Casablanca

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.
       Casablanca a 1942 Warner Bros Film directed by Micheal Curtiz Staring Humphrey Bogart as Rick and Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa. Based on an unproduced play titled Everybody comes to Ricks by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. Casablanca is set in the early 40's desert region. Casablanca is the exit point to Lisbon and freedom. The first scene is set with two German couriers carrying two unconditional visa's the German Couriers are murdered, and Ugarte gives the two Visas to Bogart to hide for him. Victor Laszlo head of the European Resistance and his wife Ilsa come to Casablanca to try to obtain the visa's that Bogart has. Little does Ilsa's husband know ,while he was in a concentration camp and presumed dead, Ilsa and Rick had an affair in Paris. This makes getting the Visa's from Rick difficult for Ilsa and Victor, because of the Romance that Ilsa and Rick had. Casablanca was awarded for Best B/W Cinematography, Score/Editing, and Humphrey Bogart won the award for Best Actor also Micheal Curtiz was awarded Best Director.


2) Find a related article and summarize the content. (on the film, director, studio, actor/actress, artistic content, etc.) You can use the library or the Internet. Cite the article or copy the url to your journal entry. Summarize in your own words the related article but do not plagiarize any content.
http://www.proquest.com/en-US/promos/feature33_pq.shtml

 

 

        The article opens up with the statement take an American freedom fighter Rick Blaine. The leader of the Czech underground Victor Laszlo and his wife Ilsa Laszlo, who had a previous romance to Blaine, and Rick being the only one that has the papers to Victor and Ilsa's freedom,and you have the recipe for one of the most successful films of the 20th century. Casablanca's original release date was scheduled for Spring 1943, but an unfortunate event on Nov 1942 where Allied forces invaded North Africa and captured Casablanca. This caused a rushed premiere arranged at the Hollywood Theater in New York City on Nov 26. A sequel to the film was in the works, but never happened; once the film was named a classic, writing a sequel became a problem. They were several prequels made plus radio plays and books.
    The letters of transit that Bogart obtains in the movie. In reality there is no such thing as letters of transit, especially ones that have free trail access anywhere, particularly out of Nazi- occupied countries. One of the famous lines Here's looking at you kid was clearly mistaken. Bergman was actually several inches taller than Bogart. To create the illusion of Bogart being taller then Bergman, Director Micheal Curtiz had Bogart stand on boxes, and in some shots Bogart had to sit on pillows. Bergman also had to slouch down in some shots to appear shorter.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class. How did the article change the way you thought about the film, director, content, etc.?

     The article gave me a lot of surprising hidden insight about the film. It was very interesting to read the tidbits that the author wrote about the film. Especially the insight about the famous line Here's looking at you kid. Finding out that Bogart was actually shorter than Bergman was quit funny to me, and how Director Micheal Curtiz used sly techniques to create the illusion of Bogart being taller was quit clever. My opinion about the film didn’t change after reading the article; it actually educated me more about the film increasing my interest for the film even more.



4) Write a critical analysis of the film, including your personal opinion, formed as a result of the screening, class discussions, text material and the article. I am less interested in whether you liked or disliked a film, (although that can be part of this) than I am in your understanding of its place in film history or the contributions of the director

    The classic black and white film was very remarkable. Director Micheal Curtiz did an astonishing job with the film. The setting, the themes, the plots the actors; everything about the film was wonderful. I found the theme of lost love to be my favorite . I found myself even shedding a tear or two when watching Bogart tell the story of his lost love Ilsa. It definitely deserved the award for Best B/W Cinematography.