#69 Casablanca

Genre: melodrama

Director: Michael Curtiz

Writer: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch, Casey Robinson

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid

Music by: Max Steiner

Duration: approximately 6,000 seconds

The classic and much-loved romantic melodrama Casablanca (1942), always found on top-ten lists of films, is a masterful tale of two men vying for the same woman's love in a love triangle. The story of political and romantic espionage is set against the backdrop of the wartime conflict between democracy and totalitarianism. [The date given for the film is often given as either 1942 and 1943. That is because its limited premiere was in 1942, but the film did not play nationally, or in Los Angeles, until 1943.]

With rich and smoky atmosphere, anti-Nazi propaganda, Max Steiner's superb musical score, suspense, unforgettable characters (supposedly 34 nationalities are included in its cast) and memorable lines of dialogue (e.g., "Here's lookin' at you, kid," and the inaccurately-quoted "Play it again, Sam"), it is one of the most popular, magical (and flawless) films of all time - focused on the themes of lost love, honor and duty, self-sacrifice and romance within a chaotic world...

6 comments

#1, by Cottage, on 16 November 2012, 9:06 pm

thanks for reviewing this one, tim..:)

#2, by Hania, on 19 November 2012, 10:37 pm

'Casablanca'? Seriously?
When I can't come round?...
You've gotta make me a copy! ;)

Anyway, have fun on Thursday. I'll be watching 'The Silence of the Lambs' at that time :)

#3, by Cottage, on 20 November 2012, 4:24 pm

it'd be illegal.. are u encouraging me to break the law? u should know that no teacher is capable of this..;)

#4, by Hania, on 20 November 2012, 7:53 pm

Of course I'm not encouraging you to break the law!
I'm just looking for any possibilities to watch this piece of art I've never came across. But since I don't know when I'll fix my time table, so I can come back home more regularly, I don't want to lent it from you and keep it forever. Someone might like to watch it as well ;)
If it was on sites like iplex.pl, where you can watch movies for free (after ads at the beginning and then in the middle of a movie), I would do it.

And yeah, no teacher is capable.. that's why I'm not taking my pen-drive for classes tomorrow, because I'm not getting a scanned version of a book we're supposed to read right from my literature teacher... ;) Not to mention who actually suggested it...

You know, sharing is caring :)

#5, by Cottage, on 25 November 2012, 10:22 am

seen on filmweb that u enjoyed 'the silence of the lambs' as well as 'casablanca'.. i must say that now's time to watch 'hannibal' to find out what great delicacy dr lecter enjoys best..;)

#6, by Hania, on 26 November 2012, 8:34 pm

As soon as I read 'The Silence of the Lambs' by Thomas Harris, I'm going to catch up with all Hannibal's movies.
But I need to be in the right mood. Maybe after I donate some blood... ;)