Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall were Hollywood’s H๏τtest couple in their day, and they even named their son after one of their most famous movies, To Have and Have Not. The duo of Bogart and Bacall made four movies together in total, although the tabloids were just as interested in their life together off-screen. The fact that their careers and personal lives were so completely intertwined is part of what makes their on-screen chemistry so infectious. It also explains why they were tempted to take their work home with them when naming their son.
Bogart and Bacall famously met on the set of To Have and Have Not. He was an established star at the time, having made hits like Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon in the few years prior. Bacall, on the other hand, was making her film debut, having been scouted by Howard Hawks after modeling on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar. After a successful screen test, Hawks had sufficient confidence in her talents as an actor to cast her as Bogart’s love interest. Little did he know that the co-stars would be married within two years.
Humphrey Bogart & Lauren Bacall Named Their Son After Bogart’s Character In To Have & Have Not
Stephen Humphrey Bogart Was Named After His Father’s Character
Bogart was unhappily married to Mayo Methot while shooting To Have and Have Not, but this didn’t stop him from engaging in an affair with Bacall within a few weeks. As their chemistry took over the film, the script was revised several times to beef up her part and gives the new couple more scenes together. Bogart filed for divorce from Methot in early 1945, and he married Bacall just three months later. While they continued making movies together, Bacall gave birth to their first child in 1949. He was named Stephen, which is the nickname Bacall’s character gives Bogart’s in To Have and Have Not.
There’s no real reason given as to why she calls him Steve, but this was what Howard Hawks’ wife called him, so it made its way into the movie.
Bogart’s character in To Have and Have Not is called Harry Morgan, but Bacall’s Marie Browning calls him Steve. There’s no real reason given as to why she calls him Steve, but this was what Howard Hawks’ wife called him, so it made its way into the movie. Of course, Marie Browning is known as “Slim“, which was Hawks’ affectionate name for his wife in return. In 1952, Bogart and Bacall named their daughter Leslie Howard Bogart, after Bogart’s friend and co-star from The Petrified Forest, Leslie Howard.
To Have & Have Not Is Still The Best Example Of Bogart & Bacall’s Onscreen Chemistry
Bogart And Bacall’s Chemistry Was Instant
Despite the fact that they had never had a screen test together, let alone made a movie with one another before, Bogart and Bacall are enthralling together in To Have and Have Not. Each of their scenes is loaded with intense dynamism, even if their characters are simply talking with one another to pᴀss the time. When Bacall first enters and asks Bogart for a match, it’s as if the perfect metaphor for their on-screen relationship materializes in an instant. Indeed, they create a spark together that morphs into an inferno that consumes the entire film.
In Bogart’s first long look at Bacall or her cheeky glance up at him as they leave the bar once and for all, it’s easy to believe that the film is capturing the genuine reactions of two actors falling in love at that very moment. To what extent this is true is up for debate, but the power of these scenes and many others is undeniable. To Have and Have Not is a war story about resistance to fascism, but the romantic subplot frequently dwarfs the main thrust of the narrative. It’s often more engaging to watch Bogart and Bacall pᴀss the same bottle of wine back and forth as it is to see the dramatic shootout at sea.
To Have and Have Not is one of Humphrey Bogart’s best movies, but it isn’t the only classic he made with Lauren Bacall. The other common contender for the тιтle of their greatest collaboration is 1946’s The Big Sleep, a stylish detective story with too many twists and turns for any reasonable person to keep track of. What it lacks in narrative coherence, it more than makes up for with sharp dialogue and swagger, as Bogart and Bacall trade verbal jabs like two prizefighters. It’s unlike To Have and Have Not in a few important ways, but their absorbing dynamic is the same.
