WATCH ALONG: Casablanca
Added 2021-06-27 13:59:00 +0000 UTCIt looks like you can stream it on HBO Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime, and possible Youtube!
Comments
Really glad you enjoyed this one. It's not just a classic film; it's one that has something for everyone: suspense, comedy, romance, and some very pretty people. (Which, thanks to whoever got you that hat. It's quite fetching.) Another older movie I'd recommend, not a thriller, just a light comedy, is Harvey, starring Jimmy Stewart.
Kevin Mowery
2021-06-28 18:41:11 +0000 UTCAnd, worth noting about the scene with the French anthem: Most of those extras were actually French expatriates who fled Nazi occupation of France.
Kevin Mowery
2021-06-28 18:35:22 +0000 UTCFun fact: My grandfather saw Casablanca when it came out, while in the army and was in the town of Casablanca .
SplinterTME
2021-06-28 17:05:48 +0000 UTCThe battle of the two national anthems is my favorite scene, it gets me every time. And all the layers - the French woman who had cozied up to the Nazi when Rick dumped her, now weeping to show she regrets her choice and is coming back to her side - reminds me of all the French women who had their heads shaved in disgrace for fraternizing with the Nazis while they were in France. And what an example of how Victor immediately and instinctively jumps in and does the right thing to keep the bully Nazis from intimidating or demoralizing everyone else, and the side of good triumphs, the Germans give up and sit down - their selfishness can't compete with hope and love. (Also, side note: I love that Karl himself, and the German couple heading to America that he drinks with, are there to show the clear distinction that there are also "good" Germans the Nazis don't represent - that it's not the people that are bad but rather this murderous regime.) Visually I love all the use of shadows and silhouettes - go back and count the number of palm leaves or even the parrot at the Blue Parrot are shown as shadows in the background - and the use of camera movement. Also after seeing this film countless times, it was amazing to notice that the Bulgarian couple are shown twice in Casablanca before their scene in Rick's. How many different characters and subplots are layered in yet all are clear and all get their own development, is the kind of strength modern writers have seemingly forgotten all about. And after all this time it's really about the struggle of one man and whether he'll regain his ideals or remain cynical after having his heart broken. WWII and "neutral" Casablanca are the perfect setting for Rick's (supposedly) "only looking out for myself" stance that is forced by circumstances to change - times like these demand he pick a side. I'm a life-long movie nerd, even got my degree in film; I have other personal favorites, but if you ask me to pick one film out of the 100+ years of cinema as the best of all, Casablanca is my pick.
Mark
2021-06-28 08:07:27 +0000 UTCGreat watch along! I love the fact that you didn't know in advance how the movie ended. In addition to the classic quotes you mentioned, another classic quote is "Play it again, Sam" -- despite the fact that that exact phrasing never actually appears in the movie. The song that Sam plays, "When Time Goes By," is also a classic.
Wally Hartshorn
2021-06-28 04:53:35 +0000 UTCUh, Gaslight, anyone? Yet another killer role for Bergman, but VERY different. Also worth checking out her last role, if you can find it, in A Woman Called Golda. Speaking for myself, if she digs Claude Raines, there’s The Invisible Man, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and the 1940s Phantom of the Opera. He was very much an Everyman in Hollywood in the 40s.
Matthew Periolat
2021-06-28 04:19:23 +0000 UTCYay! I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for another fun watch along! Part of what I love about older movies is the quick and witty dialog, and the way old movies have an abrupt end. A couple old movie favorites of mine that I haven't seen mentioned are His Girl Friday and The Thin Man. I think you'd love them both!
Lynnetta
2021-06-28 02:47:55 +0000 UTCIt was so much fun watching along with you. A sidebar note: The actress who played Yvonne, Rick’s other girlfriend, actually fled France when the Nazis invaded. So when you see her weep during the playing of “Le Marseillaise”, those tears are real. When she died in 2016 at the age of 92, she was the last surviving cast member of “Casablanca”. Also, Ingrid Bergman never looked as beautiful as she did in this.
Richard Meyer
2021-06-28 00:34:17 +0000 UTCOH again! You are so cute in that fedora! Go girl!
Mo Vetta
2021-06-27 20:26:06 +0000 UTCOh! and I would also highly recommend Key Largo with Bogart and Lauren Bacall. A fantastic film.
Mo Vetta
2021-06-27 20:25:02 +0000 UTCIt was so much fun to watch this with you! I hadn't seen it in quite some time and I am so glad you are discovering the classics of cinema. May I suggest (again!) a wonderful comedy called "Born Yesterday" (1950) starring the incomparable Judy Holliday. You will LOVE her performance!
Mo Vetta
2021-06-27 20:22:34 +0000 UTCMovie trivia is only boring when the trivia is false. I'm not saying this bit of trivia is false. 😘
Opti_Frog
2021-06-27 20:12:23 +0000 UTCWell, this movie is one of the best of all time, without question. The writing, the acting, the whole nine yards. I am shocked, shocked I say, to see another convert. What’s amazing is the timing. The movie came out in 1942, the US had only been in WWII for months easily, so lots of subtle messaging. Maybe not so subtle. And here’s a useless fact - you say this is old? Remember, Gone With the Wind and Wizard of Oz came out in 1939, three years before this. Here’s another: Ingrid Bergman, who played Ilsa, was interviewed years later and was asked if she knew at the time they were making a classic. Her response was amazing: “Oh, my dear… it was a nightmare. They were rewriting the script every day and giving us new pages, scenes and lines to learn. I finally got so desperate that I went up to the writers and ‘I can’t go on like this, you have to tell me who my character really loves, is it Victor or is it Rick?’. They replied ‘We haven’t decided yet, just play it cool.’.” And it’s legendary. Oh, yes, I am a bit of a movie buff and I love stories like that. I’ll try not to bore.
Matthew Periolat
2021-06-27 19:41:08 +0000 UTCIt was great that Ashleigh got blessed by Beans partway through the watch along!
Mark Sylvester
2021-06-27 19:05:52 +0000 UTCAnother famous quote you missed was "Round up the usual suspects. Thats where the movie "The Usual Suspects " got its title. So glad you enjoyed this movie. Hopefully this opens the door for more older movies. Would love to see Ashleigh react to Double Indemnity so she could get introduced the the best femme fatale of all time, Barbara Stanwick .
Bill Bevins
2021-06-27 18:52:42 +0000 UTCFor old films I still vote for Captain Blood. I think Ashleigh needs some Errol Flynn in her life.
Kenton Kruger
2021-06-27 18:01:06 +0000 UTCSam Spade is a great character, sure, but if she liked Bogart in this, she'd absolutely love to see him flirting with the ladies in The Big Sleep.
SCSponge
2021-06-27 17:54:41 +0000 UTCIts been a couple years since ive sat down and watched this. That was a lot of fun to watch with you. Now since you enjoyed this you are gonna have to watch The Maltese Falcon with Humphrey Bogart. Just as good if not better, in my opinion.
Bleedingreen
2021-06-27 15:53:21 +0000 UTCNow that she has seen how good some really old movies can be. I'd like to put forward for consideration either the 1930 Marx Brothers Animal Crackers (I know everyone will say Duck Soup is better but I think this is a better introduction to them) or the 1928 silent Steamboat Bill, Jr by Buster Keaton.
Eric
2021-06-27 15:15:35 +0000 UTCI would have to put AFRICAN QUEEN above MALTESE FALCON. Then again, I'm a sucker for Hepburn.
T.J. Gengler
2021-06-27 14:59:28 +0000 UTCUnpopular opinion: I think The Maltese Falcon is a superior Bogart movie. It's FANTASTIC!!
Jill Peterson
2021-06-27 14:47:11 +0000 UTCHumphrey had chronic ulcer issues, and constantly sipped milk of magnesia. Because of this, he had white stuff in the corners of his mouth all the time, so he wiped his mouth a lot. It was not a character acting thing. He could NOT get it!
Jill Peterson
2021-06-27 14:44:46 +0000 UTCStream on HBOMax only it looks like.
M four Movies
2021-06-27 14:35:07 +0000 UTC
