Establishing shot: the house of Louis Bromfield, nestled beside a lake on the author’s thousand-acre Malabar Farm, in Ohio. A chyron gives us the date: May 21, 1945. The camera dollies in, under the portico and into the front parlor, sweeping past the assembled guests to a close-up of Humphrey Bogart, a white carnation in his lapel. Smash cut: Lauren Bacall, atop the grand staircase in a dress of rose beige. Eyes of bride and groom meet. The soundtrack swells with Lohengrin’s “Wedding March” as Bacall begins her descent. Fade to title: “The Legend of Bogie and Bacall.”
Every movie fan knows the story. Bogie and his Baby fell in love on the set of To Have and Have Not, at the same moment their characters fall in love, when Slim teaches Steve how to whistle. As far as Hollywood legends go, this one is more authentic than most. But the stories don’t tell us about the tension behind the smiles that day at Malabar Farm. The tears Bacall’s mother shed weren’t from happiness. The family was horrified by the marriage of their 20-year-old pride and joy to a thrice-divorced alcoholic more than double her age.
