CASABLANCA (1942) A

I am not a fan of (classic) movies because of my early experiences in the children's section of movie theaters. Many of the "classic" dramas I watched at that time were unbelievably and painfully boring. Watching Casablanca may change me.

Back to 1942, when I was nine years old, the comedies and action adventure movies were not boring. Abbot and Costello, Frankenstein and all the rest (except Bob Hope) were wonderful. However, one drama did stand out because of the profound effect it had on my thinking. " I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang (1932)". was a gritty, uncompromising, critical look at the unjust and barbaric treatment of criminals in southern state's prison system following World War I. The harsh and grim film was one of the first of Warner Bros.' films of social conscience, reform and protest during the early 30s (at the height of the Depression-era). 

 But again, a couple of years ago I was turned away from the "classics" after viewing a snippet of the Chain Gang movie on TV. I found the story still good but the acting, direction, cinematography and music, horrid.

But Casablanca is different. The acting, especially by Claude Rains, was great. It moved fast and the story (considering the time it was written) wonderful. However, It was a little heavy handed and predictable, especially after 65 years. The camera shots of Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart being "bogey', good guys vs bad guys, lovers separated by war . . . a tear jerking selling point in 1942. I'm crying even as I write this review. Even the music was somewhat integrated with the plot . . . "you must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss". *(see below)

Casablanca won the Oscar for the best movie but was not popular immediately after release. The director of the movie was Michael Curtiz. Curtiz was a Hungarian Jewish emigre; he had come to the U.S. in the 1920s, but some of his family were refugees from Nazi Europe. Other movies by Curtiz include:

Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) with James Cagney and Walter Huston
Mildred Pierce (1945) with Joan Crawford and Ann Blyth
Night and Day (1946) with Cary Grant as Cole Porter
The Breaking Point (1950) with John Garfield and Patricia Neal
I'll See You in My Dreams (1951), a biopic of composer and lyricist Gus Kahn, with Doris Day and Danny Thomas
White Christmas (1954) with Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney
The Egyptian (1954) with Jean Simmons, Victor Mature and Gene Tierney
We're No Angels (1955) with Humphrey Bogart and Peter Ustinov
King Creole (1958) with Elvis Presley and Walter Matthau
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1960) with Eddie Hodges, Tony Randall and Patty McCormick
The Comancheros (1961) with John Wayne and Stuart Whitman



* "As Time Goes By" is a song written by Herman Hupfeld for the 1931 Broadway musical, Everybody's Welcome. In the original show it was sung by Frances Williams. It was recorded that year by several artists, including Rudy Vallee.
The song was re-introduced in 1942 in the film Casablanca, sung by Dooley Wilson. Wilson never released a single of the song because of a musicians' strike at the time of the film's release — but a re-issue of Rudy Vallee's 1931 recording became a major seller in 1942.