Casablanca (1942)
To most people, Casablanca represents one of the most famous and greatest love stories of all time. To me, Casablanca represents a B-picture so many movie stars thought would flop they turned it down. I’ve never liked this movie, but I probably would have liked it better had it been the original choices: Ronald Reagan and Hedy Lamarr. At least I would have gotten some good eye candy out of it! Neither Ingrid Bergman nor Paul Henreid wanted to be in the movie, and it shows. Ingrid and Humphrey Bogart look like they can’t stand each other, and when Ingrid requests for him to kiss her for the last time, you can practically see him gritting his teeth. Maybe he resented having to stand on a box and sit on pillows because audiences wouldn’t invest themselves in a romance where the woman was taller than the man.
I’ve never understood why this movie was elevated so much. It’s a simple love triangle with nothing extraordinary about Ingrid and Humph’s romance to make the audience root for them. He’s depressing, angry, and wasting away at the bar; why should she leave her wealthy, classy boyfriend to wallow away in the gutter? I realize I’m rehashing Meg Ryan’s argument in When Harry Met Sally, and that some man reading this review is chuckling to himself thinking I obviously don’t understand. However, if the audience was supposed to understand Ingrid’s conflict, the studio should have either cast an irresistibly sexy actor or director Michael Curtiz should have given his actors lessons in chemistry. Curtiz had worked with Errol Flynn on a number of occasions; why wasn’t he used instead? Then I’d understand!
If you’ve never seen this oldie, it is worth watching at least once. In all honesty, I fell asleep during my first viewing. I tried to stay awake the next time, though, for the supporting cast. S.Z. Sakall, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Dooley Wilson, John Qualen, and of course Claude Rains. Claude is the only one who looks like he’s having fun during the movie, probably because he gets to say the famous, “Round up the usual suspects.” Yes, Humph gets to say, “Here’s looking at you, kid,” and “Of all the gin joints…” “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon…” and “We’ll always have Paris,” but he doesn’t seem to enjoy himself. Poor Ingrid doesn’t really get anything memorable, except her hat and trench coat.
If after you’ve seen it, you don’t know what all the fuss is about, you can come over to my house and I’ll show you some really romantic classics. Movies like Enchantment, Enchanted Cottage, Carrie, and Hold Your Man never get put on the top of any romantic list, although they deserve to. Perhaps this movie is so enduring because other movies keep paying homage to it. If Play It Again, Sam, A Little Romance, and When Harry Met Sally would have picked a different classic to honor, maybe everyone would have forgotten about Casablanca by now.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Sara Corales" for posting!
More Ingrid Bergman movies here!
I’ve never understood why this movie was elevated so much. It’s a simple love triangle with nothing extraordinary about Ingrid and Humph’s romance to make the audience root for them. He’s depressing, angry, and wasting away at the bar; why should she leave her wealthy, classy boyfriend to wallow away in the gutter? I realize I’m rehashing Meg Ryan’s argument in When Harry Met Sally, and that some man reading this review is chuckling to himself thinking I obviously don’t understand. However, if the audience was supposed to understand Ingrid’s conflict, the studio should have either cast an irresistibly sexy actor or director Michael Curtiz should have given his actors lessons in chemistry. Curtiz had worked with Errol Flynn on a number of occasions; why wasn’t he used instead? Then I’d understand!
If you’ve never seen this oldie, it is worth watching at least once. In all honesty, I fell asleep during my first viewing. I tried to stay awake the next time, though, for the supporting cast. S.Z. Sakall, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Dooley Wilson, John Qualen, and of course Claude Rains. Claude is the only one who looks like he’s having fun during the movie, probably because he gets to say the famous, “Round up the usual suspects.” Yes, Humph gets to say, “Here’s looking at you, kid,” and “Of all the gin joints…” “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon…” and “We’ll always have Paris,” but he doesn’t seem to enjoy himself. Poor Ingrid doesn’t really get anything memorable, except her hat and trench coat.
If after you’ve seen it, you don’t know what all the fuss is about, you can come over to my house and I’ll show you some really romantic classics. Movies like Enchantment, Enchanted Cottage, Carrie, and Hold Your Man never get put on the top of any romantic list, although they deserve to. Perhaps this movie is so enduring because other movies keep paying homage to it. If Play It Again, Sam, A Little Romance, and When Harry Met Sally would have picked a different classic to honor, maybe everyone would have forgotten about Casablanca by now.
Want to watch it? Click here to see it on ok.ru and thanks "Sara Corales" for posting!
More Ingrid Bergman movies here!