Oldie Review - Casablanca

Director: Michael Curtiz
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 102 minutes
Year: 1942
Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lorre, Paul Henreid, Claude Reins, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, S.Z. Sakall, Madeleine LeBeau, Dooley Wilson, Joy Page, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey, Curt Bois
 
Description: A cynical American expatriate (Humphrey Bogart) struggles to decide whether or not he should help his former lover (Ingrid Bergman) and her fugitive husband (Paul Henreid) escape French Morocco.

Review: I don’t think there is any other production in movie history with so many unforgettable one-liners as “Casablanca”. “Here’s looking at you kid”, “Play it Sam”, “Louis I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” have all become classic statements that are still engraved in the collective film memory so many years later.
“Casblanca”, from 1942, was made while the Second World War was still in full swing and is about Rick Blaine, café owner in Casablanca, a place of transition where Europeans tried to flee the continent to come to the United States. Blaine is an opportunist who lost most of his faith in humanity because of past events. That changes when resistance fighter Victor Laszlo and his wife Ilsa Lund arrive in Casablance. Blaine and Lund have a shared history that is brought back to life by their sudden reunion.
While many classics struggle to stand the test of time, “Casablanca” is different. The fantastic screenplay by the brothers Julius and Philip Epstein and Howard Koch still stands strong and has a pleasantly fast pace that ensures that the film doesn’t collapse for a moment. There is simply no time for that with all the witty one-liners constantly spoken by the characters.
But what really makes “Casablanca” the ultimate film classic is the chemistry between the two main characters. Humphrey Bogart was never better than the sullen Rick Blaine, who sees the fire in his heart rekindle by the return of a lost love. And in the face of Ingrid Bergman, pictured at its best by the stylistic rules of the American studio system of course, you could easily drown. The magic between the two is still unparalleled and is no other less than film magic. Nobody should miss the chance to see this film. And I was a little ashamed that, as a self-named movie nerd, I hadn’t seen it before. Check on my bucket list.

Rating: 5 / 5