According to Biography, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall fell in love on the set of “To Have and Have Not,” Bacall’s big-screen debut. Originally expecting to make her mark on Hollywood starring opposite the classically good-looking Cary Grant, Bacall was not immediately taken with Bogart, who was 25 years older than the 19-year-old at the time. However, the pair soon struck up a rapport, with the entire crew undoubtedly growing aware of the stars’ blossoming romance.
As movie expert Leonard Martin explained to Vanity Fair, “To Have and Have Not” is “one of these instances where it’s quite possible that we are eyewitnesses to an actor or actress falling in love, and while good actors make us believe that all the time, there has to be some extra kick when it’s real.” Per Biography, the chemistry between the stars was so visceral that the director, Howard Hawks, had the ending of the movie rewritten so that Bogart’s character, who was meant to pursue another love interest, eventually found love with Bacall’s.
In the final scene, Bacall utters the movie’s most famous line: “You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.” According to A. M. Sperber and Eric Lax biography of Humphrey Bogart, the actor later presented his new love with a gift: a bracelet decorated with golden whistle, in reference to the scene.
Bacall wore the bracelet throughout her marriage after Bogart’s death, and the love token was placed with his cremated remains in the Garden of Memory in Forest Lawn, California.
