It is a shame that today’s movies can’t hold a candle to the cinema of yesteryear. Movies like Hotel Transylvania 2, Pixels, and The Maze Runner invade our screens and only occasionally are interrupted by a great movie. Kids disregard true movie magic in favor of animation and repetitive action sequences. The imperative of making a great film is often overridden by producers’ tendency to stick to the status quo. The movies of the mid 20th century managed to achieve commercial success while still creating great art.
In marking the beginning of a running segment entitled “Classic Movie Reviews with Big D,” it’s hard not to recognize Casablanca as a great film. Romance, drama, and comedy are just a few of the genres represented in Michael Curtiz’s “Casablanca”. It is a classic and much-loved film by people of all ages and still to this day manages to find itself on the top-ten lists of the greatest films ever made. Casablanca is a movie that defied all expectations. The creative minds involved in making the movie never thought it would surpass their expectations: an “A-list” production with a decent cast produced on a tight budget.
Zachary Limaye 18′ had a lot to say about this classic flick, “[Casablanca] was intriguing and had a stellar ending. The director did a masterful job in producing a film that was ahead of its time.”
Casablanca is a tale of two men in a love triangle vying for the love of the same woman. Set during the earlier days of WWII in Casablanca, Morocco, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) meets Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), with unforeseen complications. The plot revolves around the highly wanted yet hard to attain freedom in America, a possibility Rick fulfills after the arrest and death of Ugarte (Peter Lorre). After Lund and her husband Victor Laszlo (Henreid) show up in Rick’s club, trouble brews and the unresolved love between Rick and Ilsa is revived.
In addition to being adored by it’s many fans, critics had a lot to say about this film as well, “An undisputed masterpiece and perhaps Hollywood’s quintessential statement on love and romance, Casablanca has only improved with age, boasting career-defining performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.” – Rotten Tomatoes.
After dusting off the old DVD case of the 70th-anniversary edition of Casablanca, I had trouble remembering what was so great about the film until I popped it into the DVD player and watched the beginning scene. I was reminded of the rich history behind the making the film, facts about the movie like Ingrid Bergman not knowing until the very end of shooting who her character was really supposed to be in love with (something she “complained bitterly about” because of the difficulty it added to her acting task) or how Dooley Wilson, who played Sam the piano player, could not really play the piano. It is odd, little idiosyncrasies that I absolutely love about the film, adding to the perspective when watching the movie.
Overall, the members involved in making the film did a brilliant job in producing the film we know and love so much today. The film won three oscars and was nominated eight times; the awards for best picture, director, and writing and screenplay were all given to Michael Curtiz, the Epstein twins, and Howard Koch. The producers of the film concentrated on showing us that the characters in the movie are forced to live during a complex time and place. Their addition of the supporting characters to the movie, characters like a young woman willing to go the extra mile for freedom, a corrupt club owner, and even a thief, set the stage for the other character’s actions and decisions.
Sources: www.imdb.com, www.rottentomatoes.com
