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

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Like some of you, I'm gonna jump ahead a bit and highlight one of my choices that I knew had no shot from the beginning of this, but I love it anyway, and it's HBO's Conspiracy, from 2001.


(Film is available on HBO Max, for those interested)

Just got hooked up with HBO Max. I love war epics and never heard of this one. Thanks for the heads up.




  • 390 points
  • 22 lists
4. Casablanca


Director

Michael Curtiz, 1942

Starring

Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains





You must remember this: Casablanca was #1 on the MoFo ‘40s List.
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Casablanca is pretty darn perfect imo, one of very few movies I've ever given a
to.

Seen: 87/97 (Own: 47/97)
My list:  


Faildictions (Eternal vsn 1.0):
3. Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)



Casablanca is an amazing film but I forgot to include it on my list. The same goes for the next three films coming up, so I kind of feel glad in a way that I missed out all four and didn't really end up costing one of them a place at the top. Shocking I know, my own fault for leaving it to the last minute to submit a list.

I'm a big proponent of auteur theory and the visual inventiveness of mise-en-scene when it comes to film, but I certainly don't believe it's the be-all and end-all when it comes to cinema. There are exceptions to the "rules" (for want of a better word) and films that just work so amazingly well when certain things come together. That's what makes Casablanca all the more remarkable, it wasn't a planned success or the latest film from a directorial genius (take nothing away from Curtiz who I've enjoyed other stuff from) just a normal Hollywood script with a couple of stars, but it ends up being probably the greatest romantic movie of all time.

There are so many scenes that give me goosebumps, that make me feel a multitude of emotions (mainly sadness), I think this one might just be my favourite...

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Casablanca is my #18.

1. The script is probably the greatest which Hollywood ever concocted and comes closest to the complete, utter wit level which rivals playwrights such as Oscar Wilde and Bernard Shaw. This, despite the fact that it was constantly being rewritten all the way up to the final day of shooting. Casablanca is a film with dialogue so good that many people still do not comprehend how entertaining it is because the whole thing comes across as effortlessly amusing while feigning seeming seriousness.

2. The technical acumen gathered together for the film is mind-boggling. This includes everything from Don Siegel's montages to the special effects utilizing midgets to convey proper scale, cool matte paintings, the light tower at the airport, the biff, bang, pow of the editing, the super costumes, Max Steiner's musical score, the sets of the various locations and even Sydney Greenstreet's flyswatters and Peter Lorre's haunting eyes. This is certainly the apotheosis of Curtiz's Warner Bros. career.

3. The romance is compelling in far more significant ways than the usual melodrama. The three main characters all are confused about each other's motives and it's unpredictable what will happen right up to the final scene. Yet, everything seems almost inevitable once you watch and rewatch this perfection. Take, for example, the scene where Rick gets Ilsa's letter in the rain as the train prepares to roll out of the station... how could anything ever be topped for emotional power? Look closely at Bogie's face as he tosses the "bleeding, crying" note to the ground.

4. Dooley Wilson's Sam is a hell of a singer and a perfect partner for Bogart's Rick. The scenes where Sam sings "As Time Goes By" are wonderfully nostalgic and even were when the film came out. Add to that the fact that's the one song which stabs Rick in the heart every time he hears it.

5. Speaking of music, the scene where "La Marseillaise" is sung at Rick's always generates lots of emotion and shivers down the backbone. Victor is able to rally the crowd to overcome the Nazis' singing of their patriotic song with an onslaught of honesty and newfound patriotism from the seemingly jaded crowd in the "saloon".

6. The supporting cast is unrivaled in films of the era. Maybe it seems as if there are better casts, but character-for-character, the casting could scarcely be more perfect, and Claude Rains' Louis has to take extra bows for the perfection of his line deliveries, character development and rapport with Bogie's Rick. "I'm shocked... shocked to find gambling going on here!" "Your winnings, sir." "Oh, thank you."

7. Ingrid Bergman is so damn beautiful. She's obviously younger than Bogie, but their relationship seems destined to be and what he gives her in security, she gives him in pure love. They're able to humanize and improve each other in ways far beyond the simple cliche. By the way, did I mention that Bergman is incredibly gorgeous?

8. Bogart is THE MAN in this film. He had played the cynical lead before in the wonderful The Maltese Falcon, but this solidified him as the leading man, the hero, a romantic icon, and the man far more together and capable than any current role model.

9. The finale is probably the greatest ever presented in a Hollywood film or anything even resembling a romantic thriller. Rick is able to work everything out to a T and make it all happen, all the while sharing some of the greatest lines in film history. "Round up the usual suspects." "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." If you don't dig the final scene, I don't know what to say...

10. Casablanca is many viewer's gateway into the films of Humphrey Bogart and classic films in general. It may be difficult for some people to realize this, but Bogart was probably in more films which stand the test of time than any other actor of his day and perhaps even ever. Besides that, he was a character actor who was able to straddle the line between cynicism and heroism and create a very-flawed sort of hero which eventually became the Anti-Hero so well popularized by later actors such as Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. The thing about Bogie though was that he was a far-huger romantic leading man than any of them ever proved to be, and that is mind-boggling in and of itself. Movies would not be the same if Bogie and Casablanca did not exist.

My List

1. Jaws
2. Elmer Gantry
3. Midnight Cowboy
4. Star Wars
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark
6. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
7. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
8. Little Big Man
9. Cabaret
10. The Incredibles
11. LOTR: The Return of the King
12. Schindler's List
13.
14. War and Peace (1966) full 7 hr. version
15. Alice in Wonderland (1951)
16. Back to the Future
17. Richard Pryor Live in Concert
18. Casablanca
19. The Innocents
20. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
21. American Graffiti
22. Pygmalion
23. Paths of Glory
24. Pulp Fiction
25. The Graduate
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My IMDb page



4 casablanca


gud film but that's it
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Aaaand there it is... Casablanca was my #8. Pretty much a perfect film, with an excellent cast, and one of the best endings ever.
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A system of cells interlinked
Casablanca was #6 on my list. Not my favorite Bogie flick, but probably technically his best. Mark pretty much covered everything there is to say about this one. Thinking about it now, I am due for another viewing of this classic.
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Casablanca is a deserving entry for the top 25 (and also the best 25). I had it at #12. Although it's one of my favorite films of all time, I've never written about it

There are so many wonderful and memorable parts in this film. I think it's interesting that the story itself was nothing out of the ordinary for WWII fare. In fact the producers and cast never expected it to catch on, nor certainly not to win the awards that it did.

One of the most iconic parts of the film is Dooley Wilson's version of As Time Goes By (written in 1931 by Herman Hupfeld). It was an integral part of the film, and the picture would not have had the same impact without it. Wilson's unique voice timbre and phrasing cemented the song into history, and because of it the song has been used countless times in many versions. I recall its attractive use in What's Up, Doc?, sung by Barbara Streisand. Wilson couldn't play piano, it was dubbed in, but the song is so great that no one notices.

Casablanca is an adult film with an entire palette of emotion, along with some truly clever humorous moments, and one of the best endings in film history.





Casablanca was number four on the collective list as well as my own. It is damn near perfect and the exception to the rule that a great script can't be written on the fly. As I said recently in another thread about the movie one of the reasons Casablanca shines so brightly is that all of the characters, including the smaller supporting roles, are inhabited by colorful character actors and given arcs and purpose. It seems as though every single line is quotable and every attitude is perfect. Casablanca is funny, romantic, stirring, tense, triumphant, and just plain wonderful.

As far back as I can remember I have one more from my ballot coming to give me a baker's dozen. Plus there are two no-shows from my Top Ten I am waiting to reveal after the list's completion.

HOLDEN'S LIST
1. Chinatown (#17)
2. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (#12)
3. Lawrence of Arabia (#15)
4. Casablanca (#4)
5. Blade Runner (#7)
8. Once Upon a Time in the West (#31)
10. Singin’ in the Rain (#64)
11. After Hours (DNP)
12. Miller's Crossing (DNP)
13. La La Land (DNP)
14. Amélie (DNP)
15. North by Northwest (#57)
16. Young Frankenstein (#77)
17. The Social Network (DNP)
18. In a Lonely Place (DNP)
19. Brazil (#100)
20. His Girl Friday (DNP)
21. The Long Goodbye (DNP)
22. Rushmore (DNP)
23. Unforgiven (#43)
24. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (#33)
25. The Princess Bride (DNP)



One of the most iconic parts of the film is Dooley Wilson's version of As Time Goes By (written in 1931 by Herman Hupfeld)...Wilson couldn't play piano, it was dubbed in, but the song is so great that no one notices.
Musicians notice.



An interesting thing about Casablanca is that in spite of its reputation as heart-stirring romantic classic (which it is), there is some real darkness at or just underneath its surface. Not just the obvious fact that it plays out against the backdrop of one of humanity's great horrors--World War II and all its attendant tragedies--but the smaller more personal evils. The most obvious moment is when the (very young) Ilsa refers to the (much older) Sam as "boy." It's not false, but it is ugly. If anything, Ingrid Bergman's beauty only accentuates the ugliness of the moment. It passes, but it lingers. There is also the casual (offscreen) murder and rape by Captain Renault (he of the "beautiful friendship"), referred to obliquely but clearly.

In spite of all this, but maybe even because of it, Casablanca really is a classic. There is, of course, the incredible script, already called out by others. Line after line that are well known yet feel new on each hearing. There are the rich (and complicated) characters and the great performances. It's easy to look at a movie like this as ultimately a classic good vs. evil conflict (the "La Marseillaise" scene perhaps being the epitome of this idea) but the shifting alliances and painful compromises belie this view. It's these inner conflicts, sometimes unrecognized even in the film, that give the film added, unknown depths.

As it is, it was not on my list. Had I rewatched it in November instead of a couple of weeks ago, it might have been. C'est la guerre.



Casablanca is excellent and I love Bogart movies but none of his films made my list, a decision I now regret.


@Thief, I never heard of Conspiracy but it sounds dope, definitely gonna check it out.



I'm in agreement that this list wouldn't amount to a hill of beans if Casablanca wasn't on it. My only complaint about it is that Peter Lorre wasn't in it long enough.



My only complaint about it is that Peter Lorre wasn't in it long enough.
Deliberately quoting this without the preceding sentence because it doesn't matter what "it" refers to here.



Just got hooked up with HBO Max. I love war epics and never heard of this one. Thanks for the heads up.
A war epic it isn't.

About fifteen years before the English-language HBO version starring Kenneth Branagh there was a German production of the exact same January 20, 1942 conference called "The Final Solution: The Wannsee Conference". Both present what Hannah Arendt memorably called "the banality of evil" as this small group of men in a calm, business-like fashion outline the Holocaust.