Casablanca was literally made when America was on the verge of entering WWII or had just entered? So it's important to watch the movie in that context, the context Americans had when they went to see the movie. BTW another Bogart classic is "The Maltese Falcon". Ironically it has many of the same cast members in it and was Directed by the same Great Director, John Huston. These types of films are called Film-noire. I think it had something to do with French filmmaking at the time?
You need to watch it about 10 times. There’s so much going on. So much subtlety with the characters and love triangle After the 10 time you’ll be hooked. You can watch this movie 100 times. It only ever gets better
Ms. Bergman, who hailed from Sweden, was infused from birth with the glowing radiance imparted to all who are born in "the land of the midnight sun"! Actually, I think Hollywood lighting technicians and make-up artists had much to do with her incomparable complexion.
@@user-mg5mv2tn8q The US entered the war december 1941 and the movie was filmed in the summer of 1942 and released in 1943. So it was produced after the US had already entered the war. What did happen before the US entered WW2 was the completion of the stage play that the movie is based on "Everybody Comes to Rick's" (1940) which was never performed.
@@kenbattor6350 when the movie was filming was wrapping up, Operation Torch had begun and while some factions amongst the French sided with US & Britain, French fascist were with Germany. No one knew how it was going to go which was why the end of the movie was so suspenseful. It was unfolding as they were filming. Eventually a temporary alliance was formed between French nationalists, De Gaulls faction who wanted him as dictator, the pro democracy liberals, and the French Communists vs the French fascists.
The script is one of the "tightest" ever written. Every moment, every utterance furthered the story. That's the mark of incredible writing. Moreover, the leads (Bogart and Bergman) were fantastic along with all of the terrific supporting character actors.
What I love most about it is the economy of the story telling. Everyone you see in the crowd has a story and you will see them all. Not one frame is wasted. Pure cinema alchemy.
Every line of dialogue spoken by the leads or the character actors either advances the plot or, by unspoken sub-text, tells you something about inner feelings or motives. Sometimes both. No throw-away or filler lines.
Contrast this against modern CGI trash. No comparison at all. This script contained a story carried forward by dialogue, now we get "Look at that thing happening!" I am happy to see younger people understanding this. Go support your local stage actors. You can see something real, a shared experience.
@@AldWitch Meaning, "if I cheat on my husband and sleep with him, will he keep his word?" I watched the movie many times before that thought hit me. Am I correct?
Here is a blurb to help today’s younger viewers better understand this movie: “Casablanca is in French Morocco. When France surrendered in WW2, it was divided in half. The Northern half under the direct control of the Germans the other half "nominally" independent under the French in Vichy. French Morocco was also under the control of the Vichy government and thus was technically independent so that the Germans had to operate with French consent. It was all a formality, of course, as the French consent was usually rubber stamped.” As for the timing of this movie, Germany had quickly defeated France and on June 14, 1940, the German troops entered and occupied Paris. This movie Casablanca is set a year and a half later on December 1, 1941. This was a week before America is attacked at Pearl Harbo and entered the war against Japan and Germany. I first saw this during WW2 and believe the reason that it became such an instant classic was that the theme and story truly hit a nerve with the audience members back then. Everyone there identified with the story because, in 1942, the war in Europe and the Pacific was going full blast with the outcome of both was still in doubt. Suddenly husbands and wives, young men and their lovers were being forcibly separated by the war and the draft. If your immediate family was not affected, then many of your neighbors had people either at war, killed or wounded.
An element of this film that made it so suspenseful, was the love triangle between Rick, Ilsa and Victor. Normally in a Hollywood movie two of the people, the leading man and the girl, are obviously meant to end up together. The third character is always shown with some flaw or attitude that makes them an unsuitable mate. In Casablanca, all three leading characters are shown to be equally heroic and desirable choices. Thus making it more difficult for the theater audience to decide who should end up flying off together and who should be the one left behind. Writing a suitable script ending that would satisfy both the Hays Office (the U.S. film studio Self-censorship Organization) and the theater audience must have been very difficult. Cortiz got an Oscar for directing this picture. The flowing movement of the Camera, with its closeups and tracking, and the constant motion of the Actors are like a carefully rehearsed Ballet. Notice how the Actors, the movie Extras and the Camera are always moving around and how the scenes smoothly flow from one event to another with few cuts and fadeouts.
Watch how the movie literally starts with a ‘Bang’ and the Camera keeps you glued to the screen leading up to the Flashback with Rick and Ilsa. The first 10 or 15 minutes seems like one long shot. It is rarely mentioned, but the Editing of the movie was excellent. In 1942, this movie was well received by the Black Community. It was praised by being one of the first films that portrayed a black man, not as a stereotype, but as an important character in the story.
Fantastic. I'm old enough that my grandparents explained the politics to me in person. I'm glad you mentioned the black community's reaction. I'm from the Southern US and "..I don't buy and sell human beings.." must have been a very powerful line down here in 1942! Still was when I saw the movie in the 1970s. Helped me start questioning my community's stance on black people. Well..that line - and Nichelle Nichols. Lots of Nichelle Nichols. 😉
There are a few things the audience in 1942 would've known, but which only historians are aware of today. In 1935, a coalition of socialists and pro-democracy liberals won an election against royalists and nationalists, in Spain. The right-wingers responded with an attempted coup that failed, but then they began to draw funding and military advisors from the Third Reich and launched a Civil War in 1936. The pro-democracy side were called "Loyalists," because they were loyal to the lawfully elected government, while the right-wingers were known as "Nationalists." The Loyalists side counted among its supporters most of Spain's most well-known artists and academics, including Pablo Picasso. Hitler's Germany supported the Nationalist insurrection, to the extent of sending in "military advisors" to fight on their behalf. In addition to the ideological similarity between the two, the Spanish Civil War also gave Germany the opportunity to try out its innovative and deadly "blitzkrieg" combined arms military doctrine in an actual violent conflict. The results of the blitzkrieg proved so utterly horrifying that people in Europe struggled to wrap their heads around it. Picasso's massive (and legendary) painting, "Guernica" captures the horror that occurred in that town in northern Spain, when the Nationalists attacked it with the help of German "advisors" who had taught them blitzkrieg tactics, by then. The other main event that came up during the discussion of Rick's past was the war in Ethiopia, which took place from 1936-41. That took place between Italy, then led by Benito Mussolini (the man who created the political ideology called "Fascism") and the Ethiopians led by Haile Selassie. The Ethiopians fought bravely and tenaciously, but Italy's technological advantage (they had artillery but the Ethiopians did not) won the war and created from Ethiopian territory the Colony of Italian East Africa. So, when Louis notes that Rick ran guns to the "Loyalists" in Spain, and had fought in Ethiopia, and that "the winning sides" would have paid Rick more, the audience in 1942 would know he had been fighting Fascists for *years* , as of 1942 -- but that something had happen to turn this idealist into a selfish, jaded shadow of the man Rick used to be. By the end of the film, Rick had found himself, again.
@@NigelIncubatorJones 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Your wonderful answer made me laugh for no less than 15 seconds non-stop! I never would have gone that direction. I always felt it meant, "he's more intense." I think you nailed it. Thanks!
Actually, it was his leading role in "High Sierra" in 1941 that made Bogart a star. Then later in 1941 "The Maltese Falcon" made Bogart a top star. And then "Casablanca " in 1942 made him one of Hollywood's greatest stars. It was the series of those 3 movies within a short period that lifted Bogart from supporting actor (which he had been for several years) into one of Hollywood's biggest superstars.
It is the perfect illustration of baldfaced hypocrisy that even quietly acknowledges its own contradiction. Particularly in a governmental or elected official.
7:16 A piece of information crucial to understanding Rick that Renault drops here is that before WW2 Rick ran guns for the Republican side in the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War, and for Ethiopia in the 1935-37 invasion of Ethiopia by Fascist Italy. Audiences in the 40s would understand that meant Rick was an early fighter against Fascism. That's why in Paris he says he's on the Nazi's 'wanted' lists. Rick was an idealist who was working for freedom and democracy until he was dumped by Ilsa. Then in Casablanca she helped him recover his idealism and join the fight again.
Bingo! Rick had a long history of fighting fascists..he was just as tired as any other 'refugee' when he ended up in Casablanca (especially after Paris). I still claim that this film is as much about personal redemption as it is about the war.
And that dialogue (above) relates directly to a "sleeping zinger line" that's delivered, to Rick, by Victor Laszlo, just before V.L. boards the Lisbon plane very near the film's end: "WELCOME BACK TO THE FIGHT! This time, I know our side will win!!" WHAT A TEAM!!!
At least 3 generations were connected to this movie due to WWII. My maternal grandparents lost their only son (a B-26 bomber pilot), my mother lost her older brother, & I lost my only uncle before I was even born. My uncle had flown his required number of missions over Europe (a rare feat in it's self) & was grounded. He had fallen in love & when his crew shipped back to the US, he stayed in England to get married. He was on his honeymoon waiting for papers so that he & his bride could return to Texas. Little did he know that D-Day was a go. He was called back into service & given a new plane & crew. He was shot down over Paris. He bailed out but his fleece lined flight jacket caught fire. He was admitted to a French hospital under German control. When the Germans pulled out of Paris, they took all of the medications with them & left the patients. The French did all that they could but on the very day that the allies entered Paris he died. The French buried him in a private cemetery. My mother had connections & managed to locate his body & have it shipped home. This is but one story of thousands brought back to mind by this beautiful movie. Thanks for the memory!
Quite a tragic story. Thanks for sharing. War brings tragedy to all. My great uncle went down on The Hood years before I was born. Apparently it wasn't even shipshape for combat but the Royal Navy was keen to throw everything they had at the mighty Bismarck. As you said, thousands of other baby-boomers have stories like this and worse. Good luck to you sir.
I enlisted & served in Viet. during the Tet Offensive. I was sent from Viet. to S. Korea as a response to the hi-jacking of the USS Pueblo & then back to Viet. I felt that it was a matter of family pride for my Uncle's sacrifice. @@lifelover515
Saw it for the first time years ago and never get tired of rewatching in. The dialogue is masterful. There are many well remembered lines: "here's looking at you, kid", "Louis, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", "Gather up the usual suspects". "I'm shocked, shocked that there's gambling going on here" followed by Louis receiving his winnings. These became famous catchphrases for many generations.
Seen Casablanca many times and I'm not ashamed to say when Ingrid Bergman came on the screen I started crying like a baby! Lighting or not, that face was, is, and will always be perfection. And the dialogue, my God the dialogue! Not one ounce of fat! The whole movie is just timeless perfection! 🙏 ✌ ❤ 🎥
One of the greatest screenplays ever. Almost every line is important in one way or another -- either characterization or moving the plot -- they just don't make 'em like this anymore.
I've watched Casablanca countless times. I love it every time. There is so much depth to it, you never grow tired of it. And Ingrid Bergman is indeed beautiful. I rate it amongst the top three English language movies ever made.
Something I always like to point out to reactors: Yvonne is something of an opportunist. Once it's over between she and Rick, she takes up with one of the Germans. As a Frenchwoman, this marks her as a collaborator, the absolute worst of the worst. _Everyone_ would detest her. Indeed, it's what causes the minor fight that Rick breaks up. In French, the policeman angrily tells Yvonne that she's not French for taking up with the German. The German understands French and takes offense. At the end, the French officer spits out (in French): "Dirty Boche. Someday we'll have our revenge!" "Boche" is a pejorative, about the same as "Kraut." Yvonne is aware that he's probably talking about her as much as the German. When the Germans begin singing together, there's a shot where Yvonne can be seen starting to feel bad about her situation. When Lazlo gets the band to play "La Marseilles," Yvonne flips. In fact, the camera focuses on her at a very specific moment in the song. The lyric she's singing translates to "They're coming right into our arms" (referring to the enemy). It's at that point that Yvonne realizes that bringing the enemy right into her arms is precisely what she's doing, and she begins to weep in shame. At the end, there's a shot of her shouting, "Vive la France!" indicating her change of heart, returning to a French loyalist. It's a small character arc for a near-background character. You only know the depth of it if you're both knowledgeable of the political situatuon and speak French. As a Francophile, I'm both. However, it's a detail that shows just how much care was taken with _Casablanca_ . It didn't need to be in the film at all, but they took the time to include it. And a bit of trivia: the actress who played Yvonne, Madeleine Lebeau, was the last cast member of _Casablanca_ to transition to Valhalla.
Thanks very much for pointing out these details. They do indeed help me, a non-French speaker, appreciate (for the first time) the details of Yvonne's situation, which had been hidden from me, during all these years. ...I haven't felt this warmly towards a French speaker, since I read (maybe a year or two back) that French audiences were actually delighted with John Cleese's portrayal of the French taunter in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.' :)
@tranya327 you're most welcome. I'm an American but learned French in gradeschool. I'm also 59 and first saw _Casablanca_ when I was 19 years old, so I've had 40 years to pick out details. There are more besides just Yvonne. I also first saw it projected on a small movie screen in the basement of a church, in chairs arranged in rows, with free popcorn and Coke. A church on my university campus would attempt to attract people by showing classic films on Friday and Saturday nights at no cost. It mostly attracted people like myself and a group of friends who liked classic films and somehow convinced our girlfriends to go. _Casablanca_ , _The Maltese Falcon_ , _The Big Sleep_ , _The African Queen_ , half the movies Bogart and John Wayne ever made .... I got to see them on a screen, with a small audience of film buffs. I will never regret being born Gen-X. We were the last to see these films as an audience. I think the only reason I could convince the girls I dated to go was because classic films provided men with an endless list of great compliments: "I was told that you were the most beautiful woman to ever study at this university. I see that was a gross understatement." Gen-X girls who hadn't seen _Casablanca_ never stood a chance. In point of fact, the one girl I really remember was too young to drink, so we couldn't go dancing at traditional clubs. In any case, neither of us was really into loud house music for its own sake, nor getting hammered just because we could. Instead, we sought out a few small clubs that were far more like where you see Rick and Ilsa dancing in Paris. They were mostly frequented by people our grandparents' age (the Silent Generation) and would overlook our age because it was obvious whom not to serve alcohol. Cops never dropped by to check anyone's ID because why waste the manpower at such a place? It gave us a chance to go slow dancing in an environment where the older people really liked to see us. They thought of us as themselves when they were our age, and it gave them the warm fuzzies. We were throwbacks, and I sometimes consider her "the one that got away." 💘
@@SYLTales So your story is about 40 years ago, which puts it around 1984. Sounds like a wonderful time, and it aligns with my memories as a child as a wondrous time, growing up in the 80's and 90's. And how wonderful you got to experience classic films in a small makeshift theater, and before the advent of social media, dating apps, etc.
@@tranya327 She redeems herself with the singing of the Marsellaise and "Vive la France." The actress had actually fled France after the Germans occupied Paris. That scene of singing the French anthem was the first time she had heard it since laeving; those were real tears.
There are so many layers of subtext in this film that you have to work to keep up. The audience in the cafe was filled with European refugees, people who had been top actors in their own countries and fled from the Nazis. Their joining in "La Marseillaise", virtually spitting it back in the Nazis' faces to overcome "The Watch on the Rhine", was based on real emotion and energy. This leaves aside one of the most famous meta-statements of the film, that the movie takes place over a specific three days in history (not counting the Paris flashbacks), and the timing is deliberate.
I think you're giving Laszlo too much credit here. Otherwise what you're saying is Laszlo was thinking "I know you're lying and that my wife is only with me out of a sense of admiration and duty to the point she is foreclosing on her only true love, you"
@@BlueSparkshine”I understand” that my wife loves us both, and you love her. These are crazy and unfortunate times. Things happen. I don’t blame you or her. Welcome back to the fight.
I live in Britain and a number of years ago there was a showing of the Casablanca movie at the London Opera Theatre with the full theatre orchestra playing the musical backing (while the spoken word track was inclusive -so in some way the two were separated). It was amazing to experience it LIVE. Even the sounds of the dance band that was playing a latin rumba numba number when Rick and Ilsa were out dancing in Paris was duplicated to exactness sounding exactly like the Xavier Cugat orchestra in 1940 . I have the DVD of Casablanca and know the track fairly well so was familiar with the movie so to hear it done LIVE like this was a work of art! I think the Arts Council might do this sort of thing with movies now and then.
I think the central idea of this film is about two people overcoming their more basic desires for something greater than themselves. Which is why I think it is such a powerful story.
Two things of note: 1. The French in the cafe singing their national anthem were refugees from the war, as were the German actors. 2. When Rick says "I'll bet they are sleeping all over America." The date is December 6, 1941. Also, it's my belief that if you don't watch black and white films, you're missing half or more of the best films ever made. These people didn't have digital effects to save them. They used good writing and acting. They didn't use that much color back then so they had to know their stuff like the use of light and shadow to set a mood.
One point we sadly are afflicted with in modern films is that CGI ages far more quickly than B&W Debates - take a look at the STAR WARS' "touchups" and additions that were done so quickly on that film. And looking at wonderful JURASSIC PARK, the brontosaurus 'gray out' fades have always looked phony... for all their realism, CGI also encompassed the necessary gloss-overs. I almost prefer Hitchcock's so-fakey-they're-fun car-interior scenes, and his productions' back-drop mattes.
There is a beauty in black and white that makes it a valid art form in its own right: like pen and ink drawing or marble statues. The play of light and shade is the medium and Michael Curtiz was a master.
@ C. Yea. the ' drunk lady ' Yvonne and the Casino boss were in real life married , and refugees that went thru Lisbon - a point in the flick. the young 'Bulgarian Lady' trying to get aid from rick mid film - the Daughter of the Warners studio boss. ' Daddy, I want to be in a movie ....
On black and white movies... I would add that there were plenty of... forgettable flicks produced in the era. They've been forgotten. And / or physically destroyed due to mishandling or simple aging of the media on which they were recorded. Its some of the beloved classics that survive. With good reason - they were noteworthy pieces of art that compelled those with the means to maintain copies in to future generations. Art can be made with many tools and media. And the medium tends to inform the art created. The masters really understood the silver canvas and took care in playing with light. That shows abundantly in this flick. Not only the depth of shadow and soft glow of light cast about. But even when a character enters the scene as a shadow before stepping in front of the camera directly. Again - the silver screen didn't demand good film making. There were plenty of dross crafted to get butts in theater seats all over the world. But we generally won't see those. Just as special effects and other technologies allow for a whole new box of tools for film making - neither guaranteeing greatness nor damning a film to forgettable mediocrity. Technology has allowed some stories to be told that couldn't be in previous eras. Just as older films like Casablanca are ruined when dipped in a color palette - even as good a job as colorization attempts have been.
I think the date is Dec. 2...somebody saw it on the OK check that intros Rick. That would mean that his decision to get back in the fight was made before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The captain was not with Rick until he decided to cover for Rick after he shot the Nazi: "Round up the usual suspects." Brilliant. But all the dialogue is brilliant.
Yes, at the beginning Renault says something like he tries to be flexible to keep the peace, so he isn't against law breaking provided it's not disruptive. He liked Rick more than the German...
Keep in mind, also, that this film was in the theaters right in the middle of WW2. In fact, the film was released on November 26, 1942, just a couple weeks after US forces attacked in North Africa including at Casablanca. It was called Operation Torch, and the landings near Casablanca took place on November 8, 1942.
I've watched this film many dozens of times over the decades. One interesting phenomenon encountered on rewatch is the surprising number of times the Bulgarians are established before they interact with Rick.
You know it’s an amazing script when the final scene has at least five famous lines that literally everyone knows, even if they might not know where those lines are from.
‘Casablanca’ is renowned and is justly acknowledged as one of the most romantic films of all time but it is much more than the tale of a love triangle. Of course, it shows that the power of love can affect the human psyche, as demonstrated by Rick’s metamorphosis, but, actually, the film is one of the most subtle pieces of propaganda ever made. Made in the bleakest times of WW2, this film has so many levels to it that it takes many viewings to appreciate them. The main theme is not romance but self-sacrifice as its message to the world at war is to give up the personal agenda for the common cause. It reminds wartime audiences, many of whom have loved ones fighting abroad, that their situation is the same as that of Rick, Ilsa and Victor. Rick’s initial selfishness, (‘I stick my neck out for nobody’ and ‘the problems of the world are not in my department…’), is a metaphor for USA indifference. It must be remembered that the events and politics are harder to comprehend and put into perspective for current audiences than for those living through WW2, not knowing who the victors would be. The script can be considered as a 'State of the Union' address, both for home and foreign policies, in which there are references to Civil Rights, as embodied in Sam and, of course, the debate about America’s involvement in the conflict. Basically, the film is politically motivated because it is a plea to America to join the war. Please note that the action takes place in pre-Pearl Harbour, December, 1941. The screenplay is so intelligently written. It is a masterpiece of complexity, containing subliminal political opinions and messages all carried along on a thrilling plot with brilliant one-liners and memorable quotes, together with comedic elements and contemporary, social commentaries. Even the support actors make major contributions to the enjoyment. There are also many ‘adult’ themes which escaped the censors: one example is the scene between Rick and the Bulgarian bride which suggests Renault was willing to be involved in underage sex/ménage a trois. Another is Rick’s and Ilsa’s last tryst in which it is clearly implied that they have made love. Michael Curtiz’s direction is multi-faceted: Documentary, Film Noir, German Expressionism, Flashback etc. He is the master of creating the plot via seamlessly connecting a series of rapid-fire vignettes. There is subtle direction and cinematography. For example, Ilsa wears black and white clothes and is cast in shadows and in a mirror which symbolise the ambiguity of her role. POINTS OF INTEREST AND NOTES FOR SUBSEQUENT VIEWINGS. This is the the first non-musical movie to use music almost as an another protagonist, (which Tarantino does now). For example, ‘As Time Goes By’ is a valuable recurring theme and, in Paris, Rick and Ilsa dance to ‘Perfidia’ which means untrustworthiness. Also, ‘Love for Sale’ is played during the dialogue when the Bulgarian girl tells Rick about her ‘offer’ from Renault. Each character represents a country e.g. Two Japanese plotting; the Italian on the tail of the German; American indifference; French collaborators; the British robbed by foreign policy. Even the Balkan problem , (still ongoing), is mentioned via the Bulgarian couple. Quite evidently, Rick’s actions symbolise the USA in its change in policy from isolationism to participation and ‘….the beginning of a beautiful friendship…’ is the USA and Europe joining forces to fight Nazism. The significance of Letters of Transit is a metaphor for the might of America’s power and resources and must be delivered to the right side. Victor often tells Isla that he loves her but she never reciprocates, except for saying ‘ I know’. She tells Rick she loves him several times. The ‘La Marseillaise’ scene is the pivotal moment in which both Ilsa and Rick realise that saving Victor is more important than their own personal relationship. It also comes in just as Rick and Victor are about to argue over Ilsa but both drop the issue when they hear the music. This scene is rousing now but imagine how it must have felt for audiences right in the middle of the war when Germany seemed invincible and modern viewers need to put it in perspective in terms of world events full of Nazi and Japanese domination and when the outcome looked very bleak. The facial close-ups used throughout the film speak a thousand words: but particularly note Ilsa during ‘La Marseillaise’ when her expressions eventually show her admiration of Victor’s power and her realisation that this must be preserved at all costs. POINTS TO WATCH ‘It’s December, 1941 in Casablanca: what time is it in New York?... I bet they are asleep all over America’. PEARL HARBOUR ‘Even Nazis can’t kill that fast’ CONCENTRATION CAMPS ‘I don’t buy or sell human beings..’ CIVIL RIGHTS In any case... there is so much alcohol!!!! On this note, please watch out for glasses knocked over and glasses set upright… The Bulgarian couple keeps appearing many times as a symbol of hope and determination. In the bar room fight over Yvonne, Rick attacks the German only and not the Frenchman. Captain Renault dumps the bottle of Vichy water to represent his rejection of the Nazi- collaborating French Government which was located in Vichy. Just one example of the excellent and complex scriptwriting occurs immediately after the roulette scene. The girl thanks Rick for letting her husband win and Rick replies, ‘He’s just a lucky guy’, which, on the face of it, refers to the gambling, but, in Rick’s mind, means that the husband is ‘lucky’ because his partner truly loves him. Please imagine what hope the dialogue must have projected when Ilsa states that she’ll wear the blue dress again when Paris is liberated. Nobody then knew when this would be. The quotes from the film are now embedded in popular culture and are mostly said by Rick. However, Captain Renault has some of the best lines: e.g. when asking Rick why he had to leave America, he says, ‘I’d like to think you killed a man: it’s the romantic in me’ ; a gunshot to his heart would be his ‘..least vulnerable part..’; when told where the Letters of Transit were hidden in the piano, ‘’…it’s my fault for not being musical…’: on making the bet with Rick, …’make it 10,000 - I’m only a poor corrupt official…’ The end-product is a combination of superb screenwriting/ direction/acting and every other production aspect combined with a modicum of unpredictable luck. As I’ve said, ‘Casablanca’ requires multiple viewings and gets better with age and even its theme song, ‘As Time Goes By’ serendipitously reflects this!!
I was a kid in the 70s, and it's true-- people smoked everywhere: hospitals, airplanes, theaters, cars, eateries, you name it. I think the only exception was the classroom, but the teachers puffed in their lounge.
Even more true in the 50s and 60s when I was a kid, before people really started trying to quit. Pretty much anywhere people gathered there would be a layer of blue cigarette smoke and overflowing ashtrays.
High Schools in the '70s and "80s often had smoking areas for students, too. Then came the War on Smoking, in which Big Pharma, jealous of the billions Big Tobacco was raking in, colluded with the government to demonize smoking, making it out to be responsible for everything from hangnails to demonic possession. People started becoming convinced that tobacco was an evil and shameful thing, and those of us still smoking were relegated to back alleys getting rained on and assaulted by bums. Within a decade or so, the Tobacco industry was paying big money to the government, and Big Pharma was making a killing selling stop smoking aids. Their little plan had worked. When everyone has quit smoking and no one is buying stop smoking aids anymore, Big Pharma will probably find a back door into the tobacco business.
@@seanmcmurphy4744 My dad was a smoker, but he was a doctor who didn't smoke at home. I knew he was a smoker because of the ashtrays in his car and his (doctor's) office. I caught him smoking only once in my life, when I came into a ski lodge after finishing a run. He was smoking and drinking hot coffee.
One of the many amazing things about this film is that according to the writers, the script was being written as they were already filming. No one knew how it was going to end until days before shooting was supposed to end.
One of the top films of all time. It's pacing even keeps up with modern films. Its wit and style contained in its framing and dialogue outshines most modern movies. It was conceived, written, and its production started prior to the US entering WW2 so that if you pay attention you can see it is a film supporting the US becoming involved actively in the war. Rick is emblematic of America - after WW1 there was a strong sentiment not become involved in anymore European wars. Much like Rick, America was isolationist prior to Pearl Harbor. Rick even says, “I bet they’re asleep in New York. I bet they’re asleep all over America…” The underlying subtext being that America needs to wake up to the dangers of the Nazis and become active in the war, just like Rick has to overcome his personal hurt and stand up and do the right thing like Laszlo tells him at the bar before he is arrested after the underground meeting. Even Capt. Renault has his own awakening deciding to help Rick and fight the Nazis after Rick shoots the Nazi Major Strasser, which is emphasized by his throwing the bottle of Vichy water in the trash - symbolic of his leaving his Vichy policeman job (Vichy being the German puppet government put in place after the Germans defeated France). A wonderful movie with wonderful actors.
Captain Reynaud wasn't in on Rick's plot. He was still ready to arrest Laszlo -- thus his phone call to Major Strasser, to "betray" Rick. When he said, "This isn't going to be very pleasant for either of us, especially for you," Reynaud meant he was going to pay the price for allowing Laszlo to escape -- while Rick would be arrested and shot. It was this that finally turned him into an ally of Rick, his (corrupt) law enforcement career was over. So he joins up with Rick, the two cross the Sahara, and join the Free French garrison in Dakar. Frenchmen at the time of the Nazi Occupation were divided between collaborationist, pro-Vichy forces, and the Free French who continued the fight against Germany despite their defeat in 1940.
Captain Reynaud chose to stop being neutral and chose to join the fight against the Nazis. He looks at the bottle of Vichy water and drops into the trash. It is something that is oiften overlooked in reactions to this movie.
Renault was hedging his bets, which is why he called the German. At that point he didn't know where things were going. He wouldn't have been happy about turning Rick or any body else in but he would have wanted to save his own skin. He stood by at the end because he preferred Rick over the Germans and there were no witnesses, so he knew he could just make something up.
There are so many cool things about how this movie was made. Actors who fled the Nazis. It was being written while it was being filmed; some of the scenes were filmed before anyone knew how it was going to end.
Such a terrific film. I got an early introduction to classic films from my grandparents and parents and this one is right up there. There are so many stories behind this film as well. For instance it was during 1942 and many of the cast were actual refugees form Nazi occupied Europe so a lot of the emotions you see are real. Also Conrad Veidt who played Major Strasser was a well regarded German actor with a Jewish wife and they had to flee Germany. In Hollywood he agreed to play the Nazi officer only if he was written with absolutely no redeeming qualities at all. He was quite the anti-Nazi activist during the war.
I am always impressed by the scene with Rick and the girl from Bulgaria. However, after watching many of the reaction vids on this classic, I only found one that understood what she was really saying - that being selling her body to Renoit to get their visas. That's why she asks if a woman could hide a " a bad thing ". At the same time, and this testament to the outstanding script writing, she reminds Rick of his past unhappy relationship with Elsa.
I feel you do a disservice to Victor by saying "He's not happy about it, but whatever." The thing is that he and Rick are sort of the opposite sides of the same coin: Ilsa has fallen in love with the same great man twice. But Victor is wiser than any of the other characters we meet: he has been through enough to understand the fallibility of the human soul. I think he understands exactly what Rick is telling him, and why, which is why he: - Says "Welcome back to the fight". - Finishes the exchange by expressly giving Ilsa the final word and agency in this powerful arc. Note that Ilsa whispers "God bless you" to Rick, which is how she ended her letter of farewell in Paris.
I would have said Ilsa has immense respect for Victor, which is why she couldn't abandon him, but romantic love for Rick. The background to R & I's relationship is that they were uncertain times, so people were living for the moment, as indicated by the unwillingness to plan ahead. Victor knows this which is why he simply asked if she was lonely - no judgement from him.
But isn't it true that (even with Laszlo standing next to her) she made it very clear that she wanted Rick. Think how that would make you feel to have your wife in the arms of another man, crying her eyes out as he's telling her 'you MUST go with him because you will regret it it you don't'"? ie. She left with her second choice. Am I correct?
@@ThePianoMan1953 I'd say it's a very real ending, but perfectly correct for the story. It isn't a happy ending, but there is no happy ending possible here. The shadow of Rick will always hang over Victor and Ilsa. Whatever their relationship was before is another casualty of the war, since we can assume Ilsa and Rick would never have happened if Victor hadn't been assumed dead. Something else will have to grow from it. We don't know what that will be; but there's been a proper and positive closure between Rick and Ilsa, so no bitterness there. Victor is wiser than either of them, and I would say, wiser than we are: he's been through the most, and kept his ideals throughout. He'll know how to guide himself and Ilsa to a new wholeness. (also, for what it's worth, he wasn't there for Rick's urging her to go with Victor; Renault witnessed that but not Victor).
@@melenatorr Wow, thank you for all of that! You are so correct! (I watched them pull up to the airport and, sure enough, Laszlo was not within earshot.) "a perfectly well thought-out scene by the writers." (I did not remember that detail of Laszlo walking away.) You are also correct that there was no way for all three to win in that situation but the ending was brilliantly written. There seems to be a controversy of whether the final scene was or wasn't known by the director "during" the shooting of the film. One theory was that it "was" known, but kept from the actors so as to not affect their acting? I would be interested to know your take on that question.
It took me MANY multiple viewings over the decades to see that connection between the Paris note closing and Ilsa's farewell comment. Each time I watch I notice something new to me! "Good catch" as we say in journalism.
In a film full of memorable dialogue, my two favorite bits of acting are wordless. Watch Ilsa as she first hears ‘As Time Goes By’. Her expression is thousands of miles away; and Rick’s face as the young Bulgarian woman describes the noble sacrifice she is willing to do for love. His macho facade cracks and rage and self pity clenches his jaw. I mark that as the start of his transformation.
I can't remember a time when I hadn't seen Casablanca. My father was almost 21 when this movie was released. He saw it in an Army tent, having joined the Army a year earlier, just a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Interestingly, later on in the war my father was a medic stationed at a German POW camp in South Carolina. He got to know some prisoners there, including a German major. He liked the guy.
This was the first date for my (now) wife and me. Since then, every New Year's Eve, we watch "Casablanca". We have it timed so that everyone stands up to sing "La Marseillaise" at the stroke of midnight, and that's when we pop the champagne. Our absolute favorite movie!
Casablanca is one of those films that has a remarkable presence through all of its film elements. one of the things that rarely gets noticed is the pacing and leading. Scenes are never forced but play out fairly natural. They never feel rushed. Dialogue is clear and focused towards the major aspects of plot, character, scene but it is covered in story and humor and drama just enough to make it easy to watch. You can really feel comfortable enough to get sucked into the story.
Dooley Wilson at the piano singing "As Time Goes By" is as iconic as a song can be and what you'd expect from such a cinematic masterpiece. It's right up there with Judy Garland singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I'd rate Casablanca in the top 5 American movies ever made. Opinions vary and I wouldn't want to debate who the other four movies might be, but Casablanca deserves its place in that group.
My career was TV (I'm retired now), but my time in the industry helped me realize what was going on when I first saw this film as a teen in the 1970s. These great old movies were undervalued, the broadcast rights payments then were very small. The few TV stations that were on 24hrs a day showed them overnight before those insipid 'infomercials' were invented. Another vote for watching more films from this period..before CGI, all filmmakers had was writing & lighting.
Captain Renault, until the very end, was a survivalist. He was on whoever's side he was talking to hoping to survive the war. He was the kind of guy who wouldn't pick sides until the battle was over. It was a major change to support Rick instead of turning him in.
An absolute classic! I'm glad you both enjoyed watching it. I completely agree about the "glow" in older films. There are many ways you can achieve it even now, but one way is with tights over the lens (if I remember right)
Casablanca is exactly as you have said, it is a timeless classic, ranking #2 on my list of all-time favorites, between 1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and 3. The French Connection (1971). The script is priceless and Bogey and Bergman are chemistry afire.
My favorite line is.....'Where were you last night'? Rick responds....'so long ago I don't remember.' She says 'Will I see you tonight'? Rick responds...'I never make plans that far ahead'.
FYI: as others have mentioned, Ilsa is played by Ingrid Bergman- you may not know that her daughter became an actress when she grew up: Isabella Rossellini.
This is such a classic. I have loved it since I was a kid! The characters, the lines Bogart is one of film heroes. He was great in The Maltese Falcon also. One of my top 10! Congratulations again on reaching 30K!❤😊
I love Casablanca and grew up watching it. It's in my personal top three favorite movies. I give it a 5 out of 5. Truly one of the best films that has ever been made.
I always appreciated the return to nobility of Rick's character. At the end he gave up Ilsa for her future and for the importance of Victor's work. But more than that he made sure Victor had no reason to question his relationship with Ilsa in the future. Rick knew Ilsa was still in love with him but for her future happiness with Victor created a story where Ilsa just pretended to be in love with him to protect Victor and then Rick made himself the villain of the story that took advantage of the situation and "let her pretend".
I think Rick's return to nobility, as you put it, is what makes this movie. If the ending had Rick fly off with Ilsa instead, this would have been just another well-made 1940s movie, and quickly forgotten. Rick's sacrifice of his own happiness, for something greater, sets this movie apart (and I suspect that sacrifice is why this movie appeals to us men).
@@JJ_WAbsolutely agree. The movie was about a man recovering his idealism and engaging with the world. In 1942 when this movie came out, due to Pearl Harbor American opinion had just changed from the isolationism of the 30s to internationalism and recognition of the need to fight Fascism. The character arc in _Casablanca_ nicely mirrors that. That's why the music over the credits at the end of the movie was the anthem of the Free French _La Marseillaise_ and not _As Time Goes By_
@@blueboy4244that whole talk Rick had with Lazlo at the airfield was one man setting another man at ease about where he stood with his wife. Lazlo knows Ilsa and Rick had a thing. He can tell there is still chemistry and feeling. And now he’s supposed to get on a plane and fly off with her. Rick is saying that for her part she was just putting on an act trying to get the transit papers. That she’s not really interested in Rick. But Rick was like I was still digging on her and let her pretend just to see for myself and realize that we only had a short fling years ago. So he’s like no worries Lazlo, your wife is yours and yours alone. She wants you and you alone. Peace of mind and soul to you as you leave here to continue your marriage and your work
for me it sounds like.. she was pretending and I let her pretend right into my bed... but that was pretty racey for 1942..so I never really understood@@td811
when I first watched it. lo these many years ago... I thought the 'hill of beans' speech was the big moment in the film... only later did I recognize that 'welcome back to the fight' was the main theme/line of the movie. America before Pearl Harbor was decidedly isolationist...like Rick at the beginning of the film, despite being involved in WWI (like rick in Spain and Ethiopia prior).. but it took a surprise event to bring him to his senses and get him involved in the fight again... as did Pearl Harbor for America... I think if you read these many good comments - you will see the movie a bit differently and even better the next time
This movie came out in 1942 shortly before the US and Britain invaded North Africa. Casablanca became famous with that invasion and was perfect publicity for the movie
There ie NOTHING about this movie that isn't perfect! Script, cinematography, casting, music, costumes/wardrobe, heck, even the blocking! And no man can be blamed for falling in love with Ingrid Bergman! ❤
Great reaction ladies! A brilliant movie made and released when the outcome of the war looked to be firmly in the grasp of the Germans and Italians with the loss of France as the last major bastion on the European continent. Viewing the movie through the lens of hindsight and knowing that the Allies won takes away a lot of the tension and fear that was the undercurrent for the film when it was released. The era of black and white movies hold some of the greatest scripts, some of the greatest direction, editing, camerawork, and so much else because they lacked the "wonders" of digital FX that are used to try to distract attention away from so much substandard work in modern cinema. These movies are classic because they had to be. No shortcuts, no filler, no fixing it in post or scrapbooking together a finished product. These were master craftsmen and craftswomen giving their best. Which is why so many of my favorite movies are black and white classics.
Modern audiences have no concept of crossed telephone lines. Reynauld wasn’t tipping off Strasser. He was making a call to the airport. But the line got crossed and so Strasser got to hear what was going down (hence his initial perplexed reaction), while Reynauld had no idea he was spilling the beans. Things have gotten better since the 1940s.
I have to disagree there. I think the call to Strasser was deliberate. Back in the day, a "crossed line" had two different meanings. One is the one I suspect you're thinking of, where a telephone repairman might misconnect wire pairs, or a telephone operator might misconnect a call at the switchboard. Operators could also make multiple switchboard connections as an early way to set up a conference call. Now it's possible an operator might be under standing orders to connect any call made by Renault to both his intended recipient AND Strasser as a way for Strasser to spy on Renault, but if so, I think there would be some indication in the movie. The other meaning has to do with bare copper wires touching. Uninsulated wires were strung individually. A wire pair drop from a telephone pole was two bare wires strung in parallel to the house. If the wind caused the wires to touch, or cross, it shorted the connection, disrupting service. When your wires were crossed, you couldn't make or receive calls. My father's job as a kid was to uncross the wires when that happened. My grandparents kept a long stick handy. Poke the stick up between the wires and walk along from the house back towards the telephone pole, separating the wires, and you're back in service.
Directed by the great Michael Curtiz. Despite their frequent on-set battles, Errol Flynn eventually said of him, "He made my career". Look up the list of films Curtiz directed...you won't believe the variety.
13:25 Lazlo mentioned previously that he ran guns to Ethiopia (which was being invaded by Fascist Italy) and fought for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. In both cases he was fighting against Fascism. Naziism is a form of Fascism.
Great movie and has so many layers to peel back. You can see Bogie's role as parallel to U.S.' formal neutrality prior to Pearl Harbor, but unofficially favoring the allies. Great acting by an all star cast. Bogie, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre and others. Most of the minor characters were European refugees, including the actor playing Major Strasser. And, of course, a great love triangle story line.
Congratulations, #ForceOfLightEntertainment,on reaching 30K subscribers, and thanks so much for the awesome movie reaction. I'm still continuously supporting you ladies because your content is absolutely amazing, and also because I really enjoy watching your reactions to different movies.
Casablanca was really just a perfect film, so glad you ladies enjoyed and reviewed it. If you decide to review more classics for your channel and have not seen them already. May I suggest The African Queen, and The Maltese Falcon, both with Humphrey Bogart. Maltese Falcon came out a year earlier then Casablanca and had most of the same actors, minus Ingrid Bergman, it was a great adaptation of a the classic detective novel by Samuel Dashiell Hammett.
When Renault listed Rick's history of gun running and fighting, Rick was fighting fascists. Since Nazis are fascists, they would know of him and not be friendly to him. That would be why Renault considers Rick to be a sentimentalist. Rick was spending his time fighting for what he believed was right, not for money or power. i suspect he's allowed to run the cafe in part because it's useful to the Nazis. For example, when they wanted to catch the guy who stole the documents, they caught him at Rick's and Rick did not interfere. It's easier to keep an eye on what's going on when you know where it's going on.
Note how Rick tells the matre' d to NOT tell him where he is going. Rick knows that he is going to a secret meeting of the Resistance BUT this way, Rick can honestly say that he was never told where the man was headed if things went belly up.
@@johnwest5837 It does make me wonder, how one side could be so different from the other?? Of course, you see her right side in passing, but not for long. It's interesting! When she first came to Hollywood, "the suits' wanted her to change this and that about her face but she refused. She later claimed, unlike their other glitzy female 'stars', that she believed she was successful because of her 'girl next door' look. I'm sure, the film-goers would agree with her 100%.
Good writing, good acting, good directing - who needs the effects(or even color). It gets better every time you watch it. The "glow" around the women comes from shining light through gauze. I think it only works in black and white but what an effect. I first saw this in my 20s and thought it was good. Now it is my favorite movie. It ages very well indeed.
A lot of actresses in the 30's and 40's were filmed through a gauze mesh over the lens. It smoothed the skin tones without the use of heavy cosmetics. It did lend them a glow and a somewhat ethereal look. Old methods still worked in black and white. It wasn't as effective when the movies went to color.
The advantage B&W film has over every evolution of Color film is the myriad of the shades of gray it will provide. You're right - the secret often lies in the Lighting. The great directors found blood was best filmed by substituting chocolate syrup. B&W also gave us the term 'Silver Screen'.
one the top 3 films of all time! I grew up seeing it, but as a kid, I just didn't get it at all. Wasn't til I was about 18 that I finally understood what a great film this was/is. A film you could watch once a month, and still not get tired of it.
Now you'll have to watch Humphrey Bogart's other classic, "The Maltese Falcon" from 1941. "Casablanca" is definitely among one of the all-time classic in film noir.
@@ForceOfLightEntertainment I second @Phaota ; "The Maltese Falcon" is another film you could watch a hundred times and always still find something new in it that you've never noticed, just like "Casablanca." BTW, about half the cast of "Falcon" went on to co-star together in "Casablanca." A great thing about the old studio system is that the various contracted actors worked together so often that they created a natural screen chemistry that re-ignited every time they appeared with each other in a new film. So, the cast of "Casablanca" was already a well-oiled machine, with a built-in chemistry, much like a small community theatre group.
Such a classic, havn't seen it in years, this and Gone with the Wind. You can't beat abit of Bogey and Bing! Especially at Christmas. For the longest time i fell in love with Gene Tierney in the Ghost and Mrs Muir, with Rex Harrison. Really good thoughts ladies.
I loved Madeleine Lebeau who played Yvonne, Rick's girlfriend who sings La Marseillaise, the French national anthem in the sing off. In real life, she and her husband, who played the croupier, had made the journey via Lisbon escaping the Nazis. Their marriage didn't last and after the war, she returned to France and starred in films. She was the last surviving member of the cast, dying only a few years ago in her 90s. Many of the cast were also refugees, especially Conrad Veidt who played the villain. He had starred in German silent films.
@@johnwest5837 Thank you at least for involving me in the most esoteric disagreement I've had for years. You're talking about Joy Page who died in 2008. She was very good but best remembered as Jack Warner's step daughter. I had a big crush on Madeleine Lebeau who died in 2016.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
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Casablanca was literally made when America was on the verge of entering WWII or had just entered? So it's important to watch the movie in that context, the context Americans had when they went to see the movie. BTW another Bogart classic is "The Maltese Falcon". Ironically it has many of the same cast members in it and was Directed by the same Great Director, John Huston. These types of films are called Film-noire. I think it had something to do with French filmmaking at the time?
You need to watch it about 10 times. There’s so much going on. So much subtlety with the characters and love triangle After the 10 time you’ll be hooked. You can watch this movie 100 times. It only ever gets better
The lost “alternate ending to Casablanca” 😉👍🏻
ruclips.net/video/LQKVIJnfiNM/видео.htmlsi=3GcrxIzTBeiq6Z3F
Ingrid Bergman's glow was natural. She was luminous. One of the most beautiful and talented actresses and a three time Oscar winner.
Ms. Bergman, who hailed from Sweden, was infused from birth with the glowing radiance imparted to all who are born in "the land of the midnight sun"! Actually, I think Hollywood lighting technicians and make-up artists had much to do with her incomparable complexion.
And Hollywood lighting directors had 25+ years of helping leading ladies look "luminous" by 1942
Remember that this movie came out in 1942, so we didn't have any idea how World War II was going to end.
When Ilsa says you have to think for all of us, that was a plea to America.
@@visaman The US was already in the war by then
The US was in the war by the time the movie was released, but filming took place earlier.
@@user-mg5mv2tn8q The US entered the war december 1941 and the movie was filmed in the summer of 1942 and released in 1943. So it was produced after the US had already entered the war.
What did happen before the US entered WW2 was the completion of the stage play that the movie is based on "Everybody Comes to Rick's" (1940) which was never performed.
@@kenbattor6350 when the movie was filming was wrapping up, Operation Torch had begun and while some factions amongst the French sided with US & Britain, French fascist were with Germany. No one knew how it was going to go which was why the end of the movie was so suspenseful. It was unfolding as they were filming. Eventually a temporary alliance was formed between French nationalists, De Gaulls faction who wanted him as dictator, the pro democracy liberals, and the French Communists vs the French fascists.
The script is one of the "tightest" ever written. Every moment, every utterance furthered the story. That's the mark of incredible writing. Moreover, the leads (Bogart and Bergman) were fantastic along with all of the terrific supporting character actors.
And yet the script was being written while filming. Everything about this movie is legendary. It’s the goat
"I'm no good at being noble," he says, as he reaches the pinnacle of nobility. Wonderful writing.
What I love most about it is the economy of the story telling. Everyone you see in the crowd has a story and you will see them all. Not one frame is wasted. Pure cinema alchemy.
Every line of dialogue spoken by the leads or the character actors either advances the plot or, by unspoken sub-text, tells you something about inner feelings or motives. Sometimes both. No throw-away or filler lines.
Contrast this against modern CGI trash. No comparison at all. This script contained a story carried forward by dialogue, now we get "Look at that thing happening!" I am happy to see younger people understanding this. Go support your local stage actors. You can see something real, a shared experience.
@@bryanbrady877 CGI can be fine, it can be part of good storytelling, but look at the stuff you can do without it!
@@WilliamBourne-r8i that 'Hungarian' couple get about 1 page of the script and the impact of "Will he keep his word?" gets me every time
@@AldWitch Meaning, "if I cheat on my husband and sleep with him, will he keep his word?" I watched the movie many times before that thought hit me. Am I correct?
Here is a blurb to help today’s younger viewers better understand this movie: “Casablanca is in French Morocco. When France surrendered in WW2, it was divided in half. The Northern half under the direct control of the Germans the other half "nominally" independent under the French in Vichy. French Morocco was also under the control of the Vichy government and thus was technically independent so that the Germans had to operate with French consent. It was all a formality, of course, as the French consent was usually rubber stamped.”
As for the timing of this movie, Germany had quickly defeated France and on June 14, 1940, the German troops entered and occupied Paris. This movie Casablanca is set a year and a half later on December 1, 1941. This was a week before America is attacked at Pearl Harbo and entered the war against Japan and Germany.
I first saw this during WW2 and believe the reason that it became such an instant classic was that the theme and story truly hit a nerve with the audience members back then. Everyone there identified with the story because, in 1942, the war in Europe and the Pacific was going full blast with the outcome of both was still in doubt. Suddenly husbands and wives, young men and their lovers were being forcibly separated by the war and the draft. If your immediate family was not affected, then many of your neighbors had people either at war, killed or wounded.
An element of this film that made it so suspenseful, was the love triangle between Rick, Ilsa and Victor. Normally in a Hollywood movie two of the people, the leading man and the girl, are obviously meant to end up together. The third character is always shown with some flaw or attitude that makes them an unsuitable mate. In Casablanca, all three leading characters are shown to be equally heroic and desirable choices. Thus making it more difficult for the theater audience to decide who should end up flying off together and who should be the one left behind. Writing a suitable script ending that would satisfy both the Hays Office (the U.S. film studio Self-censorship Organization) and the theater audience must have been very difficult.
Cortiz got an Oscar for directing this picture. The flowing movement of the Camera, with its closeups and tracking, and the constant motion of the Actors are like a carefully rehearsed Ballet. Notice how the Actors, the movie Extras and the Camera are always moving around and how the scenes smoothly flow from one event to another with few cuts and fadeouts.
Watch how the movie literally starts with a ‘Bang’ and the Camera keeps you glued to the screen leading up to the Flashback with Rick and Ilsa. The first 10 or 15 minutes seems like one long shot. It is rarely mentioned, but the Editing of the movie was excellent.
In 1942, this movie was well received by the Black Community. It was praised by being one of the first films that portrayed a black man, not as a stereotype, but as an important character in the story.
Thank you!
A truly excellent summary !
Fantastic. I'm old enough that my grandparents explained the politics to me in person. I'm glad you mentioned the black community's reaction. I'm from the Southern US and "..I don't buy and sell human beings.." must have been a very powerful line down here in 1942! Still was when I saw the movie in the 1970s. Helped me start questioning my community's stance on black people. Well..that line - and Nichelle Nichols. Lots of Nichelle Nichols. 😉
There are a few things the audience in 1942 would've known, but which only historians are aware of today.
In 1935, a coalition of socialists and pro-democracy liberals won an election against royalists and nationalists, in Spain.
The right-wingers responded with an attempted coup that failed, but then they began to draw funding and military advisors from the Third Reich and launched a Civil War in 1936.
The pro-democracy side were called "Loyalists," because they were loyal to the lawfully elected government, while the right-wingers were known as "Nationalists."
The Loyalists side counted among its supporters most of Spain's most well-known artists and academics, including Pablo Picasso.
Hitler's Germany supported the Nationalist insurrection, to the extent of sending in "military advisors" to fight on their behalf.
In addition to the ideological similarity between the two, the Spanish Civil War also gave Germany the opportunity to try out its innovative and deadly "blitzkrieg" combined arms military doctrine in an actual violent conflict.
The results of the blitzkrieg proved so utterly horrifying that people in Europe struggled to wrap their heads around it.
Picasso's massive (and legendary) painting, "Guernica" captures the horror that occurred in that town in northern Spain, when the Nationalists attacked it with the help of German "advisors" who had taught them blitzkrieg tactics, by then.
The other main event that came up during the discussion of Rick's past was the war in Ethiopia, which took place from 1936-41.
That took place between Italy, then led by Benito Mussolini (the man who created the political ideology called "Fascism") and the Ethiopians led by Haile Selassie.
The Ethiopians fought bravely and tenaciously, but Italy's technological advantage (they had artillery but the Ethiopians did not) won the war and created from Ethiopian territory the Colony of Italian East Africa.
So, when Louis notes that Rick ran guns to the "Loyalists" in Spain, and had fought in Ethiopia, and that "the winning sides" would have paid Rick more, the audience in 1942 would know he had been fighting Fascists for *years* , as of 1942 -- but that something had happen to turn this idealist into a selfish, jaded shadow of the man Rick used to be.
By the end of the film, Rick had found himself, again.
Good Historical background. Those were terrible times and you can see why eveyone was trying to get out of Europe. @@thomashiggins9320
"Oh, he's just like any other man, only more so." Very underrated line, in a movie with a lot of great lines.
I never quite understood the meaning of that line, though I liked the fact that it was so thought provoking.
@@ThePianoMan1953 I think it means that he's utterly unremarkable.
@@NigelIncubatorJones 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Your wonderful answer made me laugh for no less than 15 seconds non-stop! I never would have gone that direction. I always felt it meant, "he's more intense." I think you nailed it. Thanks!
The greatest movie ever made. Unbeatable cast; Great music; great script; fantastic photography; released at the right moment.
Glad you enjoyed it. Every time I see youngsters like you embrace "old" movies, it makes my old heart smile.
Thank you! 😊
One of the greatest movies of all time. It was Casablanca that really made Bogart a leading man.
Yep, before that he was usually James Cagney's co-star in movies like 'Angels with dirty faces' and 'The Roaring 20's'
I could argue that he never had anything but top billing after The Maltese Falcon, but yeah, he was always the lead star after these two movies.
yep otherwise he be know as a thug.
I thought the Maltese Falcon made him a leading man.
Actually, it was his leading role in "High Sierra" in 1941 that made Bogart a star. Then later in 1941 "The Maltese Falcon" made Bogart a top star. And then "Casablanca " in 1942 made him one of Hollywood's
greatest stars.
It was the series of those 3 movies within a short period that lifted Bogart from
supporting actor (which he had been for several years) into one of Hollywood's biggest
superstars.
But it was Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon that turned him into a romantic lead.@@keng4847
As good as everyone is in this movie, Claude Raines steals every scene he is in. I use "I'm shocked...SHOCKED!" All the time.
"Your winnings, sir.."
It is the perfect illustration of baldfaced hypocrisy that even quietly acknowledges its own contradiction.
Particularly in a governmental or elected official.
@@kenle2 A poor, corrupt official.
@@kenle2 He follows the wind. Don't forget he is also in a precarious situation.
Not included in the reaction,
Rick: "...and remember I have a gun pointed at your heart..."
Renault: "That is my LEAST vulnerable spot!"
7:16 A piece of information crucial to understanding Rick that Renault drops here is that before WW2 Rick ran guns for the Republican side in the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War, and for Ethiopia in the 1935-37 invasion of Ethiopia by Fascist Italy. Audiences in the 40s would understand that meant Rick was an early fighter against Fascism. That's why in Paris he says he's on the Nazi's 'wanted' lists. Rick was an idealist who was working for freedom and democracy until he was dumped by Ilsa. Then in Casablanca she helped him recover his idealism and join the fight again.
Bingo! Rick had a long history of fighting fascists..he was just as tired as any other 'refugee' when he ended up in Casablanca (especially after Paris). I still claim that this film is as much about personal redemption as it is about the war.
And that dialogue (above) relates directly to a "sleeping zinger line" that's delivered, to Rick, by Victor Laszlo, just before V.L. boards the Lisbon plane very near the film's end: "WELCOME BACK TO THE FIGHT! This time, I know our side will win!!" WHAT A TEAM!!!
Maybe that's why Rick can't return to America...maybe he's been painted "Red" for fighting in Spain.
@@AnthonyGentile-z2g Great point! I never thought of that. Maybe he's a refugee of the US Red scares.
Casablanca. A movie like that is the reason movies were invented for in the first place.
At least 3 generations were connected to this movie due to WWII. My maternal grandparents lost their only son (a B-26 bomber pilot), my mother lost her older brother, & I lost my only uncle before I was even born. My uncle had flown his required number of missions over Europe (a rare feat in it's self) & was grounded. He had fallen in love & when his crew shipped back to the US, he stayed in England to get married. He was on his honeymoon waiting for papers so that he & his bride could return to Texas. Little did he know that D-Day was a go. He was called back into service & given a new plane & crew. He was shot down over Paris. He bailed out but his fleece lined flight jacket caught fire. He was admitted to a French hospital under German control. When the Germans pulled out of Paris, they took all of the medications with them & left the patients. The French did all that they could but on the very day that the allies entered Paris he died. The French buried him in a private cemetery. My mother had connections & managed to locate his body & have it shipped home. This is but one story of thousands brought back to mind by this beautiful movie. Thanks for the memory!
Quite a tragic story. Thanks for sharing. War brings tragedy to all. My great uncle went down on The Hood years before I was born. Apparently it wasn't even shipshape for combat but the Royal Navy was keen to throw everything they had at the mighty Bismarck. As you said, thousands of other baby-boomers have stories like this and worse. Good luck to you sir.
I enlisted & served in Viet. during the Tet Offensive. I was sent from Viet. to S. Korea as a response to the hi-jacking of the USS Pueblo & then back to Viet. I felt that it was a matter of family pride for my Uncle's sacrifice. @@lifelover515
My condolences to you and your family, and warm thanks to your uncle for his sacrifice.
Great actors, great script, the black and white magic, the fight for freedom...what else could we need?❤
It also had luminous Ingrid Bergman, THE man "Bogey", glorious lighting, great music, humor and suspense...
Part of the re-watchability of Casablanca is in the richness of the themes. You can see something new every time.
I’m sure! Will definitely watch it again 💚
Saw it for the first time years ago and never get tired of rewatching in. The dialogue is masterful. There are many well remembered lines: "here's looking at you, kid", "Louis, this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", "Gather up the usual suspects". "I'm shocked, shocked that there's gambling going on here" followed by Louis receiving his winnings. These became famous catchphrases for many generations.
8th@@auapplemac2441
On repeat viewings I seemed to notice the humor more
@@auapplemac2441 "Round up the usual suspects." :-)
Seen Casablanca many times and I'm not ashamed to say when Ingrid Bergman came on the screen I started crying like a baby! Lighting or not, that face was, is, and will always be perfection.
And the dialogue, my God the dialogue! Not one ounce of fat!
The whole movie is just timeless perfection!
🙏 ✌ ❤ 🎥
I consider Ingrid Bergman to be one of the most beautiful women who ever lived.
@@TheOriginalRick No argument here 😃 👍 👊
One of the greatest screenplays ever. Almost every line is important in one way or another -- either characterization or moving the plot -- they just don't make 'em like this anymore.
Humphrey Bogart is one of a kind. Ingrid, of course, is stunning.
I've watched Casablanca countless times. I love it every time. There is so much depth to it, you never grow tired of it. And Ingrid Bergman is indeed beautiful. I rate it amongst the top three English language movies ever made.
This is my favourite movie - script, lighting, direction, casting - impeccable
Absolutely! Everything is dead solid perfect.
Rick: Are my eyes really brown? Nazi: Please forgive my curiosity. Rick: I forgive you.
@@ulytognola9085 Yes..... Yes...... YES!!!!!! Are my eyes really brown? 🤣
"Take her home Sasha, AND COME RIGHT BACK!" Sashas disappointed expression. Fantastic innuendo.
Something I always like to point out to reactors:
Yvonne is something of an opportunist. Once it's over between she and Rick, she takes up with one of the Germans. As a Frenchwoman, this marks her as a collaborator, the absolute worst of the worst. _Everyone_ would detest her.
Indeed, it's what causes the minor fight that Rick breaks up. In French, the policeman angrily tells Yvonne that she's not French for taking up with the German. The German understands French and takes offense.
At the end, the French officer spits out (in French): "Dirty Boche. Someday we'll have our revenge!"
"Boche" is a pejorative, about the same as "Kraut." Yvonne is aware that he's probably talking about her as much as the German.
When the Germans begin singing together, there's a shot where Yvonne can be seen starting to feel bad about her situation.
When Lazlo gets the band to play "La Marseilles," Yvonne flips. In fact, the camera focuses on her at a very specific moment in the song.
The lyric she's singing translates to "They're coming right into our arms" (referring to the enemy). It's at that point that Yvonne realizes that bringing the enemy right into her arms is precisely what she's doing, and she begins to weep in shame.
At the end, there's a shot of her shouting, "Vive la France!" indicating her change of heart, returning to a French loyalist.
It's a small character arc for a near-background character. You only know the depth of it if you're both knowledgeable of the political situatuon and speak French. As a Francophile, I'm both.
However, it's a detail that shows just how much care was taken with _Casablanca_ . It didn't need to be in the film at all, but they took the time to include it.
And a bit of trivia: the actress who played Yvonne, Madeleine Lebeau, was the last cast member of _Casablanca_ to transition to Valhalla.
Thanks very much for pointing out these details. They do indeed help me, a non-French speaker, appreciate (for the first time) the details of Yvonne's situation, which had been hidden from me, during all these years. ...I haven't felt this warmly towards a French speaker, since I read (maybe a year or two back) that French audiences were actually delighted with John Cleese's portrayal of the French taunter in 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail.' :)
@tranya327 you're most welcome. I'm an American but learned French in gradeschool. I'm also 59 and first saw _Casablanca_ when I was 19 years old, so I've had 40 years to pick out details. There are more besides just Yvonne.
I also first saw it projected on a small movie screen in the basement of a church, in chairs arranged in rows, with free popcorn and Coke.
A church on my university campus would attempt to attract people by showing classic films on Friday and Saturday nights at no cost. It mostly attracted people like myself and a group of friends who liked classic films and somehow convinced our girlfriends to go.
_Casablanca_ , _The Maltese Falcon_ , _The Big Sleep_ , _The African Queen_ , half the movies Bogart and John Wayne ever made ....
I got to see them on a screen, with a small audience of film buffs.
I will never regret being born Gen-X. We were the last to see these films as an audience.
I think the only reason I could convince the girls I dated to go was because classic films provided men with an endless list of great compliments:
"I was told that you were the most beautiful woman to ever study at this university. I see that was a gross understatement."
Gen-X girls who hadn't seen _Casablanca_ never stood a chance.
In point of fact, the one girl I really remember was too young to drink, so we couldn't go dancing at traditional clubs. In any case, neither of us was really into loud house music for its own sake, nor getting hammered just because we could.
Instead, we sought out a few small clubs that were far more like where you see Rick and Ilsa dancing in Paris. They were mostly frequented by people our grandparents' age (the Silent Generation) and would overlook our age because it was obvious whom not to serve alcohol. Cops never dropped by to check anyone's ID because why waste the manpower at such a place?
It gave us a chance to go slow dancing in an environment where the older people really liked to see us. They thought of us as themselves when they were our age, and it gave them the warm fuzzies.
We were throwbacks, and I sometimes consider her "the one that got away." 💘
@@SYLTales So your story is about 40 years ago, which puts it around 1984. Sounds like a wonderful time, and it aligns with my memories as a child as a wondrous time, growing up in the 80's and 90's. And how wonderful you got to experience classic films in a small makeshift theater, and before the advent of social media, dating apps, etc.
@@tranya327 She redeems herself with the singing of the Marsellaise and
"Vive la France."
The actress had actually fled France after the Germans occupied Paris. That scene of singing the French anthem was the first time she had heard it since laeving; those were real tears.
There are so many layers of subtext in this film that you have to work to keep up. The audience in the cafe was filled with European refugees, people who had been top actors in their own countries and fled from the Nazis. Their joining in "La Marseillaise", virtually spitting it back in the Nazis' faces to overcome "The Watch on the Rhine", was based on real emotion and energy. This leaves aside one of the most famous meta-statements of the film, that the movie takes place over a specific three days in history (not counting the Paris flashbacks), and the timing is deliberate.
When Victor said "I understand", what he meant was "I understand that you are lying right now... and I know why"
I think you're giving Laszlo too much credit here. Otherwise what you're saying is Laszlo was thinking "I know you're lying and that my wife is only with me out of a sense of admiration and duty to the point she is foreclosing on her only true love, you"
@@BlueSparkshine”I understand” that my wife loves us both, and you love her. These are crazy and unfortunate times. Things happen. I don’t blame you or her. Welcome back to the fight.
I live in Britain and a number of years ago there was a showing of the Casablanca movie at the London Opera Theatre with the full theatre orchestra playing the musical backing (while the spoken word track was inclusive -so in some way the two were separated). It was amazing to experience it LIVE. Even the sounds of the dance band that was playing a latin rumba numba number when Rick and Ilsa were out dancing in Paris was duplicated to exactness sounding exactly like the Xavier Cugat orchestra in 1940 . I have the DVD of Casablanca and know the track fairly well so was familiar with the movie so to hear it done LIVE like this was a work of art! I think the Arts Council might do this sort of thing with movies now and then.
Wow !
That sounds like an AMAZING experience!
YOU MUST BE JOKING!
This Fil😮m deserves 6 stars out of 5!❤😮
Todays productions CANNOT Match it!
Another GREAT FILM is BEN-HUR! 6 STARS also there!
Its quite intriguing when you realize this movie was released when the outcome of WWII was still in doubt.
I think the central idea of this film is about two people overcoming their more basic desires for something greater than themselves. Which is why I think it is such a powerful story.
Two things of note: 1. The French in the cafe singing their national anthem were refugees from the war, as were the German actors. 2. When Rick says "I'll bet they are sleeping all over America." The date is December 6, 1941.
Also, it's my belief that if you don't watch black and white films, you're missing half or more of the best films ever made. These people didn't have digital effects to save them. They used good writing and acting. They didn't use that much color back then so they had to know their stuff like the use of light and shadow to set a mood.
One point we sadly are afflicted with in modern films is that CGI ages far more quickly than B&W Debates - take a look at the STAR WARS' "touchups" and additions that were done so quickly on that film. And looking at wonderful JURASSIC PARK, the brontosaurus 'gray out' fades have always looked phony... for all their realism, CGI also encompassed the necessary gloss-overs. I almost prefer Hitchcock's so-fakey-they're-fun car-interior scenes, and his productions' back-drop mattes.
There is a beauty in black and white that makes it a valid art form in its own right: like pen and ink drawing or marble statues. The play of light and shade is the medium and Michael Curtiz was a master.
@ C. Yea. the ' drunk lady ' Yvonne and the Casino boss were in real life married , and refugees that went thru Lisbon - a point in the flick. the young 'Bulgarian Lady' trying to get aid from rick mid film - the Daughter of the Warners studio boss. ' Daddy, I want to be in a movie ....
On black and white movies...
I would add that there were plenty of... forgettable flicks produced in the era. They've been forgotten. And / or physically destroyed due to mishandling or simple aging of the media on which they were recorded. Its some of the beloved classics that survive. With good reason - they were noteworthy pieces of art that compelled those with the means to maintain copies in to future generations.
Art can be made with many tools and media. And the medium tends to inform the art created. The masters really understood the silver canvas and took care in playing with light. That shows abundantly in this flick. Not only the depth of shadow and soft glow of light cast about. But even when a character enters the scene as a shadow before stepping in front of the camera directly.
Again - the silver screen didn't demand good film making. There were plenty of dross crafted to get butts in theater seats all over the world. But we generally won't see those. Just as special effects and other technologies allow for a whole new box of tools for film making - neither guaranteeing greatness nor damning a film to forgettable mediocrity. Technology has allowed some stories to be told that couldn't be in previous eras. Just as older films like Casablanca are ruined when dipped in a color palette - even as good a job as colorization attempts have been.
I think the date is Dec. 2...somebody saw it on the OK check that intros Rick. That would mean that his decision to get back in the fight was made before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The captain was not with Rick until he decided to cover for Rick after he shot the Nazi: "Round up the usual suspects." Brilliant. But all the dialogue is brilliant.
Yes, at the beginning Renault says something like he tries to be flexible to keep the peace, so he isn't against law breaking provided it's not disruptive.
He liked Rick more than the German...
Keep in mind, also, that this film was in the theaters right in the middle of WW2. In fact, the film was released on November 26, 1942, just a couple weeks after US forces attacked in North Africa including at Casablanca. It was called Operation Torch, and the landings near Casablanca took place on November 8, 1942.
Humphry Bogart also was a captain in "The Caine Mutiny" ... i think his acting was FLAWLESS !!
He was also a captain of "African Queen". If possible, it was even better.
Caine Mutiny is great
And he kids us not.
and he is the captain of the boat in the movie “To have and have not“. And, he pilots the boat at the end of “Key Largo”,
The English actor Michael Caine took his last name from that movie!
I've watched this film many dozens of times over the decades. One interesting phenomenon encountered on rewatch is the surprising number of times the Bulgarians are established before they interact with Rick.
You know it’s an amazing script when the final scene has at least five famous lines that literally everyone knows, even if they might not know where those lines are from.
‘Casablanca’ is renowned and is justly acknowledged as one of the most romantic films of all time but it is much more than the tale of a love triangle. Of course, it shows that the power of love can affect the human psyche, as demonstrated by Rick’s metamorphosis, but, actually, the film is one of the most subtle pieces of propaganda ever made.
Made in the bleakest times of WW2, this film has so many levels to it that it takes many viewings to appreciate them. The main theme is not romance but self-sacrifice as its message to the world at war is to give up the personal agenda for the common cause. It reminds wartime audiences, many of whom have loved ones fighting abroad, that their situation is the same as that of Rick, Ilsa and Victor.
Rick’s initial selfishness, (‘I stick my neck out for nobody’ and ‘the problems of the world are not in my department…’), is a metaphor for USA indifference. It must be remembered that the events and politics are harder to comprehend and put into perspective for current audiences than for those living through WW2, not knowing who the victors would be.
The script can be considered as a 'State of the Union' address, both for home and foreign policies, in which there are references to Civil Rights, as embodied in Sam and, of course, the debate about America’s involvement in the conflict. Basically, the film is politically motivated because it is a plea to America to join the war. Please note that the action takes place in pre-Pearl Harbour, December, 1941.
The screenplay is so intelligently written. It is a masterpiece of complexity, containing subliminal political opinions and messages all carried along on a thrilling plot with brilliant one-liners and memorable quotes, together with comedic elements and contemporary, social commentaries. Even the support actors make major contributions to the enjoyment. There are also many ‘adult’ themes which escaped the censors: one example is the scene between Rick and the Bulgarian bride which suggests Renault was willing to be involved in underage sex/ménage a trois. Another is Rick’s and Ilsa’s last tryst in which it is clearly implied that they have made love.
Michael Curtiz’s direction is multi-faceted: Documentary, Film Noir, German Expressionism, Flashback etc. He is the master of creating the plot via seamlessly connecting a series of rapid-fire vignettes.
There is subtle direction and cinematography. For example, Ilsa wears black and white clothes and is cast in shadows and in a mirror which symbolise the ambiguity of her role.
POINTS OF INTEREST AND NOTES FOR SUBSEQUENT VIEWINGS.
This is the the first non-musical movie to use music almost as an another protagonist, (which Tarantino does now). For example, ‘As Time Goes By’ is a valuable recurring theme and, in Paris, Rick and Ilsa dance to ‘Perfidia’ which means untrustworthiness. Also, ‘Love for Sale’ is played during the dialogue when the Bulgarian girl tells Rick about her ‘offer’ from Renault.
Each character represents a country e.g. Two Japanese plotting; the Italian on the tail of the German; American indifference; French collaborators; the British robbed by foreign policy. Even the Balkan problem , (still ongoing), is mentioned via the Bulgarian couple. Quite evidently, Rick’s actions symbolise the USA in its change in policy from isolationism to participation and ‘….the beginning of a beautiful friendship…’ is the USA and Europe joining forces to fight Nazism.
The significance of Letters of Transit is a metaphor for the might of America’s power and resources and must be delivered to the right side.
Victor often tells Isla that he loves her but she never reciprocates, except for saying ‘ I know’. She tells Rick she loves him several times.
The ‘La Marseillaise’ scene is the pivotal moment in which both Ilsa and Rick realise that saving Victor is more important than their own personal relationship. It also comes in just as Rick and Victor are about to argue over Ilsa but both drop the issue when they hear the music. This scene is rousing now but imagine how it must have felt for audiences right in the middle of the war when Germany seemed invincible and modern viewers need to put it in perspective in terms of world events full of Nazi and Japanese domination and when the outcome looked very bleak.
The facial close-ups used throughout the film speak a thousand words: but particularly note Ilsa during ‘La Marseillaise’ when her expressions eventually show her admiration of Victor’s power and her realisation that this must be preserved at all costs.
POINTS TO WATCH
‘It’s December, 1941 in Casablanca: what time is it in New York?...
I bet they are asleep all over America’. PEARL HARBOUR
‘Even Nazis can’t kill that fast’
CONCENTRATION CAMPS
‘I don’t buy or sell human beings..’
CIVIL RIGHTS
In any case... there is so much alcohol!!!! On this note, please watch out for glasses knocked over and glasses set upright…
The Bulgarian couple keeps appearing many times as a symbol of hope and determination.
In the bar room fight over Yvonne, Rick attacks the German only and not the Frenchman.
Captain Renault dumps the bottle of Vichy water to represent his rejection of the Nazi- collaborating French Government which was located in Vichy.
Just one example of the excellent and complex scriptwriting occurs immediately after the roulette scene. The girl thanks Rick for letting her husband win and Rick replies, ‘He’s just a lucky guy’, which, on the face of it, refers to the gambling, but, in Rick’s mind, means that the husband is ‘lucky’ because his partner truly loves him.
Please imagine what hope the dialogue must have projected when Ilsa states that she’ll wear the blue dress again when Paris is liberated. Nobody then knew when this would be.
The quotes from the film are now embedded in popular culture and are mostly said by Rick. However, Captain Renault has some of the best lines: e.g. when asking Rick why he had to leave America, he says, ‘I’d like to think you killed a man: it’s the romantic in me’ ; a gunshot to his heart would be his ‘..least vulnerable part..’; when told where the Letters of Transit were hidden in the piano, ‘’…it’s my fault for not being musical…’: on making the bet with Rick, …’make it 10,000 - I’m only a poor corrupt official…’
The end-product is a combination of superb screenwriting/ direction/acting and every other production aspect combined with a modicum of unpredictable luck. As I’ve said, ‘Casablanca’ requires multiple viewings and gets better with age and even its theme song, ‘As Time Goes By’ serendipitously reflects this!!
I was a kid in the 70s, and it's true-- people smoked everywhere: hospitals, airplanes, theaters, cars, eateries, you name it. I think the only exception was the classroom, but the teachers puffed in their lounge.
Even more true in the 50s and 60s when I was a kid, before people really started trying to quit. Pretty much anywhere people gathered there would be a layer of blue cigarette smoke and overflowing ashtrays.
Why? My first cig was also my last. Blecch! 🤮
We could buy smokes when we were kids, you just told the clerk they were for your dad, no problem.
High Schools in the '70s and "80s often had smoking areas for students, too.
Then came the War on Smoking, in which Big Pharma, jealous of the billions Big Tobacco was raking in, colluded with the government to demonize smoking, making it out to be responsible for everything from hangnails to demonic possession. People started becoming convinced that tobacco was an evil and shameful thing, and those of us still smoking were relegated to back alleys getting rained on and assaulted by bums.
Within a decade or so, the Tobacco industry was paying big money to the government, and Big Pharma was making a killing selling stop smoking aids. Their little plan had worked.
When everyone has quit smoking and no one is buying stop smoking aids anymore, Big Pharma will probably find a back door into the tobacco business.
@@seanmcmurphy4744 My dad was a smoker, but he was a doctor who didn't smoke at home. I knew he was a smoker because of the ashtrays in his car and his (doctor's) office. I caught him smoking only once in my life, when I came into a ski lodge after finishing a run. He was smoking and drinking hot coffee.
One of the many amazing things about this film is that according to the writers, the script was being written as they were already filming. No one knew how it was going to end until days before shooting was supposed to end.
One of the top films of all time. It's pacing even keeps up with modern films. Its wit and style contained in its framing and dialogue outshines most modern movies. It was conceived, written, and its production started prior to the US entering WW2 so that if you pay attention you can see it is a film supporting the US becoming involved actively in the war. Rick is emblematic of America - after WW1 there was a strong sentiment not become involved in anymore European wars. Much like Rick, America was isolationist prior to Pearl Harbor. Rick even says, “I bet they’re asleep in New York. I bet they’re asleep all over America…” The underlying subtext being that America needs to wake up to the dangers of the Nazis and become active in the war, just like Rick has to overcome his personal hurt and stand up and do the right thing like Laszlo tells him at the bar before he is arrested after the underground meeting. Even Capt. Renault has his own awakening deciding to help Rick and fight the Nazis after Rick shoots the Nazi Major Strasser, which is emphasized by his throwing the bottle of Vichy water in the trash - symbolic of his leaving his Vichy policeman job (Vichy being the German puppet government put in place after the Germans defeated France). A wonderful movie with wonderful actors.
Captain Reynaud wasn't in on Rick's plot. He was still ready to arrest Laszlo -- thus his phone call to Major Strasser, to "betray" Rick. When he said, "This isn't going to be very pleasant for either of us, especially for you," Reynaud meant he was going to pay the price for allowing Laszlo to escape -- while Rick would be arrested and shot. It was this that finally turned him into an ally of Rick, his (corrupt) law enforcement career was over. So he joins up with Rick, the two cross the Sahara, and join the Free French garrison in Dakar. Frenchmen at the time of the Nazi Occupation were divided between collaborationist, pro-Vichy forces, and the Free French who continued the fight against Germany despite their defeat in 1940.
you can be corrupt and do the right thing. Han Solo is an other example and was probably lifted from this movie
Captain Reynaud chose to stop being neutral and chose to join the fight against the Nazis. He looks at the bottle of Vichy water and drops into the trash. It is something that is oiften overlooked in reactions to this movie.
Renault was hedging his bets, which is why he called the German. At that point he didn't know where things were going.
He wouldn't have been happy about turning Rick or any body else in but he would have wanted to save his own skin.
He stood by at the end because he preferred Rick over the Germans and there were no witnesses, so he knew he could just make something up.
Note the medals Louis wears...Great War Service. Great War Victory and the Legion of Honor (!) Perhaps Louis was once "a sentimentalist" too.
There are so many cool things about how this movie was made. Actors who fled the Nazis. It was being written while it was being filmed; some of the scenes were filmed before anyone knew how it was going to end.
Born in 1968
This is my favoutrite. I watch it every year on my birthday. Sometimes more - every year for the last 30+
Such a terrific film. I got an early introduction to classic films from my grandparents and parents and this one is right up there. There are so many stories behind this film as well. For instance it was during 1942 and many of the cast were actual refugees form Nazi occupied Europe so a lot of the emotions you see are real. Also Conrad Veidt who played Major Strasser was a well regarded German actor with a Jewish wife and they had to flee Germany. In Hollywood he agreed to play the Nazi officer only if he was written with absolutely no redeeming qualities at all. He was quite the anti-Nazi activist during the war.
I am always impressed by the scene with Rick and the girl from Bulgaria. However, after watching many of the reaction vids on this classic, I only found one that understood what she was really saying - that being selling her body to Renoit to get their visas. That's why she asks if a woman could hide a " a bad thing ". At the same time, and this testament to the outstanding script writing, she reminds Rick of his past unhappy relationship with Elsa.
I feel you do a disservice to Victor by saying "He's not happy about it, but whatever." The thing is that he and Rick are sort of the opposite sides of the same coin: Ilsa has fallen in love with the same great man twice. But Victor is wiser than any of the other characters we meet: he has been through enough to understand the fallibility of the human soul. I think he understands exactly what Rick is telling him, and why, which is why he:
- Says "Welcome back to the fight".
- Finishes the exchange by expressly giving Ilsa the final word and agency in this powerful arc. Note that Ilsa whispers "God bless you" to Rick, which is how she ended her letter of farewell in Paris.
I would have said Ilsa has immense respect for Victor, which is why she couldn't abandon him, but romantic love for Rick.
The background to R & I's relationship is that they were uncertain times, so people were living for the moment, as indicated by the unwillingness to plan ahead.
Victor knows this which is why he simply asked if she was lonely - no judgement from him.
But isn't it true that (even with Laszlo standing next to her) she made it very clear that she wanted Rick. Think how that would make you feel to have your wife in the arms of another man, crying her eyes out as he's telling her 'you MUST go with him because you will regret it it you don't'"? ie. She left with her second choice. Am I correct?
@@ThePianoMan1953 I'd say it's a very real ending, but perfectly correct for the story. It isn't a happy ending, but there is no happy ending possible here.
The shadow of Rick will always hang over Victor and Ilsa. Whatever their relationship was before is another casualty of the war, since we can assume Ilsa and Rick would never have happened if Victor hadn't been assumed dead. Something else will have to grow from it. We don't know what that will be; but there's been a proper and positive closure between Rick and Ilsa, so no bitterness there. Victor is wiser than either of them, and I would say, wiser than we are: he's been through the most, and kept his ideals throughout. He'll know how to guide himself and Ilsa to a new wholeness.
(also, for what it's worth, he wasn't there for Rick's urging her to go with Victor; Renault witnessed that but not Victor).
@@melenatorr Wow, thank you for all of that! You are so correct! (I watched them pull up to the airport and, sure enough, Laszlo was not within earshot.) "a perfectly well thought-out scene by the writers." (I did not remember that detail of Laszlo walking away.) You are also correct that there was no way for all three to win in that situation but the ending was brilliantly written.
There seems to be a controversy of whether the final scene was or wasn't known by the director "during" the shooting of the film. One theory was that it "was" known, but kept from the actors so as to not affect their acting? I would be interested to know your take on that question.
It took me MANY multiple viewings over the decades to see that connection between the Paris note closing and Ilsa's farewell comment. Each time I watch I notice something new to me! "Good catch" as we say in journalism.
In a film full of memorable dialogue, my two favorite bits of acting are wordless. Watch Ilsa as she first hears ‘As Time Goes By’. Her expression is thousands of miles away; and Rick’s face as the young Bulgarian woman describes the noble sacrifice she is willing to do for love. His macho facade cracks and rage and self pity clenches his jaw. I mark that as the start of his transformation.
As big a sci-fi/fantasy nerd as I am, Casablanca is my all-time favorite movie. I never get tired of watching it.
I can't remember a time when I hadn't seen Casablanca.
My father was almost 21 when this movie was released. He saw it in an Army tent, having joined the Army a year earlier, just a month after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Interestingly, later on in the war my father was a medic stationed at a German POW camp in South Carolina. He got to know some prisoners there, including a German major. He liked the guy.
Must re-watch and watch again- it's the movie that keeps on giving you more gold each time.
This was the first date for my (now) wife and me. Since then, every New Year's Eve, we watch "Casablanca". We have it timed so that everyone stands up to sing "La Marseillaise" at the stroke of midnight, and that's when we pop the champagne. Our absolute favorite movie!
Casablanca is one of those films that has a remarkable presence through all of its film elements. one of the things that rarely gets noticed is the pacing and leading. Scenes are never forced but play out fairly natural. They never feel rushed. Dialogue is clear and focused towards the major aspects of plot, character, scene but it is covered in story and humor and drama just enough to make it easy to watch. You can really feel comfortable enough to get sucked into the story.
Dooley Wilson at the piano singing "As Time Goes By" is as iconic as a song can be and what you'd expect from such a cinematic masterpiece. It's right up there with Judy Garland singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." I'd rate Casablanca in the top 5 American movies ever made. Opinions vary and I wouldn't want to debate who the other four movies might be, but Casablanca deserves its place in that group.
My career was TV (I'm retired now), but my time in the industry helped me realize what was going on when I first saw this film as a teen in the 1970s. These great old movies were undervalued, the broadcast rights payments then were very small. The few TV stations that were on 24hrs a day showed them overnight before those insipid 'infomercials' were invented. Another vote for watching more films from this period..before CGI, all filmmakers had was writing & lighting.
Captain Renault, until the very end, was a survivalist. He was on whoever's side he was talking to hoping to survive the war. He was the kind of guy who wouldn't pick sides until the battle was over. It was a major change to support Rick instead of turning him in.
Yes, classic film. My grandpa used to refer to my grandmother as "Kid" when he was replying back to her sometimes.
Same thing with my uncle and his wife.... They were all products of that time period.
What an amazing film. The height of production, lighting, acting and drama.
"I remember every detail. The Germans wore grey, you wore blue." Classic.
Rick never worked with the Nazis'.
"Here's looking at you Kid" is a classic line and it is romantic.
An absolute classic! I'm glad you both enjoyed watching it. I completely agree about the "glow" in older films. There are many ways you can achieve it even now, but one way is with tights over the lens (if I remember right)
Every frame of this film is a better photograph than I'll ever take.
Casablanca is exactly as you have said, it is a timeless classic, ranking #2 on my list of all-time favorites, between 1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962) and 3. The French Connection (1971). The script is priceless and Bogey and Bergman are chemistry afire.
My favorite line is.....'Where were you last night'? Rick responds....'so long ago I don't remember.' She says 'Will I see you tonight'? Rick responds...'I never make plans that far ahead'.
Madeleine Leblanc was the young French actress crying during La Marseilles and the tears were and emotion in that scene were real.
I never get tired of Casablanca.
FYI: as others have mentioned, Ilsa is played by Ingrid Bergman- you may not know that her daughter became an actress when she grew up: Isabella Rossellini.
This is such a classic. I have loved it since I was a kid! The characters, the lines Bogart is one of film heroes. He was great in The Maltese Falcon also. One of my top 10! Congratulations again on reaching 30K!❤😊
Thank you!!😊
Since you were a kid? Here's looking at you kid?
African Queen
Another great Bogart movie.
My boss put “Favorite line from Casablanca” on the company dry erase board in the break room. Within a couple of hours there more more than forty.
I love Casablanca and grew up watching it. It's in my personal top three favorite movies. I give it a 5 out of 5. Truly one of the best films that has ever been made.
My all-time favorite. I could watch it any time.
I always appreciated the return to nobility of Rick's character. At the end he gave up Ilsa for her future and for the importance of Victor's work. But more than that he made sure Victor had no reason to question his relationship with Ilsa in the future. Rick knew Ilsa was still in love with him but for her future happiness with Victor created a story where Ilsa just pretended to be in love with him to protect Victor and then Rick made himself the villain of the story that took advantage of the situation and "let her pretend".
I always wondered what 'for my part..I let her pretend' really means...
I think Rick's return to nobility, as you put it, is what makes this movie. If the ending had Rick fly off with Ilsa instead, this would have been just another well-made 1940s movie, and quickly forgotten. Rick's sacrifice of his own happiness, for something greater, sets this movie apart (and I suspect that sacrifice is why this movie appeals to us men).
@@JJ_WAbsolutely agree. The movie was about a man recovering his idealism and engaging with the world. In 1942 when this movie came out, due to Pearl Harbor American opinion had just changed from the isolationism of the 30s to internationalism and recognition of the need to fight Fascism. The character arc in _Casablanca_ nicely mirrors that. That's why the music over the credits at the end of the movie was the anthem of the Free French _La Marseillaise_ and not _As Time Goes By_
@@blueboy4244that whole talk Rick had with Lazlo at the airfield was one man setting another man at ease about where he stood with his wife.
Lazlo knows Ilsa and Rick had a thing. He can tell there is still chemistry and feeling. And now he’s supposed to get on a plane and fly off with her. Rick is saying that for her part she was just putting on an act trying to get the transit papers. That she’s not really interested in Rick. But Rick was like I was still digging on her and let her pretend just to see for myself and realize that we only had a short fling years ago. So he’s like no worries Lazlo, your wife is yours and yours alone. She wants you and you alone. Peace of mind and soul to you as you leave here to continue your marriage and your work
for me it sounds like.. she was pretending and I let her pretend right into my bed... but that was pretty racey for 1942..so I never really understood@@td811
This is my sixth favorite movie of all-time, and is one of the two that I have seen the most.
when I first watched it. lo these many years ago... I thought the 'hill of beans' speech was the big moment in the film... only later did I recognize that 'welcome back to the fight' was the main theme/line of the movie. America before Pearl Harbor was decidedly isolationist...like Rick at the beginning of the film, despite being involved in WWI (like rick in Spain and Ethiopia prior).. but it took a surprise event to bring him to his senses and get him involved in the fight again... as did Pearl Harbor for America... I think if you read these many good comments - you will see the movie a bit differently and even better the next time
The man shot at the beginning is underground resistance. Berger, with the ring "for sale," is underground resistance.
A timeless romance. The cast and writing were excellent. For me, it's one of the greatest dramas pre-1950.
This movie came out in 1942 shortly before the US and Britain invaded North Africa. Casablanca became famous with that invasion and was perfect publicity for the movie
There ie NOTHING about this movie that isn't perfect! Script, cinematography, casting, music, costumes/wardrobe, heck, even the blocking!
And no man can be blamed for falling in love with Ingrid Bergman! ❤
Great reaction ladies!
A brilliant movie made and released when the outcome of the war looked to be firmly in the grasp of the Germans and Italians with the loss of France as the last major bastion on the European continent. Viewing the movie through the lens of hindsight and knowing that the Allies won takes away a lot of the tension and fear that was the undercurrent for the film when it was released. The era of black and white movies hold some of the greatest scripts, some of the greatest direction, editing, camerawork, and so much else because they lacked the "wonders" of digital FX that are used to try to distract attention away from so much substandard work in modern cinema. These movies are classic because they had to be. No shortcuts, no filler, no fixing it in post or scrapbooking together a finished product. These were master craftsmen and craftswomen giving their best. Which is why so many of my favorite movies are black and white classics.
Thank you!
Modern audiences have no concept of crossed telephone lines. Reynauld wasn’t tipping off Strasser. He was making a call to the airport. But the line got crossed and so Strasser got to hear what was going down (hence his initial perplexed reaction), while Reynauld had no idea he was spilling the beans. Things have gotten better since the 1940s.
I have to disagree there. I think the call to Strasser was deliberate. Back in the day, a "crossed line" had two different meanings. One is the one I suspect you're thinking of, where a telephone repairman might misconnect wire pairs, or a telephone operator might misconnect a call at the switchboard. Operators could also make multiple switchboard connections as an early way to set up a conference call.
Now it's possible an operator might be under standing orders to connect any call made by Renault to both his intended recipient AND Strasser as a way for Strasser to spy on Renault, but if so, I think there would be some indication in the movie.
The other meaning has to do with bare copper wires touching. Uninsulated wires were strung individually. A wire pair drop from a telephone pole was two bare wires strung in parallel to the house. If the wind caused the wires to touch, or cross, it shorted the connection, disrupting service. When your wires were crossed, you couldn't make or receive calls. My father's job as a kid was to uncross the wires when that happened. My grandparents kept a long stick handy. Poke the stick up between the wires and walk along from the house back towards the telephone pole, separating the wires, and you're back in service.
The script was brilliant, especially as they were writing it as the film went along and the actors didn't know how it would end.
Directed by the great Michael Curtiz. Despite their frequent on-set battles, Errol Flynn eventually said of him, "He made my career". Look up the list of films Curtiz directed...you won't believe the variety.
13:25 Lazlo mentioned previously that he ran guns to Ethiopia (which was being invaded by Fascist Italy) and fought for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. In both cases he was fighting against Fascism. Naziism is a form of Fascism.
Great movie and has so many layers to peel back. You can see Bogie's role as parallel to U.S.' formal neutrality prior to Pearl Harbor, but unofficially favoring the allies. Great acting by an all star cast. Bogie, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, Peter Lorre and others. Most of the minor characters were European refugees, including the actor playing Major Strasser. And, of course, a great love triangle story line.
Congratulations, #ForceOfLightEntertainment,on reaching 30K subscribers, and thanks so much for the awesome movie reaction. I'm still continuously supporting you ladies because your content is absolutely amazing, and also because I really enjoy watching your reactions to different movies.
Thank you!!
I agree with you 100% ladies, today's movies leave a lot to be desired.
Agreed , and the future of movies does not seem too promising with artificial intelligence being used more and more .
Casablanca was really just a perfect film, so glad you ladies enjoyed and reviewed it. If you decide to review more classics for your channel and have not seen them already. May I suggest The African Queen, and The Maltese Falcon, both with Humphrey Bogart. Maltese Falcon came out a year earlier then Casablanca and had most of the same actors, minus Ingrid Bergman, it was a great adaptation of a the classic detective novel by Samuel Dashiell Hammett.
When Renault listed Rick's history of gun running and fighting, Rick was fighting fascists. Since Nazis are fascists, they would know of him and not be friendly to him. That would be why Renault considers Rick to be a sentimentalist. Rick was spending his time fighting for what he believed was right, not for money or power. i suspect he's allowed to run the cafe in part because it's useful to the Nazis. For example, when they wanted to catch the guy who stole the documents, they caught him at Rick's and Rick did not interfere. It's easier to keep an eye on what's going on when you know where it's going on.
Yeah and kids throw the word around today like they know what they are talking about.
Note how Rick tells the matre' d to NOT tell him where he is going.
Rick knows that he is going to a secret meeting of the Resistance BUT this way, Rick can honestly say that he was never told where the man was headed if things went belly up.
One of the top five of all time.
Great movie. Ingrid was gorgeous.
Ingred Bergman hated having her left side being shown in her movies.
@@johnwest5837 But, it was the ONLY side they filmed(??)
@@ThePianoMan1953 Dear Piano man,I stand corrected it was her right side .
Still the greatest movie ever made
@@johnwest5837 It does make me wonder, how one side could be so different from the other?? Of course, you see her right side in passing, but not for long. It's interesting!
When she first came to Hollywood, "the suits' wanted her to change this and that about her face but she refused. She later claimed, unlike their other glitzy female 'stars', that she believed she was successful because of her 'girl next door' look. I'm sure, the film-goers would agree with her 100%.
Good writing, good acting, good directing - who needs the effects(or even color). It gets better every time you watch it. The "glow" around the women comes from shining light through gauze. I think it only works in black and white but what an effect. I first saw this in my 20s and thought it was good. Now it is my favorite movie. It ages very well indeed.
A lot of actresses in the 30's and 40's were filmed through a gauze mesh over the lens. It smoothed the skin tones without the use of heavy cosmetics. It did lend them a glow and a somewhat ethereal look. Old methods still worked in black and white. It wasn't as effective when the movies went to color.
Force Of Light Entertainment You are two of the most endearing people I know of on youtube.
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Thank you so much Justin! 💚
@@ForceOfLightEntertainment You're more than welcome Michelle and Natalie, I'm sending you both a virtual hug🫂💙
The advantage B&W film has over every evolution of Color film is the myriad of the shades of gray it will provide. You're right - the secret often lies in the Lighting. The great directors found blood was best filmed by substituting chocolate syrup. B&W also gave us the term 'Silver Screen'.
Ugarte: "Just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust" So many classic one liners. Great reaction ladies.
Thank you!!
Wrong context of one-liner. A one-liner is a witty remark, usually said in a joking manner or for comedic effect.
Yea, it seems like 20 % of the sentences are repeatable , sound very modern. ' shocked, shocked....
one the top 3 films of all time! I grew up seeing it, but as a kid, I just didn't get it at all. Wasn't til I was about 18 that I finally understood what a great film this was/is. A film you could watch once a month, and still not get tired of it.
Now you'll have to watch Humphrey Bogart's other classic, "The Maltese Falcon" from 1941. "Casablanca" is definitely among one of the all-time classic in film noir.
Thanks!
@@ForceOfLightEntertainment
I second @Phaota ; "The Maltese Falcon" is another film you could watch a hundred times and always still find something new in it that you've never noticed, just like "Casablanca."
BTW, about half the cast of "Falcon" went on to co-star together in "Casablanca." A great thing about the old studio system is that the various contracted actors worked together so often that they created a natural screen chemistry that re-ignited every time they appeared with each other in a new film. So, the cast of "Casablanca" was already a well-oiled machine, with a built-in chemistry, much like a small community theatre group.
Such a classic, havn't seen it in years, this and Gone with the Wind. You can't beat abit of Bogey and Bing! Especially at Christmas. For the longest time i fell in love with Gene Tierney in the Ghost and Mrs Muir, with Rex Harrison. Really good thoughts ladies.
and: “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”
I'm 46 years old and this has been one of my top 3 all time favorite movies since I was 10! Mr. Smith goes to Washington is also in my top 5!
I loved Madeleine Lebeau who played Yvonne, Rick's girlfriend who sings La Marseillaise, the French national anthem in the sing off. In real life, she and her husband, who played the croupier, had made the journey via Lisbon escaping the Nazis. Their marriage didn't last and after the war, she returned to France and starred in films. She was the last surviving member of the cast, dying only a few years ago in her 90s. Many of the cast were also refugees, especially Conrad Veidt who played the villain. He had starred in German silent films.
The lady your thinking of was the young Bulgarian she was 17 at the time of the movie she was the last person.
@@johnwest5837 Joy Page who played the Bulgarian Girl, Bogart and Dooley Wilson who played Sam are the Only American born Actors in the Starring Cast!
@@jamesalexander5623 Thanks,she was a great beauty and only 17 at the time.
@@johnwest5837 Thank you at least for involving me in the most esoteric disagreement I've had for years. You're talking about Joy Page who died in 2008. She was very good but best remembered as Jack Warner's step daughter. I had a big crush on Madeleine Lebeau who died in 2016.
@@michaelstill5184Your welcome and thank you too, Greatest movie ever made.
5 out of 5? Absolutely!