To Have and Have Not

Northern Arizona University and the Sedona International Film Festival are partnering to present The Classics, a monthly classic film series.

NAU/SIFF Classics will be curated and hosted by School of Communication Professor Emeritus Paul Helford.

The series will continue on Thursday, Nov. 19 with “To Have and Have Not”.

Bogey met Bacall. He was 44; she was 19. Director Howard Hawks bet Ernest Hemingway he could make a great movie from the author’s worst novel. The result? A legendary screen romance, the electrifying debut of Lauren Bacall, and one of the most enduring classics of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

The story begins with a fishing trip. Filmmaker Howard Hawks reportedly boasted to pal Ernest Hemingway that he could make a movie from the novelist’s “worst book” — the “goddamned piece of junk” called “To Have and Have Not”. Hawks and Hemingway outlined the screenplay, which screenwriters Jules Furthman and William Faulkner transformed into a very different story.

The novel is set in Key West and Cuba; the film moves the action to Martinique, where Bogart’s Harry Morgan becomes involved with French Resistance fighters. Hawks discovered 19-year-old Lauren Bacall on a magazine cover. Her extraordinary chemistry with Bogart launched a legendary screen romance and lifelong marriage. With Hoagy Carmichael on piano, the film delivers wit, romance, adventure, and sheer entertainment.

Paul Helford will introduce the film, provide historical and artistic context, and lead a discussion following the movie.

A lifelong film lover Helford has taught and written about films for over 50 years. As a television station manager and award-winning producer, he produced and hosted a weekly classic TV film show. He’s taught high school and college film classes. At NAU he started the film program major in 2006 and has co-directed and co-hosted the NAU College of Arts and Letters film series since 2004.

“To Have and Have Not” will be shown at the Mary D. Fisher Theatre on Thursday, Nov. 19 at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are $12, or $9 for Film Festival members. For tickets and more information, please call 928-282-1177. Both the theatre and film festival office are located at 2030 W. Hwy. 89A, in West Sedona.