Casablanca, is a wartime drama directed by Michael Curtiz, in which Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), is a cynical world-weary ex-patriate who runs a nightclub in French Morocco during the early stages of WWII.
Rick's
cafe has become a kind of haven for refugees seeking to obtain forged documents
that will help them escape to America and he is used to running the gauntlet
between the local authorities and the criminal fraternity,
But
one day Isla Lund (Ingrid Bergman), a former lover of Rick's, and her husband,
a well known anti-fascist leader, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), show up to his
cafe, and Rick faces a tough decision, as events complicate his life.
Casablanca
is a film with many special moments, but chief among them is when the orchestra
plays La Marsellaise and Paul Henreid leads them and the rest of the non-Germans
in the cafe in a rousing rendition and 80 years later, I still get a thrill
from the stirring act of defiance.
It’s
a fabulous film, a timeless classic, which
won the Oscar for Best Picture and best director for Michael Curtiz in
1943.
Both of these awards were due in no small part to the superb supporting cast of
Claude Rains (Captain Louis Renault), Conrad Veidt (Major Heinrich Strasser),
Sydney Greenstreet (Signor Ferrari), Peter Lorre (Ugarte), S.Z. Sakall (Carl),
Madeleine Lebeau (Yvonne) and Dooley Wilson as Sam
Casablanca
will be seen and loved by filmgoers for generations to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment