here's looking at you, kid...as my writer andy, remember every detail...the germans wore grey, you wore blue...Humphrey Bogart to Ingrid Bergman

Casablanca (1942)"I remember every detail. The Germans wore grey, you wore blue."

*** According To writer andrew katsis, "This review may contain spoilers" ***

"Casablanca..."

Ah, 'Casablanca.' What other film can evoke such powerful feelings of nostalgia, can exemplify so completely the golden period of Hollywood film-making? The year was 1942, and the world found itself in the midst of the bloodiest conflict in modern history. Unlike anything our generation could possibly imagine, citizens were faced with an incredible uncertainty about their future. The Nazis marched across Europe, an astonishing, seemingly-unstoppable enemy, and the United States watched with bated breath from across the Atlantic.

Casablanca

Most Hollywood productions responded to such ambiguity with fully-fledged, unabashed patriotism, and war-time filmmakers became obsessed with validating audiences' beliefs that the Allied forces would inevitably win out against Germany, and, indeed, many often concluded their pictures with unnecessary epilogues in which we've apparently already won.
Such propaganda, while no doubt ensuring commercial success from war-weary cinema-goers, has regularly tarnished and outdated even the most otherwise-impressive contemporary WWII pictures, as the directors' willingness to simulate a happy ending strikes distinctly false from an era in which the overwhelming atmosphere was that of uncertainty and insecurity (see: Billy Wilder's" "Five Graves to Cairo..." " (1943).

This is not to say that 'Casablanca (1942)' is not a work of American patriotism; indeed, it might just be the greatest example. The film owes its enduring legacy to how seamlessly director Michael Curtiz, and his troupe of writers and actors, was able to encapsulate the sentiment of the time in which the picture was made.

louie, this look like the beginning Of a beautiful...friend-ship

[The Story ends with Rick and Renault strolling resolute into the thick mist, their futures obscured by the fog of uncertainty that hovers before their faces.]

What will the next few turbulent years have in store for these heroes? Will they be overwhelmed by the enemy, or continue their noble fight for freedom? Following Operation Torch, the 1942 Allied invasion of North Africa, there were plans to film one of those dreaded propagandistic epilogues, showing Rick, Renault and a detachment of Free French soldiers on a ship. Owing to Claude Rains' fortuitous unavailability for filming, the original ending was left intact, and producer David O. Selznick was never more correct than when he concluded "it would be a terrible mistake to change the ending."
___________________________________________________

Of all the gin joints, in all Of the worlds she walks in mine...

When 'Casablanca' was first conceived, the filmmakers apparently had little idea they were about to produce one of cinema's best-loved pictures. A prime example of the studio-bound exotica that was popular at the time, and obviously a war-time off-shoot of Howard Hawks' Colombian aviation adventure 'Only Angels Have Wings (1939)' – perhaps also John Cromwell's 'Algiers (1938),' which I unfortunately haven't seen – the film reproduced the stuffy, humid climate and seedy, corrupt personalities of Morocco on the Warner Bros. sets, which ironically communicate more romantic charm than the real location could ever have provided.

Here's to happier times...

The film was shot by veteran cinematographer Arthur Edeson, who had previously worked on the wonderfully-atmospheric 'All Quiet on the Western Front (1930),' 'Frankenstein (1931)' and 'The Maltese Falcon (1941).' His perfectly-framed photography suggests a mixture of stuffy melodrama, glamorous adventure and shadowy noir, though, interestingly, he avoids the sordidness of the latter style's successors, despite the wealth of suitably-seedy characters to be found in Casablanca.

Oh! Richard where ever they put me or where ever you...

Framed through Edeson's lens, it seems that even the most squalid and repulsive of personalities can take on a curious facade of nobility.

A letter Of good-bye...Dear Richard...

I love you, but Rick pays me...

No less than six people had a hand in the film's justly-celebrated screenplay. The story was based on a then-unproduced play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, "Everybody Comes to Rick" and was adapted for the screen by Julius and Philip Epstein and Howard Koch, with uncredited input by Casey Robinson.

 The Epstein twins were initially keen to give the film a few comedic elements; this would, no doubt, have made for entertaining viewing, not unlike a Howard Hawks picture, but might have detracted from the story's core themes of love, loyalty, regret, moral responsibility and self-sacrifice.

Bogie, plane watching and dreaming...

Koch had perhaps a clearer understanding of the director's preferences – another wonderful film from Curtiz, 'Angels with Dirty Faces (1938),' also poses a vital moral dilemma – and chose to focus largely on the politics and melodrama of Burnett and Alison's play.

That so many conflicting artistic ideas somehow melded together, not only into a cohesive narrative, but also into history's greatest screenplay, is a miracle to be credited only to the cinema gods, particularly in view of the fact that Curtiz commenced filming with an incomplete script that was updated daily.

play it Sam, for old time-sake...

Perhaps another possible explanation for the film's unlikely legacy lies with the distinguished cast, borrowed from all over Europe. Humphrey Bogart, Dooley Wilson and Joy Page were the sole American "imports," and assorted supporting talents were plundered from the United Kingdom (Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet), Sweden (Ingrid Bergman),

victor laslo...There is no passport from "Casablanca..."

Austria (Paul Henreid), Hungary (Peter Lorre) and even Germany (Conrad Veidt).

The Noble Bogart...

Bogart, who had been typecast throughout the 1930s as a lowlife gangster, had been given the opportunity to show some humanity in Raoul Walsh' film noir 'High Sierra (1941),' but it was 'Casablanca' that proved his first genuinely romantic role, and, with several notable exceptions, the remainder of his acting career would comprise of similarly-noble yet flawed heroes.

Ingrid Sparkling with compassion and sadness...

Bergman, despite having a rather passive role, was never more enchanting than as Ilsa Lund, and, photographed with a softening gauze filter and catch lights, positively sparkles with gentle compassion and a tragic sadness.

Perhaps it's just the romantic in me, but 'Casablanca' represents one of Hollywood's most unforgettable accomplishments. Even as the film draws to a majestic close, and two men forge a lifelong friendship in the fog-ridden uncertainty of War, we immediately feel like asking Sam to play it again… just for old time's sake.

Bogart News..."Casablanca" won an Oscar@ for Best Picture in 1942..."Coming Up: Next Month...Bogie's Film Festival From May 02-May 05, 2013...

In order to find more information just follow the link...
Humphrey Bogart's Film Festival in May...05/02-05/05 2013 
to watch scenes from “Casablanca” just follow the link to:

darkness-to-light "Casablanca..."

...and to find out more about: The Festival and The Location and Bogie's merchandise: posters and t-shirts and The man and most importantly, The Reason...The [wonderful] Films just visit Bogie's website. [The image[s] Of Bogie are courtesy Of the Humphrey Bogart @estate] Thank-you,

Gary Tooze...Compare "Casablanca" dvds...
 Gary Tooze...look at "Casablanca" on blu-ray...