jimbow8 Wrote:I just saw Casablanca for the first time. Aside from some technical difficulties between my DVD player and a fairly scratched up NetFlix disc, I have got to say that this is damn near a perfect movie. Acting, characters, story, photography are all stellar. And Bogey is the man!!!
The first time?! Mark down the date, because
you have not lived until you've seen Casablanca! Certainly at least
one of the greatest movies ever, and IMHO perhaps THE greatest (since GWTW and Citizen Kane didn't do much for me, sorry to say).
Ah, the cast! Top to bottom a great assemblage. Bogey, Bergmann, Henried, Rains, Greenstreet, Lorre and even Conrad Veidt as Major Strosser. Claude Rains, as Louis Renault, had some wonderful lines, but one of my favorites was right at the beginning when Bogey gallantly had a slightly inebriated young lady cabbed home rather than taking advantage of her condition. Louis bemoaned the fact that Rick had sent off a beautiful woman because "some day they may be scarce".
For you younger people on the board, my advice is to eschew the colorized version (yecch!) and see the original. Watch it with your significant other after a nice intimate candlelit dinner, while enjoying a nice bottle of wine and a fire (assuming you have a fireplace).