As a bonus, it has GREAT music and the special effects are quite extraordinary considering it was made in the 60s.
Posted on 02/17/2023 9:37:25 PM PST by Saije
When Warner Brothers’ movie, “Casablanca,” was released nationally on Jan. 23, 1943, to coincide with a war-time meeting of President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the same city, New York Times critic Bosley Crowther wrote that “The Warners . . . have a picture that makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap.” After 80 years, the iconic film remains a masterpiece and, in my totally subjective estimation, simply the greatest movie ever made.
I can still remember when I was in law school the Vogue Theater in St. Matthews showing “Casablanca” like it was a first-run movie. The packed house, as in earlier generations, was held spellbound by this compelling, World War II-era good-versus-evil saga with dozens of unforgettable characters with a red-hot romance as an extra “added attraction.” People around me sang out loud the soaring “Le Marseillaise,” spontaneously begun on screen by Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) to drown out the Germans’ “Die Wacht am Rhein” after the Nazis had commandeered a piano at Rick’s Café Americain. If you’re not moved by perhaps the most riveting single scene in any American film, well, you might need to go see a good cardiologist.
“Casablanca” won the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1943, along with Oscars for Best Director (Michael Curtiz) and Best Screenplay (Julius and Philip Epstein and Howard Koch). That nominees Humphrey Bogart (“Rick”) and Claude Rains (“Captain Renault”) didn’t win Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, is still shockingly unfathomable.
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like i said..if you are not moved by that scene...you are hope less..you are right, just amazing film making. Theres at least 10 more scenes that just amaze to this day...not bad for 80 years later...
Someday I suppose I should see it however.
As I said, I never saw the movie. I was just commenting on the character of brooding and grumpy men.
I’ll have to watch it some day. Not a fan of Bogart, but enjoy seeing Ingrid Bergman and her amazing beauty. She’s breathtaking — in a good way, not the Seinfeld way.
Agree!
i kinda wish i were you for this...seeing it for the first time...please watch it, it is amazing film making.
A Communist is the hero in Casablanca. The movie takes a detour to cast Rick as a communist who fought with the Soviets in Spain.
The time frame of that movie is when the left in the US was urging America’s involvement in the war because Hitler had turned on Stalin.
The unions had been supporting Stalin/Hitler by going on strike. When that alliance parted ways, the unions also supported war.
As a bonus, it has GREAT music and the special effects are quite extraordinary considering it was made in the 60s.
i actually think older movies are the greatest....ive tried at least 10 times to watch Citizen Kane...i simply cant make it thru. It makes zero sense...
Not a Francophile, necessarily, but when the Nazis are drowned out by the singing of The Marseillaise I still tear up. The editing in just that one scene is a marvel.
I definitely will.
At the theater this week they were advertising a media group that is showing old movies on the big screen. I’ll have to check into that for Casablanca.
It’s an enjoyable movie but not even in my top 20.
The Godfather and The Godfather II is the best movie.
I can't say that I was impressed with Citizen Kane...but I must admit that I wasn't giving it my full attention as t was playing.
"Here are your winnings, Captain."
"Oh, thank you."
In ten seconds the best primer on how governments and politicians operate.
If you have a 4K TV (and disc player) you’ve gotta see it in 4K.
They’re outstanding...but Goodfellas is better!
The old movie that has best stood the test of time is Dr. Strangelove.
It is as relevant today as the day it was released.
I think Citizen Kane’s reputation is based on the cinematography, which was completely beyond anything that had been seen before (fast narrow aperture lenses and bizarre camera angles). That and Orson Welles’ boy genius status of the time.
must be...because it sure wasn’t the story line....just a weird flick.
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