(102 min) Released 1942-11-26
Director: Michael Curtiz
Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains
Genres: Drama | Romance | War
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034583/
Went to see this in a theatre. I came out smiling, but the group experience and the large screen thing wasn't really great. This is an intimate movie, and doesn't need size. Plus, the big guy who sat down in front of me obstructed a small part of my view. And the guy behind me, who was counting aloud how many times Rick said "Here's looking at you, kid." was mildly annoying (it was 4). The theatre didn't dim the final house lights until about 5 minutes into the movie, likely because a patron left the room to complain. When my legs started to ache, I couldn't do enough to alleviate it. And I have the blu-ray with lots more extra features than Benny Mankiewicz delivered, although I liked his tie.
Other than that Mrs. Lincoln... [Spoiler alert!] I don't know why the players were unsure of how the story would end (the script was being written as they were shooting). Clearly Rick can't take Ilsa away from Victor, because that could distract Victor to the extent that he wouldn't be able to contribute to the Resistance any more. Rick had already lived with the torment of losing Ilsa, no way could he sustain the guilt of hurting Victor, especially knowing that exact pain for himself. And the censors wouldn't allow a 3-way in 1942. So unless Ilsa got killed (but Bergman's question was "who do I end up with?"), of course she was staying with VL.
I'm amazed that I cried again when the patrons at Rick's sing La Marseillaise louder than the Germans sang their Nazi song. I don't swoon for the romance, but that bit of bravery in the face of the oppressors, gets me every time. It helps that it's a darned good anthem, of course. I didn't need to wipe away the 2 tears down each cheek, but I'm still impressed.
Dooley Wilson gave an excellent performance. He looked his age (46) in this film, so it was winceworthy when Ilsa asked a waiter to send the "boy" at the piano over to her table. Of course, over at MGM, Mickey and Judy were in blackface for a minstrel number in Babes on Broadway ('41), so I shouldn't be so surprised. The good news is that Sam was treated with respect, and Sam didn't kowtow.
Warner, dir. Curtiz, 9
5Mar2023 update: Saw this in theatre again, not realizing I'd done so before. Absolutely agree with the opening of the comments above, esp. about this not needing the big screen. Today I had only 1 minor audience problem: same person several rows in front of me getting up to leave the room at least twice. Leonard Maltin did the intro; he has a face for radio/small TVs.
Again La Marseillaise is the best moment, esp the guitar-playing singer, plus Rick's recently former gf.
I winced again at the "boy" usage, and appreciated DW's performance.
Bergman, Bogart, Rains and Henreid were perfect, and I wanted more of Lorre. And as Maltin pointed out, all the supporting players were very well cast.
So 5.33 years later, and my reactions are basically the same.
It's a great film.
