We decided to watch Casablanca becasue we though we needed to see some Quote: "Classic" movies.
Cad Bane's chick at Pandas, Lightsabers and Cameras, oh my!! requested that we review old movies so here is the review for Casablanca.
Disclaimer: We do not like movies that have a lot of drama in them so we are a little bais when we review dramas.
Directed by: Michael Curtiz
Genre: Drama
Release Date: January 23, 1943
Running Time: January 23, 1943
MMPA rating: ?
The Good: Excellent acting, Interesting mystery,
The Bad: Slow and boring at times but better than the other drama movies I have seen(I haven't seen many of them)
Plot: Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is a cynical American expatriate living in Casablanca in early December 1941. He owns and runs "Rick's Café Américain", an upscale nightclub and gambling den that attracts a mixed clientele: Vichy French, Italian, and Nazi officials; refugees desperately seeking to reach the United States, as yet uninvolved in the war; and those who prey on them. Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, it is later revealed he ran guns to Ethiopia to combat the 1935 Italian invasion and fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.
From left to right: Paul Henreid, Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains and Humphrey Bogart
Ugarte (Peter Lorre), a petty criminal, arrives in Rick's club with "letters of transit" obtained through the murder of two German couriers. The papers allow the bearer to travel freely around German-controlled Europe and to neutral Portugal, and from there to America. The letters are almost priceless to the continual stream of refugees who end up stranded in Casablanca. Ugarte plans to sell them to the highest bidder, who is due to arrive at the club later that night. Before the exchange can take place, Ugarte is arrested by the local police under the command of Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), a self-confessed corrupt official. Ugarte dies in police custody without revealing that he had entrusted the letters to Rick.
At this point, the reason for Rick's bitterness re-enters his life. His ex-lover, Norwegian Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), walks into his establishment. Upon seeing the house pianist, Sam (Dooley Wilson), Ilsa asks him to play "As Time Goes By". When Rick storms over, furious that Sam has disobeyed his order never to perform that song, he is shocked to see Ilsa. She is accompanied by her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a fugitive Czech Resistance leader who has escaped from a Nazi concentration camp. The couple needs the letters to leave for America so he can continue his work. German Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) arrives in Casablanca to see to it that Laszlo does not succeed. Watch the movie to see what happens next.
Plot: 8.5/10- The plot was good, had an Interesting mystery, and some suspense.
Action: N/A
Acting: 9.0/10- Humphrey Bogart was excellent and the other cast members were also good.
Special effects: N/A
Soundtrack: 5.2/10- Casablanca's worked for movie but was a little generic.
Comedy: N/A
Overall: 7.6/10- Overall Casablanca was a good movie but if you like the genre you should like the movie.
Closing comments: Of all the drama movie we have watched(other than sports) Casablanca was probably the best.
Recommended for: Drama movie fans, Humphrey Bogart fans, Classic movie fans,
I love this movie but would rate it a 7/10. It's a little slow but Humphrey Bogart is too cool!
ReplyDelete@Cad Bane's chick: Thanks for scoring the movie. I rated the compared to other Dramas I have seen but if I was comparing them to other movies I would rate it around a 6.
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