Casablanca

The greatest movie of all time? Quite possibly in my opinion. When I first saw this movie it changed my life. How can a movie change someones life you ask? Well,I was one of those people that would never watch a movie if it was in black and white. Always figured old movies couldn't live up to modern movies. But then I saw Casablanca and it opened my eyes. The movie is amazing. Made me realize that you don’t need color or the latest technology to make a great movie. Just need a good story, great script, and great acting. Very rarely do you get the trifecta of all three coming together. This movie also proves that you can make a romantic movie without it being a sappy story. I always say I love action and adventure movies so it seems weird that I consider a romantic movie as the greatest movie of all time. What makes it so great is that it doesn't feel like a romantic movie.

The movie is about Rick (Humphrey Bogart at his best) an owner of a saloon in Casablanca during early WWII. The town is full of corruption, gambling, and underground trafficking. As people are fleeing France and the rest of Europe during the Nazi invasions, people are coming to Casablanca to try to get to the United States . Ricks American saloon is the place a lot of the underworld comes to do business and gamble. Rick is a cynical man who takes no sides in politics or the law, as long as no one disturbs the peace in the saloon. The head of police in Casablanca is Captain Renault (Claude Rains). He is corrupt and an easily bribed man. One of the refugees that end up coming to Casablanca and to Ricks is Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband. Rick and Ilsa had been lovers in pre-war Paris, but she had left him as he fled from France during the invasion. Her appearance with her husband in Casablanca stirs up some old feelings of love and hate for Rick. He still loves her but can’t forgive her for leaving him, and now he is faced with the choice of either to help or not help her and her husband flee from the Nazi’s that are after them. It's a romance complicated by war, greed, politics, and morality.

What makes this story work is the acting and the script. It is amazing that the script is that good. It was rewritten a bunch of times. It was originally based on a play that was never produced then Julius and Philip Epstein started writing a script and when they started having trouble the producers asked Howard Koch to write a script. Then Casey Robinson looked over both scripts and combined them adding a little romance that he thought was missing from both. Usually when a script goes through this many changes it a good bet that it is going to be a bad movie. Especially since the script wasn’t even finished when the movie started shooting. They were never sure how the movie should end. In the 80’s the script was sent to readers under a different title and some who did not recognize it said it was “not good enough to make a decent movie”, “too much dialogue”, and “not enough sex”. Yet the movie is considered the best screenplay of all time. Somehow it all worked. The dialogue is great. It has some of the best lines in movie history. It is quick, witty, and fun. Even during the romantic parts it is not too cheesy. But it’s also the actors that bring the script to life that makes it work. You can have the best script in the world but if you have bad actors it’s just not going to work. Bogart gives one of his best performances as Rick. He has the tough guy persona and yet he can show his sensitive side. Claude Rains is amazing also. As the corrupt Captain Renault he delivers some of the best lines in the movie so easily. While the movie focus’s on Rick and Ilsa the friendly banter and honor among thieves friendship of Renault and Rick give the movie some humor and some tension. You really need to watch the movie a bunch of times to catch all the little one liners in there. The score was also amazing. Max Steiner is probably one of the greatest early composers of movie scores. Besides for Casablanca he also scored, Gone With the Wind, King Kong, Arsenic and Old Lace and tons of other movies. He was nominated 24 times for an Academy Award and only won 3. But his scores are amazing and truly helps the mood of all the movies.

The movie won Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. How it didn't win any acting awards is a mystery. Max Steiner's score was also nominated but didn't win.
The movie is on a number of lists as being the greatest movies of all time. On AFI’s Top 100 list it was #2 the first year and #3 when they did their 10th year edition. Why the fall? I don’t know. I think it should have been number 1 both times. It is much better then Citizen Kane. It was listed as the #1 romance movie and #37 on the thrillers list. It also had 6 entries in the Greatest Movie lines more then any other movie.
Some of my favorite lines. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns, in all the world she walks into mine”.

When the Germans order Captain Renault to close Ricks
Rick: How can you close me up? What Grounds?
Captain Renault: “I’m Shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in here!”
(someone hands Renault a pile of money)
Croupier: Your winnings sir
Captain Renault: ”Oh, Thank you very much.”

Last Lines of the movie “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”

Overall a great movie and a must see for all movie fans.