Casablanca - a classic to be remembered.

For many of us more mature movie fans (mature referring here to being old), Casablanca is the Number One movie ever made...for many reasons.

Every couple of years I end up watching it...usually by accident, having stumbled upon it already running on TCM. But to truly appreciate Casablanca, one must set aside 94 minutes of time, unplug the phone, and watch it from the beginning to the end.

Casablanca did win a few Oscars. Best Picture (1944), Best Director (Michael Curtiz), Best Screenplay (Julius Epstein, Phillip Epstein, Howard Koch). It was nominated for Best Actor (Humphrey Bogart), Best Supporting Actor (Claude Rains), Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Music. I’ve also read that the Screen Writers Guild declared that this was the best script ever written. With that in mind, here a few of my favorite lines and exchanges from the movie. Almost every line in this film is classic...here are just few.

Berger: We read five times that you were killed, in five different places.
Victor Laszlo: As you can see, it was true every single time.

Anina: Monsieur Rick, what kind of a man is Captain Renault?
Rick: Oh, he's just like any other man, only more so.

Ugarte: You despise me, don't you?
Rick: If I gave you any thought I probably would.

Yvonne: Where were you last night?
Rick: That's so long ago, I don't remember.
Yvonne: Will I see you tonight?
Rick: I never make plans that far ahead.

Captain Renault: What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.

Captain Renault: What is your nationality?
Rick: I'm a drunkard.
Captain Renault: That makes Rick a citizen of the world.

Rick: [to Ilsa] I wouldn't bring up Paris if I were you, it's poor salesmanship.

Rick: You know what I want to hear.
Sam: [lying] No, I don't.
Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me!
Sam: [lying] Well, I don't think I can remember...
Rick: If she can stand it, I can! Play it!
(Play it again, Sam was never said in Casablanca)

Rick: Who are you really, and what were you before? What did you do and what did you think, huh?
Ilsa: We said no questions.
Rick: ...Here's looking at you, kid.

Ferrari: Might as well be frank, monsieur. It would take a miracle to get you out of Casablanca, and the Germans have outlawed miracles.

Rick: Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she had to walk into mine.

Rick: Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Rick: How long was it we had, honey?
Ilsa: I didn't count the days.
Rick: Well, I did. Every one of them. Mostly, I remember the last one, the wild finish. A guy standing on a station platform in the rain, with a comical look on his face, because his insides have been kicked out.

Rick: You'll excuse me, gentlemen. Your business is politics, mine is running a saloon.

Captain Renault: I've often speculated why you don't return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with a senator's wife? I like to think you killed a man. It's the Romantic in me.
Rick: It was a combination of all three.

Rick: If it's December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?
Sam: My watch stopped.

Captain Renault: [to Rick regarding Ilsa] She was asking about you earlier in a way that made me very jealous...

Rick: Why did you come back? To tell me why you ran out on me at the railway station?
Ilsa: ...Yes.
Rick: Well, you can tell me now. I'm reasonably sober.

It starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet, and Conrad Veidt provide an extraordinary supporting cast. There is also a rich list of secondary characters, each and every one outstanding...and making Casablanca one of the best movies ever made.

A note or two on the cinematography for which Arthur Edeson was nominated for an Oscar. It is in black and white, and may be considered film noir. But when you watch Casablanca, look for the details and elements behind the actors. The shadows, the nuiances of lighting and character placement, the soft-focus closeups. In several scenes, shadows on the walls tell their own story. Palm frawns, an exotic dancer at the Blue Parrot, a shadow of the parrot and perch itself, Rick opening his office safe. These cinemagraphic techniques are still used today by our top film makers. One example of an homage to this shadow technique: when Speilberg’s Indiana Jones first walks into Marian’s bar in Nepal.

I’m greatly anticipating The Good German (opening Friday). It is said to be very reminiscent of Casablanca.

Everyone Comes to Ricks was the title of the unproduced play that was renamed Casablanca for the film. That’s also a Captain Renualt line in the movie.

Every one should see Casablanca. No CG, no monsters, no blood, no Aikido fights, no on-screen sex, no explosions. Just highly stylized movie making in its most classic form.

A classic to be remembered.