A kiss is just a kiss...a sigh is just ah sigh
This film is my #3 all time favorite film. (#1 being Titanic and #2 being When Harry Met Sally...just in case your curious).
How is it possible that such a film as this was created in 1942...?
I find myself picturing the world back then, and it seems Casablanca surely was ahead of it's time...I think that's part of the charm of it all. But even if I didn't know the year it was made, I would still be entangled in this web...here is a snip of it:
Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz and based on the unpublished stage play Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. The film stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid; and featuresClaude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in the words of one character, "love and virtue". He must choose between his love for a woman and helping her Czech Resistance leader husband escape the Vichy-controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Nazis.
Story editor Irene Diamond convinced producer Hal Wallis to purchase the film rights of the play in January 1942. Brothers Julius J.and Philip G. Epstein were initially assigned to write the script. However, despite studio resistance, they left after the attack on Pearl Harbor to work on Frank Capra's Why We Fight series. Howard Koch was assigned to the screenplay until the Epsteins returned.Casey Robinson assisted with three weeks of rewrites, but his work would later go uncredited. Wallis chose Curtiz to direct the film after his first choice, William Wyler, became unavailable. Filming began on May 25, 1942, and ended on August 3, and was shot entirely at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, and at Van Nuys Airport in Van Nuys.
Although Casablanca was an A-list film with established stars and first-rate writers, no one involved with its production expected it to be anything out of the ordinary.[1] It was just one of hundreds of pictures produced by Hollywood every year. Casablanca had its world premiere on November 26, 1942 in New York City, and was released on January 23, 1943, in the United States. The film was a solid if unspectacular success in its initial run, rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier.[2] Despite a changing assortment of screenwriters adapting an unstaged play, barely keeping ahead of production, and Bogart attempting his first romantic leading role, Casablanca won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Its lead character,[3][4] memorable lines,[5][6][7] and pervasive theme song[8] have all become iconic. The film has consistently ranked near the top of lists of the greatest films of all time
A great movie!!
ReplyDelete