To Have and Have Not (film) his fishing boat to tourists, along with his unofficial mate Eddie (Walter Brennan). Eddie is Harry's close friend and one time trusted co-worker, but he has of late become an alcoholic. The island is a tinder-box of dissent, harboring many people sympathetic to Free France. At his hotel home, hotel owner Gérard (Marcel Dalio) (known as "Frenchy" to English speakers) urges Harry to help the French Resistance by smuggling some people off the island. Harry steadfastly refuses, choosing to keep aloof from the current political situation. Also at the hotel, he meets Marie ("Slim") Browning (Lauren Bacall), a young American
Joan Leslie as Betsy Phillips. She was chosen for the part because the director was searching for an actress with a southern accent. She was billed as "Joan Brodel". Later that year, she co-starred with Jimmy Lydon in "Two Thoroughbreds", in which she played the daughter of a horse owner. At age 15, Leslie was selected by a group of Hollywood directors as one of 13 "baby stars of 1940." Her big break came when she signed a contract with Warner Bros. in 1941. At the time, actress Joan Blondell's name was considered too similar, and so Brodel's acting name was changed