Betty Joan was 19 when the wife of Howard Hawks, Nancy Keith (known as "Slim") saw her on the cover of Harper's Bazaar (see below). Hawks was working on an adaptation of what he considered Ernest Hemingway's worst story "To Have and Have Not" and Hemingway agreeing with him, the two worked out an adaptation story, which was hammered into shape by Jules Furthman and William Faulkner (and re-written, constantly (as was his wont) by Hawks. Bogart was attached to star and Hawks had informed him "you are probably the most insolent man on the screen and I'm going to make the girl a little more insolent than you are." Then, Nancy brought him that Bazaar cover and Betty's die, and "the girl" was cast. Hawks was known for creating strong female characters in his films, but Lauren Bacall was something else. She was the equal to her male co-star and the two acknowledged it in their performances.
And then there was Bogart. "I saw your screen test," he told her. "We're going to have a lot of fun together." In that test, Bacall was nervous and her face and voice quivered in tension. To fight it, she lowered her head, chin to chest, and cast her eyes upward. It became "The Look," what Bacall would become known for. And in the first two weeks of filming To Have and Have Not, when Bogart and Bacall did most of their scenes together, it became apparent to everyone on-set that sparks were flying between the two. So much so that Hawks (who probably had romantic designs on Bacall as well) decided to chastise her (and Bogart), but finally acknowledged that whatever was happening was electrifying his movie. Bogart was 44. She was 19. Hollywood is full of fantasy May-December romances on-screen. But "Bogey and Baby" (as they became known) stuck. There was no fantasy. They married in 1945, made four films together, had two kids, and were together until Bogart's death from cancer in 1957. For the rest of her life, she was Bogey's wife—but not his widow. "Being a widow is not a profession," she told Michael Parkinson in an interview. She dated Sinatra. She married Jason Robards—it lasted eight years.
She died last week, Betty Joan Perske Bacall Bogart Robards, born in the Bronx of two Jewish emigrees, Natalie Weinstein-Bacal (Romanian) and William Perske (Polish). She was stalwart and true. Fiery and flinty. She persevered, almost defiantly. She stood up to some of the strongest men in Hollywood, and was a game collaborator with some of the strongest actors in the town. She could be soft and a battle-axe. She lived a lifetime, of both pain and joy, in the glare of the spotlight, and made it to the age of 89.
She was magnificent.
The Set-Up: Harry Morgan (Humphrey Bogart) an independent fishing tour captain is having his independence challenged on several fronts, it being World War II and all. Not friendly with the Vichy government in Martinique, he takes a job smuggling a French resistance activist aboard his boat. The reason he's doing it is rather contrary: he's looking to book passage for an American stuck on the island, one Marie Browning, (Bacall), whom he nick-names "Slim," and for whom a serious romance is starting to catch fire. He's basically doing a job he doesn't want to do to get rid of a girl he doesn't want to get rid of.
Hmmph. Men!
The smuggling operation goes badly with the wounding of the patriot. Cutting the bullet out of his charge, Morgan stays with his "patient" and the man's wife (Dolores Moran) while he recuperates in a temporary hiding place. It is morning, and the sun has just come up on a short and troubled night.
Then Marie walks in.
Action!
Mme.de BURSAC I told them that I'd only be in the way.
HARRY Being afraid.
Mme.de BURSAC Do-
HARRY I'm no doctor, but he looks good to me.
HARRY Go ahead, say it. I'm not going to bite you.
HARRY Uh-huh.
MARIE How's your patient?
MARIE Or haven't you looked lately?
Mme.de BURSAC I will.
MARIE You're lucky.
MARIE I could use a match.
HARRY No.
MARIE Just a little breakfast.
MARIE You know Mr. Morgan, you don't make me angry when you say that.
HARRY "Mm-hmm."
MARIE No.
HARRY Later, Frenchy.
HARRY I can't do that. I got to get a shave.
FRENCHY Eddie. He's giving him drinks and asking him questions.
Words by Jules Furthman and William Faulkner
Pictures by Sidney Hickox and Howard Hawks
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| If Heaven exists, this is what I imagine it is for these two souls |
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