To Have and Have Not (film) To Have and Have Not (film) To Have and Have Not is a 1944 American romance-war-adventure film directed by Howard Hawks, loosely based on Ernest Hemingway's 1937 novel of the same name; however, the story was altered for the film. It stars Humphrey Bogart, Walter Brennan and Lauren Bacall in her film debut; it also features Dolores Moran, Hoagy Carmichael, Sheldon Leonard, Dan Seymour, and Marcel Dalio. The plot centers on the romance between a freelancing fisherman in Martinique and a beautiful American drifter which is complicated by the growing French resistance in Vichy France. Ernest Hemingway and Howard Hawks
To Have and Have Not (film) of how Morgan met Marie. Marie's character was extensively altered for the film. In May 1939, Hemingway sold book rights to Howard Hughes. Hughes sold the book rights to Hawks in October 1943, who then sold them to Warner Bros.. Because the rights to the novel bounced between sellers, Hawks made ten times more money selling the rights of the novel than Hemingway did. Hemingway reportedly refused to speak to Hawks for "three months" upon finding this out. The screenplay for "To Have and Have Not" bears little resemblance to Hemingway's novel of the same name. The only similarities include