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
To Have and Have Not (film) well as reducing Marie's drinking in the film. He also removed scenes in which Morgan appeared to be a murderer. Other additions included Marie becoming Morgan's sole romantic interest and Helen and her husband becoming fighters for the resistance. Finally, Faulkner made the time frame for the film three days instead of the many months depicted in the novel. Hawks intended to have the screenplay be loosely modeled on "Casablanca", which also starred Humphrey Bogart, hoping for the same success "Casablanca" had met at the box office. Production began on February 29, 1944, with only thirty-six pages of the screenplay