To Have and Have Not (film) in 1945 was mixed yet often unflattering. Firstly, early publicity and much of the initial reaction to the film centered around Lauren Bacall, either praising her or criticizing her part in the film as merely as a gimmick for attention from the press. Other critics found the film to be betraying Hemingway's novel due to only the first fifteen minutes of the film bearing resemblance to the novel. Finally, Americans were preoccupied with World War II and had little interest in a hero (Bogart) whom consistently rejected commitment and whose only interest in France's cause was financial, to help himself
To Have and Have Not (film) has been developing between Harry and Slim, the latter of whom feels that Harry changed his mind about the smuggling to help her out. Her suspicions are bolstered by the fact that Harry has used some of the money he earned in transporting the fugitives to buy her a plane ticket back to America. Harry picks up the de Bursacs, but his boat is seen and fired upon by a navy patrol boat. His passenger Paul de Bursac is wounded, but Harry manages to escape by turning the "Queen Conch" into a fogbank. On returning to the hotel, he learns