How good is Casablanca?

You may be right, Mark. I was just going by what the scriptwriters and some others involved with that movie once said in an filmed interview. I haven't made a study of this or any other movie, but I seem to remember seeing somewhere one or more articles by one or more movie reviewers or others familar with the Hollywood of that period who claimed that the film was shot on a relatively low budget primarily on soundstages, with no special interest expressed by studio executives and no big pre-release advertising push.

Maybe Curtiz was handpicked to direct the film because of his money-making reputation, but there also are lots of stories from the Big Studio days about award-winning, high-grossing directors often being handed a B-film by a producer simply because that director was available at the time and under contract to the studio to deliver a certain number of films within a certain period. As for Bergman, was she was really imported specifically for that film? If so, that would certainly indicate some sort of special push for that movie, but the way I heard it, there was more happenstance involved. But then that could just be urban legend. I dunno.

Sorry for the necromancy but I have to 'say', I have always considered it to be the perfect film. "For reasons far too numerous to enumerate"

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It sux.
I mean, to begin with, it's in black and white.

What the hell does that got to do with anything? The film's a classic.

Not only is it black and white, it's really old too. I mean it was made before 2007. It's ancient, really.

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Naww really?

Yeah, really. Casablanca is soooo six decades ago.

And it stars dead people. Ewwww!

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Casablanca absolutely was never intended to be a B movie. But you have to keep in mind the studios actually had three classifications: B, designed for the bottom of the bill running barely over an hour; the expensive, first class A, which they made only a small amount each year; and their bread and butter A- production, designed for the top half of the bill, but more ecconomically made. The Maltese Falcoln was an A- movie. I don't know if Casablanca was intended to be an A or A- production. But it was produced personally by Hal Wallis and memos he wrote shows he thought he was making a big film. This link dispels many of the myths regarding Casablanca.

www.snopes.com/movies/films/reagan.asp

In all seriousness, Casablanca is as close as you can get to a perfect movie, IMHO.Bogart and Bergman have real chemistry, and the scenes between them are heartbreaking, as are the scenes between each of them and the marvelous Dooley Wilson, who also sings each song to perfection. Claude Rains is suave and funny,Paul Heinreid is gallant, yet lends an air of humanity to his character, and of course Conrad Veidt is, as always, a great villain. In fact, the whole cast is terrific, lending depth and humanity to even minor characters.

I watched this again recently. for at least the fiftieth time, and was still moved by it, much to the amusement of my children.

So how great is Casablanca? As always, that's a matter of opinion. But for me they don't come any greater.


In case you need any further demonstration of why I love it so much, here's one of my favorite scenes from Casablanca:

It's one of the best films ever made, period. Personally, I like watching The Big Sleep more, but Casablanca is technically the better film, I would say.

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It's worthwhile and I enjoy it. If you look at the plot it's a bit silly with the letters of transit, but if a person can get beyond the plot wholes, then yes it's amazing. I am bored by the romance aspects of it, but I love the whole torment bits Bogart goes through. Igrid Bergman seems to bland in the movie, so is Paul Henried (sp?). It's all about Bogart and Claude Rains and they steal the show. A few minor characters are interesting as well. The Fat Man, Peter Lorre, the German officer...

I agree with Holden that it's funny, but I think for romance movies there is much better.

I don't think it's Hollywood's greatest classic. I prefer Notorious far more, even though they are two entirely different films, but share similarities for subject setting and a couple of the actors involved.

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Notorious also kicks much ass... See them both...

I'm gonna go against the grain a bit and say I didn't love Notorious. Which is weird because a) I love the idea behind it, b) I love several individual scenes quite a bit, c) I love everyone involved in the project, and d) I distinctly recall loving it the first time I'd seen it. But I rewatched it a couple of months ago and was severely let down. Weird.

Anyway, don't really have any insight into all this, just felt worth mentioning. If I had to guess I'd say that certain scenes, like the horse racing scene, could have been longer and tenser, and the ending is a bit too abrupt for my tastes. Still like a lot of the individual parts, though.

But by all means, see it, if only to see how clearly Mission: Impossible 2 swiped the horse racing idea. Dunno if it qualifies as an "homage" or not.

I wouldn't say it's even nearly a perfect film, but it's definitely a good one.

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Do I have to watch Mission Impossible 2 again??? I'm a big John Woo fan, but please, no.

At any rate, Notorious ranks as my second favorite Hitchcock movie, after Rebecca. Cary Grant, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains are all great in it, and I loved Leopoldine Konstantin, who played Rains' mother. I think maybe because it's such a character-driven movie is why I like it so much, not to mention Hitch's trademark suspense, especially during the dinner party and that great final scene where Grant comes to rescue Bergman.

A while back I would have agreed with you, especially about Heinried's character, but the more I've watched it, the more I like him, and Bergam too, for that matter, especially when she asks Sam to play As Time Goes By. Maybe you just need to see it another twenty or thirty times

Well, it's all a matter of taste, but there are definitely worse films you could have chosen than Notorious. Great movie. Check out Rebecca sometime if you haven't already done so. It's also outstanding.

Movies don't get any better.
Flawless is the only word for it.

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To me, Casablanca is the greatest Hollywood film ever made. Its a classic among classics.

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As it has been said many times before, Casablanca just seems to be perfect. The story is well constructed, the characters are all memorable (even some that only get a few lines), the setting is unique and intriguing, it incorporates well-proportioned elements of romance, humor and suspense, the pacing works along flawlessly,... It is an amazing film. I actually saw it for the first time quite recently, and can tell already that I will be able to watch it again and again.