[Lauren] Bacall was billed as the "only girl who could stand up to [Humphrey] Bogart," or something to that effect. Her character in [To Have and Have Not] is that of an adventuress, a kind of female roué, who often favors pants that hide her curves under a sleek arch toughness that hints at sex the way a bow hints at being strung.

-- From Lee Siegel's excellent recent piece in The New Republic (free registration required).