To Have and Have Not (film) and his girl (Bacall). Critics called the film a fast, witty romance with a plot as merely "an excuse for some good scenes." "Variety" cited the film's inferiority to "Casablanca" and other Warner Bros. melodramas, but acknowledged the film's success in its characterization. "Time" called the film a, "tinny romantic melodrama which millions of cinemaddicts have been waiting forever since "Casablanca". "New York Variety" was mixed about the film citing, "nifty productional accoutrements" with "too unsteady" of a story line. Other reviewers called it, "definitely swell entertainment", while others stated it was an delightful remake of "Casablanca". American film critic
To Have and Have Not (film) written, due to changes required by the Production Code office. Faulkner had very little time in between the rebuilding of sets to continue the screenplay, therefore, each scene was written three days before it was filmed. The final cast reading was done on March 6, 1944 with final script changes finished by April 22. Line by line, Hawks and Bogart changed the script to create a more sexual and comedic film. For example, the line "It's even better when you help", was not originally in the script and was added during filming. After 62 days, filming was completed May 10,