The Movie Forums Top 100 of All-Time Refresh: Countdown

Casablanca a great movie of course! But I'm wondering why didn't some of the other all time greats make the countdown, like: A Streetcar Named Desire, On The Waterfront or All About Eve. Are they under seen here at MoFo? Or is there some special truth that Casablanca holds that these other all time classics don't?


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I love that photo of Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman). To me that image encapsulates the movie's emotions. Casablanca is about bitterness and what such a self destructive emotion can do to a man. Rick is jaded, he's turned his back on humanity...As Rick puts it, "I stick my neck out for nobody!" And he means it. People come to this nowhere place in the North African desert, seeking escape from the Nazis...but Rick and the movers and shakers of Casablanca don't care who lives or dies, to them it's all about profit.

But we know Rick wasn't always this way. He had previously risked his neck to help supply guns to Ethiopia and to keep it from slipping into the hands of fascist. And in Spain he fought on the Loyalist side for a noble cause. But the loss of a woman's love and the blow of being jilted in Paris by her, turned this once idealistic man into a bitter cold soul.

That's why I love this movie so much as it deals with deep emotions and it deals with redemption. Rick needs redemption and that's why his old flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) shows up one night at his gin joint.

Never seen Casablanca, but atleast Goodfellas will be making the list , I think it's safe to say now that The Dark Knight is not gonna be making this list, hopefully Departed makes it.

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I don't like All About Eve, but completely shocked with it's omission. Double Indemnity too.

I could see that All About Eve might not be that well watched, but hasn't everybody seen Double Indemnity and loved it?

Looking at the previous list I felt like this would make it, I'm still trying to ballpark the consensus of the people who post here.

Only so much room on a list. All About Eve and Double Indemnity would both make my 50 but I didn't have room for them. Definitely thought Casablanca would be higher than either on a consensus list. I didn't vote for Casablanca either.

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Considered that one ^ and In A Lonely Place for the #24 position on my ballot but eventually went with the classic of classics Casablanca, it's the score that gives it the edge over the others I think.


Seen: 86/97

Ballot: 16/25
2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day 1992 (71)
3. The Godfather: Part II 1974 (35)
4. The Terminator 1984 (56)
5. Back to the Future 1985 (34)
6. Enter the Dragon 1973 (97)
8. Once Upon a Time in the West 1968 (31)
10. Pulp Fiction 1994 (5)
11. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2002 (42)
12. The Matrix 1999 (24)
13. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom 1984 (DNP)

16. The Shawshank Redemption 1994 (16)
17. The Thing 1982 (20)
20. Rear Window 1954 (40)
23. Star Wars 1977 (78)
24. Casablanca 1942 (4)
25. Lawrence of Arabia (15)

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And...you know... also...

Incep---

Oh crap. I give up.

But I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHICH MOVIE COMES UP TOMORROW!!

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Then a movie other than Inception makes it and then you'll wonder where the suspense went since it was suppose to come on that day

It's a diverse lot, we MoFos are I'm sure many would consider my ballot to be boring. I'll post it after the countdown is over of course.

I just checked and I had Casablanca at #13 on my ballot, so I should say one of these, Yahoo!

In A Lonely Place, such a fine and powerful film! Both it and Casablanca owe it's pathos in large part to Bogart.

CASABLANCA: Casablanca is one of the few films that makes 'perfection' less of a dirty word for me, and instead wields it to excavate the emotional states of its many flawed characters. Normally, my beef with perfection is I'd much rather see the ragged insides of the films creators up on screen, believing there is soul to be found when the passions of its directors and editors and screenwriters are permitted to gum up the machine, sabotage pacing, realism, blocking, thematic consistency and line recitals etc in the name of 'truth'. Casablanca puts all that nonsense to shame. It is a film that keeps itself true to the intent of the story, the development of its characters, the preservation of its mood and the satisfaction of its audience without feeling in any way remotely compromised in its promised delivery of 'art'. Pure art, even as it is also purely product made for our entertainment. If more narratively centered films could find stories like this, and execute them just as flawlessly, and with endless imagination and depth of feeling, maybe I wouldn't need to rave about the tyranny of narrative as often as I'm inclined to. This film is magic, and there is a reason it frequently seems to rise above even the biases many have for old stodgy films from this bygone era. It transcends with its perfection, a noble feet since perfection (even in its most unimpressive state) is difficult to pull off. This does so...perfectly.


As for Humphrey Bogart, he's one of the silver screens greatest beasts. There are only a handful of actors that will make me willing to watch anything they are in, and he's one. A marvelously entertaining presence, he can be both mean and sorrowful on call. He is movies.

Yeah, haven't seen that one, but like you said, Conspiracy is pretty much a bunch of people sitting on a table talking (hence my comparison to 12 Angry Men). But the dialogue and the performances are great, IMO.

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Casablanca is my #1. When I first watched it way back in 2005, I had wondered what had taken me so long. I was floored by its simplicity. A love story,, set against the backdrop of German occupation during WW2. But it’s so much more then that. The dialogue crackles with each delivery from Bogart and Rains, among others of course. *
Here are some examples:

Yvonne:*Where were you last night?
Rick Blaine:*That's so long ago, I don't remember.
Yvonne:*Will I see you tonight?
Rick Blaine:*I never make plans that far ahead

Rick Blaine:*And remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart.
Capt. Louis Renault:*That is my "least" vulnerable spot.


Maj. Heinrich Strasser:*How about New York?
Rick Blaine:*Well there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to invade.

Capt. Louis Renault:*We mustn't underestimate American blundering. I was with them when they blundered into Berlin in 1918.

Capt. Louis Renault:*I'm shocked that there is gambling in this establishment.*
Waiter:*Sir here are your winnings.


Rick Blaine:*I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Capt. Louis Renault:*Waters?! We're in a DESERT!
Rick Blaine:*I was misinformed.

It's like a sinister 12 Angry Men. Except here they are deciding how to exterminate human beings. Good movie, but quite disturbing.


Also features a young Tom Hiddleston.

I turn the page and see you making the same reference.

Slight issue in verbage, Still in the war genre. Still, on my watch list.

Quoting this because JC's post has shown me how to link thumbnails from TMDb

My list reveal is gonna be so pretty.

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Casablanca is a great, if overrated film. It's justifiably famous, but I've never quite understood why it so consistently rates above the other great Bogie films. I had 2 others in my top 25, which are certainly not coming now so I may as well mention them - The Maltese Falcon (very surprised this one didn't make it) and The Big Sleep (not surprised, but if you haven't seen it, you really should). Also, Key Largo nearly made my list. In a Lonely Place and Treasure of the Sierra Madre were contenders too. It's unfortunate there's only 1 Bogie film, but at least there's 1!

Casablanca was my #2. It is simply a perfect film. It tells a perfectly constructed story, with perfectly written dialogue, spoken by perfectly drawn characters who are portrayed by the perfect actor to play those roles, all leading to the perfect conclusion.

Anyhow, Casablanca is the last film from my list to show up, which means I had eleven films from my list make the countdown.

My List:
1. Unforgiven (#43)
2. Casablanca (#4)
3. North by Northwest (#57)
4. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (#23)
6. Taxi Driver (#14)
7. Blade Runner (#7)
10. A Clockwork Orange (#32)
15. Metropolis (#73)
21. Enter the Dragon (#97)
24. There Will Be Blood (#60)
25. Persona (#45)

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You should see the word doc I've made with all the underling and bolding, image links and stuff... looks like I'm coding a website.

Edit: Image removed because I'm a moron and almost revealed my actual list before time.

When I was running the Westerns List last year my wife would look over my shoulder at what I was typing and fear I was having a stroke or something. "Is that even English?" Nope, it is MoFoese.

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