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Amazon.co.uk Review
A truly perfect movie, the 1942 Casablanca still wows viewers today, and for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; and Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited and ennobling movies ever made.--Tom Keogh
From the Back Cover
Casablanca: easy to enter, but much harder to leave, especially if your name is on the Nazis' most-wanted list. A top that list is Czech Resistance leader VIctor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), whose only hope is Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical American who sticks his neck out for no one....especially Victor's wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the ex-lover who broke his heart. So when Ilsa offers herself in exchange for Laszlo's safe transport out of the country, the bitter Rick must decide what's more important - his own happiness or the countless lives that hang in the balance.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship....,
This review is from: Casablanca [1942] [DVD] (DVD)
Because I've been reading Michael Walsh's novel As Time Goes By, I recently decided to watch Casablanca again on DVD. I was amazed to see how this 1943 Oscar-winning film remains powerful and moving 60 years after its release.Almost everybody knows its plot of of wartime intrigue and its doomed romantic triangle of bitter American saloonkeeper Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), the beautiful Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), and her idealistic husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). This trio is supported by a wonderful and varied cast of characters, including Police Prefect Louis Renault (Claude Rains), Rick's faithful friend and piano player Sam Waters (Arthur "Dooley" Wilson), the conniving Ugarte (Peter Lorre), the Russian bartender Sacha (Leonid Kinsky), and the loveable maitre d' Carl (S. Z. Sakall). The heart of the movie revolves around the conflict created in Rick's heart by World War II. When his former flame Ilsa arrives in Casablanca, does he help her and her husband Victor escape to Lisbon, or does he allow German Major Strasser (Conrad Veldt) to capture the fugitive Czech resistance leader so Rick can take Ilsa to America himself? Or do his natural good instincts surface and get Rick to do the honorable thing? This movie has a little bit of everything: suspense, drama, comedy, an exotic setting, and lots of music, including renditions of "It Had To Be You," "The Very Thought Of You," and a thrilling duel between Germans singing the "Watch On The Rhine" and the Allies belting out "The Marsellaise." Other songs heard in the film include "Knock On Wood," and the unforgettable "As Time Goes By." Another crucial element is the snappy and memorable dialog written by the Epstein twins and Hal B. Wallis for this movie: Rick: I came here for the waters. Ilsa: (to Sam) Play it. Play "As Time Goes By." Rick: (to Sam) Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine. Louis: (pretending to be surprised) I'm shocked, shocked to find gambling in here! Rick: (to Ilsa) Now, now...here's looking at you, kid. With all these ingredients, director Michael Curtiz and producer Jack Warner came up with a recipe for a movie that became a beloved classic, a status recognized when the Library of Congress named Casablanca as one of the most important American films. Betty June Moore
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Vichy et Noir,
By
This review is from: Casablanca [VHS] (VHS Tape)
The geo-political background of this marvellous film, a film which transcends its WW2 propaganda efforts, is still not known to many: after the fall of France in 1940, most of France (except Paris and North and the coastal regions) was, in fact, at least until 1942-43, run by a virtually independent pro-German French administration based in the spa town of Vichy. The overseas colonies of France, from Devil's Island to Indo-China, were ideologically split: some supported Vichy, some de Gaulle's London-based "government", others a mid-way position based around local high-ranking French commanders (French Morocco and Algeria, to name but two).
Casablanca, a port in Morocco, played a quasi-independent game, allied to Vichy but full of all sorts of people, including people in the administration and police, until the Americans and British invaded "by invitation" in 1943 (Operation Torch). This film is set somewhat beforehand, although actually made a little later. Many propaganda points in the film will not be picked up on by most viewers, as in the scene where the obnoxious Deutsche Bank exec fails to gain entrance to Rick's casino room and storms off saying he will "report it to Der Angriff". how many know that to have been Goebbels' newspaper? Whatever one's views about WW2, this film can be enjoyed for itself. It is, of course, a classic, a classic noir at that. Everyone should own this film.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
HD rejuvinates an old TV classic,
By
This review is from: Casablanca [HD DVD] [1942] [US Import] (HD DVD)
Black-and-white? Academy ratio? Mono sound? World War II film stock? On HD DVD? Are they kidding?
Well, no. Amazingly, it works. The pictures are as sharp and clean as if they were shot yesterday. The lovely thing about 35mm film is that it was always HD-ready. Even 65 years ago. With this release, it's possible to see what the director and cameraman were trying to do for the first time since the wartime fleapits. There's a real art to the composition and the way depth-of-field and focus are used to control the viewer's eye. That subtlety is lost in SD because nothing is quite in sharp focus. The difference brings the film back to life in a way that had me disappearing deep inside the story like never before.
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