance fighters, see that film. This one is a self-proclaimed coward, as is his wife. It's very unclear what value they have to whatever fight there was in the Caribbean, where Vichy France governed Martinique.
Walter Brennan is delightful as the drunk who really needs a regular nip to ward of the DTs. But he is thoroughly loyal to HB, and makes it clear to us that HB has a soft spot for someone even before he falls for LB.
I've been fascinated by Marcel Dalio for a long time. His role in Jean Renoir's The Rules of the Game ('39) was so large and deep; also in The Grand Illusion ('37). Then he had to flee France, and his American career was all small parts which he always executed well. This one is larger than most, and I'm always happy to see him.
The songs are terrific too. We get 4 written and performed by Hoagy Carmichael, who plays piano in the bar, plus a bit of Limehouse Blues (one of my faves). The catchiest of HC's tunes is How Little We Know. I hope it doesn't linger in my head too long.
Warner, dir. Hawks; 8
