Wow—Lauren Bacall has died, aged 89. And it’s the end of
the era of the class act.
Bacall was one of the most commanding presences you’ll
ever see on the screen. I’m frankly not all that wild about To Have and Have Not, but there’s no
question at all about her holding her own against Bogie, even with their age
difference and his screen experience. And, of course, they carried that
chemistry through The Big Sleep,
which is about as noir as you get.
But maybe my favorite Bacall film is How to Marry a Millionaire. It’s one of those movies I can watch
over and over, not least because Marilyn Monroe in glasses is a hoot and a
half. But Bacall’s Schatze, the model behind the grand strategy to marry really
big money, really runs the show.
That sultry demeanor, piercing gaze and husky voice went
with her throughout her career. She made a wildly despicable matriarch in Appointment with Death, and was a fine
Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler in the film of one of my favorite children’s books.
Look, I even sat through The Mirror Has Two Faces because of her. Even though I didn’t
believe for a New York minute that she could have produced a daughter like
Barbra Streisand.
Perhaps more than anything, Bacall was a classy broad,
and you just can’t say that about many women today, either on or off the
screen. The Beyond just got much more interesting.
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