Casablanca: greatest romance movie of all time

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Movie Review:

 


Just to change things up a bit, this month I’ll review one of the latest additions to our library’ s DVD collection – Casablanca.

This Warner Brothers black and white classic starring Humphry Bogart and Ingrid Bergman was released in 1942, winning three Academy Awards (best director, best screenplay, and outstanding motion picture). In 2006 the American Writer’s Guild proclaimed it the greatest screenplay of the last 100 years, and the American Film Institute ranks it as the best romantic film of all time. Casablanca receives an astonishing 98% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (a percentage it shares with another heavy-weight classic romance, It Happened One Night starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert which is ranked 2nd greatest romantic movie of all time),

This romantic drama set in WWII centers on gambling den owner and American expatriate Rick, and a ravishing old-flame Ilsa, who re-enters his life complete with a new husband, Victor. Ilsa and Victor are part of the resistance movement, and desperately need Rick’s assistance to escape Casablanca before they are apprehended by the Nazis. As old passions between Rick and Ilsa flare up again, doing the right thing becomes complicated, steamy, heart-wrenching, and very dangerous.

Interestingly, the most memorable quote from the movie “Play it again, Sam”, is not really a quote at all, having never been used in the film’s dialogue. Of all the lines actually in the script, “Here’s looking at you, kid” is the most well-known.

Recommendation: a must see for movie buffs and anyone interested in the greatest films ever made.

 

Mr. Wedel

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