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How did To Have and Have Not change Ernest Hemingway's original novel?

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Howard Hawks stands at right, speaking with actors John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Ricky Nelson in cowboy costumes on the set of the western film Rio Bravo. — Howard Hawks Howard Hawks (right) directing (from left to right) John Wayne, Dean Martin, and Ricky Nelson in *Rio Bravo* (1959).

Director Howard Hawks’s 1944 film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway’s 1937 novel is considered a loose interpretation that diverges significantly from the source material.12

While the original book is noted for its existential outlook, the film adaptation largely jettisons this tone and much of the novel's original plot. Instead, Hawks shifted the focus toward a romantic adventure set in Martinique during World War II, emphasizing the "screen chemistry" between Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.21

To achieve this, Hawks utilized screenwriters William Faulkner and Jules Furthman to craft a script centered on sassy, rapid-fire romantic dialogue and double entendres, which became a hallmark of the production.12