Did you know how it would end? 1940-50s Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLQHhQlj8i5dotFJl59gM2R0DW8hFkFTJH.html 1960s Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLQHhQlj8i5dorCvtMHpADNPESdOswQPUN.html
Yes, Jen, I did know the ending, but only because I've seen it umpteen times. I love this film, Rick does the noble thing in the end, at great cost to himself. The film, 'The Usual Suspects' got its name from this film, as the Policeman says, "I'll round up the usual suspects" after Rick shoots the German officer at the end. I'm really impressed by you, Jen, your taste in Champagne is excellent, Veuve Clicquot is one of the best and my personal favourite.
No, and nor did the film makers while producing it. As was usual at the time, the script was frequently rewritten during filming; in the scene where she finally explains herself, Rick says "It's a story without an ending" and Ilsa replies "I don't know, you'll have to think for both of us" - a delightful meta joke, as they literally hadn't decided the end of the story!
It hasn't! Wait until you see "The African Queen". Even though they don't say it, Rick must work for the U.S. government. He's been known to run guns, aiding other war efforts. The sequel to "Casablanca" is "The African Queen". The movie stars Humphrey Bogart (who won the Academy Award for Best Actor, his only Oscar) and Katharine Hepburn with Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Walter Gotell, Richard Marner and Theodore Bikel. Think of it this way, time has gone by. So much time has passed that movies are in color now. Rick, if that's his real name, is deep in Africa now. He's dodging the Nazis on his small boat, creating havoc were ever he can. Enjoy the movie! th-cam.com/video/qBEIileGQJ8/w-d-xo.html
Casablanca was largely conceived in 1941, near the beginning of American involvement in the war. It was filmed in the Summer of 1942. When filming began, roughly only the first half of the script was written, as FightingTorque411 implied. Those were times when the fate of the war was favorable to the Axis powers, so no one could say how the movie or the war would end. I suspect that this is why the last scene is so hopeful, not because people knew how the war would go, but because they were trying to be encouraging in an otherwise very dark and not-very-hopeful movie.
There was another quick symbolic moment when Louis says Germany Appreciates and then quickly says Vichy. Also in the beginning when they shot the man running away in front of a Poster of Marshall Petain saying he keeps his promises. Powerful symbols at the time in the movie but lost today.
In modern day vernacular Louis was "kicking Vichy to the curb". Also, when Louis stays to Rick "you've become a patriot" he was also referring to himself.
"Why is it that when Bogey drinks in the daytime, he looks sophisticated, but when I do it, all I hear is 'Get off our little league field'!? - Bill Corbett
Some movies I think you’d love , if you haven’t seen them… “Scaramouche” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” “Royal Wedding” “The Kid From Brooklyn” “Court Jester” “The Inspector General”
It could be rewritten for any time and place that has a war like this going. You only have to replace things like the bottle of Vichy water. As a writer, I can only say that I wish I had written it.
When I a 71 yr young man watching CASABLANCA it still affects me. Something very special that only a great motion picture made during the 1940s can elicit. It's history.. star power...dialogue...romance can't really top this b&w B- movie. Timeless is my favorite genre.
You are right --- and that's why I hate seeing great films cheapened by given the "My Reaction to" BS. All that is is a cheap way to get themselves on TH-cam by "piggybacking" off a classic.
My favorite scene in the movie is the singing of La Marseillaise. It's at that moment that we first see how powerful Victor can be. Up until then, we only knew of his reputation. To add to it, most of the actors were Europeans who had fled the Nazis. In particular, Madeleine Lebeau, who played Yvonne, had fled France in 1940 and went to Lisbon, where she and her husband (who played the croupier) obtained visas to Chile. They stopped in Mexico on their way there, where it was discovered that the visas were forged. They were stuck until they got temporary Canadian passports, which they used to get to the U.S. The similarity of Yvonne's story to her own was not lost on Madeleine Lebeau. Her tears in that scene were real. And in the context of the story, Victor's actions reminded Yvonne that she was French, and that cozying up to the Germans would be a betrayal of her country (just as the Vichy collaborators had betrayed France). Humphrey Bogart was in so many great movies: The Petrified Forest, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The African Queen, The Caine Mutiny, Sabrina. To me, he's the epitome of a movie star. Ingrid Bergman was a great actress, and was one of the true beauties of classic Hollywood. Some of her best movies are Gaslight, Spellbound, and Notorious. Unfortunately, her career was derailed because she had an affair with an Italian director while married to someone else, and the bad publicity made Hollywood producers reluctant to cast her. If such a thing happened today, I doubt there would be such a strong reaction by the American public. Actress Isabella Rossellini is Ingrid Bergman's daughter. I'm glad that you commented that Casablanca isn't just a romance. As Rick said, "The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."
"Treasure of the Sierra Madre" has a special touch for me -- Bogart runs into Gandalf. Well, the voice of Gandalf in the Rankin Bass versions, John Huston. Who directed it AND had a small role. It also features an extremely young Robert Blake.
Part of it translated: "Tremble, tyrants and traitors The shame of all good men Tremble! Your parricidal schemes Will receive their just reward Against you we are all soldiers If they fall, our young heroes France will bear new ones Ready to join the fight against you"
a bit of trivia for you Jeff, Ms Lebeau (Yvonne) was the last listed member of the cast to pass away. She was 92. At the time of the movies release she was 19.
My uncle, who died before I was born, was a B-26 bomber pilot. He had flown all of his required missions, was grounded, scheduled to go home, got married to an English girl, was on his honeymoon when he was called back in to service for D-Day. He was given a "green" crew & shot down over Paris. His flight jacket caught fire & he burned while parachuting to the ground. He was in a hospital for a week or so before he died on the day that the allies entered Paris. The Germans had fled several days before taking all of the medical supplies including any pain meds with them. The French buried him in a private cemetery in Paris. A co. rep. for North Amer. Aircraft tracked down where he was buried & sent his body home to Texas. I wound up enlisting in the USAF & volunteering for service in Vietnam. This movie has effected many people who were effected by WWII.
A year before this, three of these actors -- Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet -- were in "The Maltese Falcon". Another classic that's worth seeing. Peter Lorre is an institution all to himself, an iconic voice and an incredible actor, despite getting sidekick and horror roles mostly. His debut was in the German film, "M", as a serial killer being hunted by the police and organized crime.
The three were also in "Passage to Marseilles", along with Claude Raines. Greenstreet and Lorre together in "The Mask of Demetrios." Hollywood knew what worked back then!
In college I used to organize a weekly movie night, and when our venue was about to close, I went out of my way to get my hands on a copy of Casablanca. (This was before streaming.) We had about twice the usual crowd, and it was super-unruly... until the film began. Everyone laughed and was moved at exactly the right times. At the closing line, they cheered. Aaand then suddenly the room went back to being rowdy and unruly. But for those roughly two hours, I'm telling you they were spellbound.
Movie Fact: many of the actors who played the Nazis were in fact German Jews who had escaped from Nazis. Such as actor Conrad Veidt, who played Maj. Strasser, who was well known in the theatrical community in Germany for his hatred of the Nazis, and his friendship with Jews (his wife was Jewish.)
Also the actress playing the pretty French prostitute. She was a French Jew,. My understanding is she came into the country on false papers, if she had stayed in France she would have been murdered in the camps
In another of his movies, The Man Who Laughs, Veidt played a twisted man, his face disfigured into a permanent smile. Comic book artist/writer, Jerry Robinson, used this as his inspiration to create Batman's eternal nemesis, the Joker.
You may be aware that in the American civil war the Rebel forces (separatists and pro-slavery) wore gray, and the Union forces wore blue. To some Americans, these colors are still symbolic of those forces and that conflict.
@@wwoods66 yes, that would explain to mention the color grey, but they could select any color as the second color, and they didn't need to have that sentence in the movie at all. thus it might have been an unintentional coincidence, but when the screenwriters chose lots of dialogs and other details carefully for many scenes, lots of things could very well have been quite purposefully selected symbols too. ps: After reading another comment about the bottle of "Vichy Water" at the end (i never had noticed that label before and only thought of it as "just one more bottle of champagne"), all those small details seem to be even more on purpose and not just some coincidences.
I recall hearing that none of the cast knew the outcome because the script was still being written even as filming was happening. Ingrid didn't know which man she would end up with, so, she was told to play it right down the middle. It worked, because it wasn't clear to any of us watching. The "start of a beautiful friendship" line was even added in post since it hadn't been written yet for filming.
Ingrid actually knew she would end up with Victor. The Hayes office (Hollywood's morality police which was active from the mid '30s to the late '60s) would never have permitted a married woman to leave her husband for her lover. They also did not permit any suggestion that Rick and Ilsa had a sexual relationship when in Paris and they could only offer the subtlest hints that Renault was seducing refugees for exit visas.
It helps to know that the screenplay for Casablanca is based on an unproduced play that was written a few years earlier before the United States had entered World War II. So, the whole idea of the American Rick Blaine being neutral in all political matters was a commentary/metaphor for the U.S.'s position while War raged in Europe. By the time the movie was made, the U.S. had entered the War - actually I believe the play landed on the desk of one of the executives at Warner Brothers Studios only a few days or weeks after the bombing at Pearl Harbor and Warner Brothers quickly went ahead with making it into a movie.
It's worth noting the full timeline here. The rights to the story were purchased in January 1942. (America entered the war in December of 1941, so this was only ~1 month later.) The movie was released in November 1942, so less than a year later and even less than a year after Pearl Harbor. That's pretty quick, even for those days. Actual US land combat in what sort of qualifies as the European theater (North Africa) began only in November of 1942, Casablanca's release was rushed in order to take advantage of the connection to real world events. @@vorlon1
This comment seems like a non sequitur to me. Who was saying anything about what people in Europe knew? Is there a different comment that you meant to reply to?@@libertyresearch-iu4fy
I really like the subtle character arc of the Police Chief going from a vain, corrupt official working with the Nazis to regaining his patriotism and quite literally putting the Vichy Regime (basically the part of the French Republic that wasn't occupied because they allied themselves with the Axis) in the trash. It mirrors Rick's Arc nicely. Also, I disagree: This is a love story, but it's a tragic love story.
I think, it's not a romance film, because it's so much bigger than that. Sure, the love story is what makes you feel for the main characters, but the point of the film is the bigger situation and the larger cause, not just the personal happiness of the main characters.
Nah. If one of the men had to die so she could get away with the other then THAT would have been a tragedy Instead, one gets to make the heroic sacrifice, the other gets the girl, and both live. And the bad guys lose.
The scene where the French patrons sing La Marseillaise is even more emotional when you realize so many of the actors in the scene are refugees from Europe who fled to escape the Germans. A brilliant scene.
Musical foreshadowing: In Paris, Rick and Ilsa dance to an orchestral version of "Perfidia". The English lyrics would probably be known to the 1940s audience: "To you, my heart cries out Perfidia For I found you, the love my life In somebody else's arms..."
When I watch Casablanca, my mind begins to play Al Stewart’s “The Year of the Cat”: “On the morning from a Bogart movie, in a country where they turn back time. You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre, Contemplating a crime.”
21:28 - The singing of La Marseillaise in the cafe gives me goosebumps - every time! And the scene illustrates one of the themes of the film - Democracy vs fascism. The people in the bar, many of them displaced refugees from across Europe (many of the actors in the film were real life refugees including Madeleine Lebeau who played Yvonne who we see tearfully singing the song), led by Victor Laszlo literally rise to their feet and unite to combat Nazi fascism. It reflects something Laszlo said earlier in the film: "What if you murdered all of us? From every corner of Europe hundreds, thousands, would rise to take our places. Even Nazis can't kill that fast." Also, the words of 'La Marseillaise" itself are particularly poignant (the English translation): "Grab your weapons, citizens! Form your battalions! Let us march! Let us march!" (And strains of La Marseillaise play over the closing titles, as Rick and Captain Renault walk off, determined to re-join the fight.) And the scene is a sort of microcosm of the whole film, showing the dynamics between the three main characters Rick, Victor and Ilsa. At first Rick is willing to sit back and allow the Nazis to sing, reflecting his stance to remain neutral and "not stick his neck out" for anyone. But Victor is a man of action and cannot sit by and do nothing. Yet Rick gives the band leader a nod letting him know he approves of them playing the song. Laszlo unites the people and together they stand up (literally) to the Germans. Meanwhile, we see Ilsa, who is torn between her feeling for the two men, watching the whole thing and we see in her eyes the love and admiration she has for Victor and also great fear because she knows this act of defiance will put him in greater danger.
Walt Disney World's MGM Movie Park had an attraction called "The Great Movie Ride". It was a ride showing the History of movies using Audioanimatronic (Robot) Actors in famous movie scenes. One scene was the ending of Casablanca (the famous speech between Ilsa and Rick at the Airfield). When building the ride Disney Imagineers searched for a plane identical to the one in the movie. They found and purchased the actual plane from the movie! Sadly the ride was replaced by another attraction and I always wondered where that plane ended up.
And the plane in that ride was only the front half since the whole plane wouldn't have fit in that scene area. So they cut the backside off from the front. Do you know what happened to the back half? It can be found in the Disney World version of The Jungle Cruise.
This is my favorite Bogart movie. The Maltese Falcon is second place. This is also the best love story in my opinion. Not that I watch a lot of love stories but my wife did, so under duress I watched them too.
Around 9:15: There's often a bit of menace underneath the polite words when international politics get involved. My dad was an Army officer, and our family was stationed in West Germany in the later years of the Cold War. Dad could occasionally arrange for the family to get orders for the Duty Train, which was a sleeper train that ran from Bremerhaven or Frankfurt in West Germany, overnight through East Germany, into West Berlin. Once in a very great while, he could get an additional set of orders authorizing us to visit East Berlin for a day. Military and civilians had to go through separate sides of Checkpoint Charlie, and on one occasion, my brother and I were turned back from the civilian side by an East German official with an attitude. We headed back toward the West Berlin side, but before we got there, a Soviet officer politely stopped us and asked, in flawless English if I remember correctly, what was going on. We explained what had happened, as best we could, and while that was going on, Dad (who'd spotted my windbreaker all the way from the East side) came around to assist. The Soviet officer, contra what you might have expected, was, while not exactly "friendly" in the Western sense, completely professional, which, I would learn decades later, wasn't a Soviet thing, but more of a Russian cultural thing. He talked to Dad for a few seconds, took one look at our documents, nodded, and walked us right back up to the East German officials. I didn't exactly catch what was said between them: there was lots of technical German going back and forth. But the Soviet officer never once raised his voice, and the East German officials went from animated to very, very quiet. They then asked us for our passports, which, when we had been briefed, we were told to never unhand those, ever, under any circumstances. My brother and I gave each other a look of, like, do we trust them? The Soviet officer spotted that, and said something like, "Relax, kids, they'll give them right back." He then asked the East German officials, in basic German that he knew we'd understand, to confirm that, and they started nodding like bobbleheads on a triple espresso. Once the paperwork was sorted out, and we gave a respectful "Danke schön" to the East German officials, the Soviet officer told us to enjoy our visit. I asked him how to say "thank you" in Russian. He seemed to fight back a smile, and said, "It's спасибо." (pronounced spah-SEE-boh). I said, "Well, spasibo, Sir." He did smile at that. "Пожалуйста. До свидания." He then did a smart about-face and headed back toward his post. My brother and I met Dad right past the checkpoint, and the rest of the day was incident-free. My point in all that, is that there was a certain...decorum is too polite, protocol is too harsh, so..."understanding?"...when it came to how individuals from opposing nation-states interacted in times of conflict. It seems to have become a bit of a lost art in the 21st century.
Many of the extras at Ricks including the young woman playing Yvonne "Madeleine Lebeau" , escaped the Nazi's . In June 1940, Lebeau and he husband Dalio (who was Jewish) fled Paris ahead of the invading German Army and reached Lisbon. So when they were singing the French National Anthem, "La Marseillaise", they weren't acting, those tears and emotions were real. Every time it gets to that part of the movie it brings tears to my eyes knowing what the went through in real life. It's a great movie and Ingrid Bergman was breathtakingly beautiful. It's just one of the greatest movies of all time! ❤
The plane in the fog at the end was actually a smaller than life model on the sound stage. They made it look larger by hiring “little people” dressed as mechanics to walk around it.
If I had known you were watching Casablanca, one of the greatest movies of all time, I would have dressed up really nice. "We'll Always Have You Tube, Jen"
For about ten years, I had a long distance relationship with a British woman. We enjoyed watching movies, especially old movies. Casablanca is one of my favorites, but she refused to watch it with me. She said that the airport scene would be too much for her. For ten years, we were always saying goodbye at airports.
A true romantic movie. This is the favorite of mine. Humphrey Bogart is iconic. You are entranced from beginning to end! It was a great experience to see it in a retro cinema. Peter Lorre also delivered a great performance. Ingrid Bergman Is a great addition to the cast. Top notch!
I so adore this film. One of the best ever made! So many iconic lines and great moments. I finally saw this for the first time a couple years ago, and hated myself for waiting so long. I’ve watched every reaction here on TH-cam and no one has disliked it yet.
Two key moments missed here--Rick's nod approving the orchestra to play and Renault's oft-quoted line "I'm shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in here!" as the croupier tells him, "Your winnings, sir." He replies, "Oh, thank you very much."'
When the film was being made there was a fight behind the scenes as to who exactly was the male lead, Bogart or Paul Henreid (Laszlo). Part of the idea was whoever gets the girl is the top guy. They had to explain to Bogart, no, you don't get the girl but you lose her in a heroic gallant way that doesn't make you the loser. I don't know anybody who would think of Laszlo as the male lead. Lol.
What makes this movie so extraordinary is that it was just a standard conveyor-belt "studio system" production. A script is selected, a producer assigned to it, and the producer picks director, writers and most if the cast, and they crank it out in a few weeks. But in this case, everything aligned perfectly--IMO, literally. The direction (note the use of lighting and shadow to tell the story), awesome performances, crisp dialogue full of iconic (and telling) lines, and of course the plotting. It all came together to make truly "movie magic"!
In a world where the word "iconic" is misused to almost a criminal level, it's a joy to read it used properly. There truly are iconic moments in this classic.
The phrase "Round up the usual suspects" is from this film. No good law official would have "usual suspects" as that speaks to lazy half assed police work, aka Renault. So today you hear it in the film and it's a known saying. Back then when Renault says it early on it was like a joke for the audience. And then the second time he says it to save Rick it flips from meaning lazy to kind of being heroic.
One of my favorite movies of all time! Back when movies succeeded on the acting and great stories, and not special effects. Awesome movie! Awesome reaction Jen. ❤❤
This wasn’t expected to be a huge hit. However, the allies invaded and captured Casablanca second week of November in 1942, so they rushed the production to release it November 26 to take advantage of the free publicity.
It made me so happy to see you watching this. When I was a kid I saw this on late night reruns and I’ve watched it tons of times since. My love of movies, my desire to be a filmmaker, all came from me being a sleepy kid on my parents couch and having my mind just blown by seeing this
This movie is really for Broken hearts...been there.. This movie is so good. They are such good actors.their eyes talk for them.. I have been to Casablanca in Morroco 5 times already..love there and you can t help it thinking of this movie while strolling the streets over there..Thank you thank you Jen...much love to you and your family.
Was surprised how much I enjoyed this but that's down to you Jen your bubbly personality and love of music and old movies is heartwarming and always a fun time 🙌 went with colour I see well you are wearing killer lipstick and purple so can't argue with that 🔥
Hi, Jen! I have been watching your Star Trek reactions and have seen you reacting to Casablanca! It's truly an amazing movie --- tight, crisp. The dramatic thrust of the movie is Ilsa saying, "One woman has hurt you and now you want to take it out on the whole world!" Like Kirk in Star Trek, Rick had let Ilsa go for the good of the world. I liked dropping by to watch with you! BTW, I played French Horn in concert band and orchestra, my mom was a music teacher and I majored in music, so yeah. No wonder your musical comments are spot on! Anyway, thanks for watching this movie. And right back atcha --- 🖖
My all-time favorite movie. I didn't love it when my mother made me watch it way back when, but after I grew up, I got it. Quoteable, lovable, and to everyone I've shown this to, still relevant despite the WWII setting. One of the best of the studio-era movies, and for my money, a contender for best movie ever (but TBH, there are lots of contenders). Thanks, Jen.
There are so many iconic moments in this film, from the many famous lines you recognized (and a few you didn't), to all the non-American actors, to the special lighting for Ingrid Bergman and all the tricks they used to make Humphrey Bogart look taller than Ingrid Bergman, when she was in fact a couple inches or more taller than he was. With the backdrop of the war, the story can't help but hit hard. This movie is truly a classic, one worth watching over and over.
It makes me so happy to see you reacting to this -- it's one of my all-time favorites. The Marseilles scene alone is my favorite scene from any movie ever. It never fails to give me goosebumps.
Years ago, I worked at a resort in New Paltz, NY. One year they had a film week and not only showed the movie but also had a couple of people who help make it. They had a nice lecture about what it was like making the film.
Wonderful to see you watching genuinely iconic older movies, Jen. Casablanca is one of those films that is as familiar and obviously great on first viewing as it will be on rewatches. Humphrey Bogart's Rick, Ingrid Bergman's Ilsa, and an all-time great rogues gallery of a supporting cast: Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Henreid, Dooley, Greenstreet, Veidt etc are all perfect. The script is bursting with quotable lines; "Round up the usual suspects", "Play it, Sam. Play "As Time Goes By"." (How many movies can lay claim to inspiring TWO movie titles thru their dialogue? The Usual Suspects and Play It Again, Sam) to name but two. The "La Marseillaise" scene alone is fantastic (it held real meaning for some of those performing). Gorgeous movie - and when they made it they could not guess how special it would be!
Would love to see you react to more old classic movies. I think that is so cool you like old musicals. Jen you continue to impress me. One of these days I will have to join your Patreon.
Another classic black and white film worth watching is 'Angels with Dirty Faces' from 1938. James Cagney is the main star, but Humphrey Bogart is in it too. It's a crime drama and is considered by some to be one of the finest films in Cagney's career, and a true example of brilliant American cinema 😊
I love that you are so aware of the context and politics of what is going on in Casablance. So refreshing after seeing so many "first time" watchers that have no clue.
Rick is in danger in Nazi occupied Paris, not because of any criminal record in the US, but because he fought for the Spanish Republic against the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War, and ran guns to the Ethiopians who were resisting the invasion by Fascist Italy.
Hi Jen. I've been following you for awhile and to paraphrase Captain Renault I'm shock,shocked to find this was your first viewing of Casablanca 😂. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
You're absolutely right; the war was going on when they made this movie. You've picked up on one of the most impressive things about CASABLANCA that's not so obvious to us 80 years on... the writers (as well as the viewers) had no idea whether we'd win WWII. They were filming in the summer of 1942, America (and the Allies) were losing. We hadn't yet invaded North Africa. Captain Renault symbolically discards the Vichy water, yet when the movie debuted the French in North Africa were still loyal to Vichy. And yet the movie's optimistic aura gives us today the sense that it was shown in retrospect. The most amazing line is Rick's poetic foreshadowing (beyond the plot timeline) "It's December 1941 in Casablanca; what time it is in New York. I bet they're sleeping, I bet all America is asleep." Of course, in less than a week from the end of the movie, America will be awakened in Pearl Harbor and dragged into the war. So amazingly brilliant.
This film still casts a spell. You could see our Jen getting wrapped up in the story and themes. It's lightening in a bottle especially if you know what a winding road the production was and how so much was done on the fly. Side note... Rick is like a lot of us. He's not inherently bad, but he's in a part of his life where the slings and arrows of existence have drained him of any idealistic zeal. He's sanguine about how the world works, or so he tells himself. Like many people he fought the good fight and didn't see much for his efforts. Combined with losing the love of his life he curdled inside. When the true depths of his depression become known to him, and when his mettle was tested despite personal loss, he chose to rejoin the fray in the fight against Fascist Authoritarians. And he also doesn't purity test Louis, his own past too checkered to have any moral high ground, all that matters is Louis has TRULY seen the light and the error of his complicity and he is now committed to fighting the good fight. Rick is one of the great fictional anti-Fascists and his story has lessons for all of us today.
from wikipedia: "Casablanca was rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier. It had its world premiere on November 26, 1942, in New York City and was released nationally in the United States on January 23, 1943."
A bonafide classic. I knew you'd love it. I LOL'd when you said 'When're we gonna see Humphrey Bogart" literally as he appeared onscreen. :D. Fun fact: the basis of Rick's Cafe was the blueprint for Star Wars' cantina Mos Eisley.
Credited with helping to turn the tide of American sentiment towards entering the second world war, Casablanca remains one of the most quotable movies of all time. Dragged a buddy to see it on the big screen once in college, and we were both blown away by how many lines we already knew - and how well it still holds up - still a classic!
It was endearingly-wonderful (as always) watching you watching Bogey in possibly his most iconic role in this iconic, classic movie. SO good, especially with your Usual Suspects (ie Bow Tie and Champagne!) You played it for your Patrons, now play it for us TH-camrs. Play it, Jen. We'll always have your TH-cam Channel. Here's looking at you ❤
The movie was released Nov 28, 1942. Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Vichy French Morraco occurred on Nov 8, 1942, so the theme of the movie was very timely to the audience. And remember, at the time no one knew how the war would turn out...
An important detail is Louie’s discarding of the bottle of Vichy water near the end. Vichy France was the part controlled by the Nazis, so his action signifies his decision to stop shifting with the wind and become a genuine patriot of free France.
Now you can see the comparison I mentioned the other day about That Star Trek TNG episode "We'll Always Have Paris". :) Fun fact: I never realized the parallel until I watched your reaction video a few days ago.
Did you know how it would end?
1940-50s Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLQHhQlj8i5dotFJl59gM2R0DW8hFkFTJH.html
1960s Playlist: th-cam.com/play/PLQHhQlj8i5dorCvtMHpADNPESdOswQPUN.html
Yes, Jen, I did know the ending, but only because I've seen it umpteen times. I love this film, Rick does the noble thing in the end, at great cost to himself. The film, 'The Usual Suspects' got its name from this film, as the Policeman says, "I'll round up the usual suspects" after Rick shoots the German officer at the end.
I'm really impressed by you, Jen, your taste in Champagne is excellent, Veuve Clicquot is one of the best and my personal favourite.
No, and nor did the film makers while producing it. As was usual at the time, the script was frequently rewritten during filming; in the scene where she finally explains herself, Rick says "It's a story without an ending" and Ilsa replies "I don't know, you'll have to think for both of us" - a delightful meta joke, as they literally hadn't decided the end of the story!
It hasn't! Wait until you see "The African Queen".
Even though they don't say it, Rick must work for the U.S. government. He's been known to run guns, aiding other war efforts.
The sequel to "Casablanca" is "The African Queen". The movie stars Humphrey Bogart (who won the Academy Award for Best Actor, his only Oscar) and Katharine Hepburn with Robert Morley, Peter Bull, Walter Gotell, Richard Marner and Theodore Bikel.
Think of it this way, time has gone by. So much time has passed that movies are in color now. Rick, if that's his real name, is deep in Africa now. He's dodging the Nazis on his small boat, creating havoc were ever he can.
Enjoy the movie!
th-cam.com/video/qBEIileGQJ8/w-d-xo.html
Casablanca was largely conceived in 1941, near the beginning of American involvement in the war. It was filmed in the Summer of 1942. When filming began, roughly only the first half of the script was written, as FightingTorque411 implied. Those were times when the fate of the war was favorable to the Axis powers, so no one could say how the movie or the war would end. I suspect that this is why the last scene is so hopeful, not because people knew how the war would go, but because they were trying to be encouraging in an otherwise very dark and not-very-hopeful movie.
Not the first time. Yes the 100th time of watching it. So many great one liners in this movie.
Thumbs up if you understand the symbolism of Louis dropping the bottle of water in the bin at the end.
@@cvonbarronHe asked for a thumbs up. You failed.
@@cvonbarron Vichy drinks water, real Frenchmen drink wine
There was another quick symbolic moment when Louis says Germany Appreciates and then quickly says Vichy. Also in the beginning when they shot the man running away in front of a Poster of Marshall Petain saying he keeps his promises. Powerful symbols at the time in the movie but lost today.
In modern day vernacular Louis was "kicking Vichy to the curb". Also, when Louis stays to Rick "you've become a patriot" he was also referring to himself.
Why? Is it hard to understand?
"Why is it that when Bogey drinks in the daytime, he looks sophisticated, but when I do it, all I hear is 'Get off our little league field'!? - Bill Corbett
"...no one is to blame, so I demand no explanation..."
Wow. Lazlo is such a class act.
Victor Lazlo is TOO nice - I want a sequel where we explore his heroin addiction or something lol
@@ThewingkongexchangeHe is a deep cover double agent sent to America to assassinate FDR
@@ThewingkongexchangeA heroin addiction wouldn't affect how nice or not he is.
@@Thewingkongexchange there is in book form, "As Time Goes By"
I meant to say perfect really@@SgtTechcomDN38416
Sometimes old movies are called "timeless" I don't think it's ever been more true than this movie.
Although it is clearly set at a particular time and place it could be anytime and anyplace.
Some movies I think you’d love , if you haven’t seen them…
“Scaramouche”
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”
“Royal Wedding”
“The Kid From Brooklyn”
“Court Jester”
“The Inspector General”
It could be rewritten for any time and place that has a war like this going.
You only have to replace things like the bottle of Vichy water.
As a writer, I can only say that I wish I had written it.
When I a 71 yr young man watching CASABLANCA it still affects me. Something very special that only a great motion picture made during the 1940s can elicit. It's history.. star power...dialogue...romance can't really top this b&w B- movie. Timeless is my favorite genre.
You are right --- and that's why I hate seeing great films cheapened by given the "My Reaction to" BS. All that is is a cheap way to get themselves on TH-cam by "piggybacking" off a classic.
My favorite scene in the movie is the singing of La Marseillaise. It's at that moment that we first see how powerful Victor can be. Up until then, we only knew of his reputation. To add to it, most of the actors were Europeans who had fled the Nazis. In particular, Madeleine Lebeau, who played Yvonne, had fled France in 1940 and went to Lisbon, where she and her husband (who played the croupier) obtained visas to Chile. They stopped in Mexico on their way there, where it was discovered that the visas were forged. They were stuck until they got temporary Canadian passports, which they used to get to the U.S. The similarity of Yvonne's story to her own was not lost on Madeleine Lebeau. Her tears in that scene were real. And in the context of the story, Victor's actions reminded Yvonne that she was French, and that cozying up to the Germans would be a betrayal of her country (just as the Vichy collaborators had betrayed France).
Humphrey Bogart was in so many great movies: The Petrified Forest, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Key Largo, The African Queen, The Caine Mutiny, Sabrina. To me, he's the epitome of a movie star.
Ingrid Bergman was a great actress, and was one of the true beauties of classic Hollywood. Some of her best movies are Gaslight, Spellbound, and Notorious. Unfortunately, her career was derailed because she had an affair with an Italian director while married to someone else, and the bad publicity made Hollywood producers reluctant to cast her. If such a thing happened today, I doubt there would be such a strong reaction by the American public.
Actress Isabella Rossellini is Ingrid Bergman's daughter.
I'm glad that you commented that Casablanca isn't just a romance. As Rick said, "The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."
"Treasure of the Sierra Madre" has a special touch for me -- Bogart runs into Gandalf. Well, the voice of Gandalf in the Rankin Bass versions, John Huston. Who directed it AND had a small role.
It also features an extremely young Robert Blake.
Part of it translated:
"Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward
Against you we are all soldiers
If they fall, our young heroes
France will bear new ones
Ready to join the fight against you"
a bit of trivia for you Jeff, Ms Lebeau (Yvonne) was the last listed member of the cast to pass away. She was 92. At the time of the movies release she was 19.
Major Strasser was played by Conrad Veidt who fled Germany with his Jewish wife.
Humphrey BOGART is my favorite movie star. Equalled by maybe CARY GRANT
My uncle, who died before I was born, was a B-26 bomber pilot. He had flown all of his required missions, was grounded, scheduled to go home, got married to an English girl, was on his honeymoon when he was called back in to service for D-Day. He was given a "green" crew & shot down over Paris. His flight jacket caught fire & he burned while parachuting to the ground. He was in a hospital for a week or so before he died on the day that the allies entered Paris. The Germans had fled several days before taking all of the medical supplies including any pain meds with them. The French buried him in a private cemetery in Paris. A co. rep. for North Amer. Aircraft tracked down where he was buried & sent his body home to Texas. I wound up enlisting in the USAF & volunteering for service in Vietnam. This movie has effected many people who were effected by WWII.
A year before this, three of these actors -- Bogart, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet -- were in "The Maltese Falcon". Another classic that's worth seeing.
Peter Lorre is an institution all to himself, an iconic voice and an incredible actor, despite getting sidekick and horror roles mostly. His debut was in the German film, "M", as a serial killer being hunted by the police and organized crime.
The three were also in "Passage to Marseilles", along with Claude Raines.
Greenstreet and Lorre together in "The Mask of Demetrios."
Hollywood knew what worked back then!
In college I used to organize a weekly movie night, and when our venue was about to close, I went out of my way to get my hands on a copy of Casablanca. (This was before streaming.) We had about twice the usual crowd, and it was super-unruly... until the film began. Everyone laughed and was moved at exactly the right times. At the closing line, they cheered. Aaand then suddenly the room went back to being rowdy and unruly. But for those roughly two hours, I'm telling you they were spellbound.
So many reasons why this one is always so near the top of “best films of all time” lists.
Movie Fact: many of the actors who played the Nazis were in fact German Jews who had escaped from Nazis.
Such as actor Conrad Veidt, who played Maj. Strasser, who was well known in the theatrical community in Germany for his hatred of the Nazis, and his friendship with Jews (his wife was Jewish.)
Also the actress playing the pretty French prostitute. She was a French Jew,. My understanding is she came into the country on false papers, if she had stayed in France she would have been murdered in the camps
Conrad Veidt was also bisexual and had many gay friends persecuted by the Nazis.
Yes: even cross-dressing too, I read.
In another of his movies, The Man Who Laughs, Veidt played a twisted man, his face disfigured into a permanent smile. Comic book artist/writer, Jerry Robinson, used this as his inspiration to create Batman's eternal nemesis, the Joker.
@@Sp33gan that was him?! 😃
Of all the TH-cam Channels in all the sites in all the world, Jen has to come streaming onto this one.
Your Likes and Subscriptions, Madam.
"The Germans wore grey. You wore blue."
I hadn't caught that line before, but for some reason I love it.
You may be aware that in the American civil war the Rebel forces (separatists and pro-slavery) wore gray, and the Union forces wore blue. To some Americans, these colors are still symbolic of those forces and that conflict.
@@PsychedelicChameleon _Probably_ a coincidence. The German Army did wear gray uniforms.
@@wwoods66 yes, that would explain to mention the color grey, but they could select any color as the second color, and they didn't need to have that sentence in the movie at all. thus it might have been an unintentional coincidence, but when the screenwriters chose lots of dialogs and other details carefully for many scenes, lots of things could very well have been quite purposefully selected symbols too.
ps: After reading another comment about the bottle of "Vichy Water" at the end (i never had noticed that label before and only thought of it as "just one more bottle of champagne"), all those small details seem to be even more on purpose and not just some coincidences.
Steve Lawrence thought she wore gold... I however, remember it well.
I recall hearing that none of the cast knew the outcome because the script was still being written even as filming was happening. Ingrid didn't know which man she would end up with, so, she was told to play it right down the middle. It worked, because it wasn't clear to any of us watching. The "start of a beautiful friendship" line was even added in post since it hadn't been written yet for filming.
@@cvonbarron Well, not if Laslo were alive, anyway.
@@rcrawford42 True, but as this film is also propaganda, Rick would have to get over being neutral and get back to fighting the oppressors.
Ingrid actually knew she would end up with Victor. The Hayes office (Hollywood's morality police which was active from the mid '30s to the late '60s) would never have permitted a married woman to leave her husband for her lover. They also did not permit any suggestion that Rick and Ilsa had a sexual relationship when in Paris and they could only offer the subtlest hints that Renault was seducing refugees for exit visas.
It helps to know that the screenplay for Casablanca is based on an unproduced play that was written a few years earlier before the United States had entered World War II. So, the whole idea of the American Rick Blaine being neutral in all political matters was a commentary/metaphor for the U.S.'s position while War raged in Europe. By the time the movie was made, the U.S. had entered the War - actually I believe the play landed on the desk of one of the executives at Warner Brothers Studios only a few days or weeks after the bombing at Pearl Harbor and Warner Brothers quickly went ahead with making it into a movie.
Also, the movie takes place just before America entered the war, even though it was made after we were in it.
It's worth noting the full timeline here. The rights to the story were purchased in January 1942. (America entered the war in December of 1941, so this was only ~1 month later.) The movie was released in November 1942, so less than a year later and even less than a year after Pearl Harbor. That's pretty quick, even for those days. Actual US land combat in what sort of qualifies as the European theater (North Africa) began only in November of 1942, Casablanca's release was rushed in order to take advantage of the connection to real world events. @@vorlon1
I think many people in Europe knew more than you think.
This comment seems like a non sequitur to me. Who was saying anything about what people in Europe knew? Is there a different comment that you meant to reply to?@@libertyresearch-iu4fy
"..I bet they're asleep all over America." After my grandma explained the political situation at the time, I knew what that line really meant.
I really like the subtle character arc of the Police Chief going from a vain, corrupt official working with the Nazis to regaining his patriotism and quite literally putting the Vichy Regime (basically the part of the French Republic that wasn't occupied because they allied themselves with the Axis) in the trash. It mirrors Rick's Arc nicely.
Also, I disagree: This is a love story, but it's a tragic love story.
It's a love story, but it's not a romance story. It's sort of an anti-romance story.
Actually he figuratively put the Vichy regime in the trash.
Sorry, I couldn't stop myself. 🙂
I think, it's not a romance film, because it's so much bigger than that. Sure, the love story is what makes you feel for the main characters, but the point of the film is the bigger situation and the larger cause, not just the personal happiness of the main characters.
Nah. If one of the men had to die so she could get away with the other then THAT would have been a tragedy Instead, one gets to make the heroic sacrifice, the other gets the girl, and both live. And the bad guys lose.
Casablanca is the greatest propaganda film of all time & that is a good thing. Observe when it was released.
The scene where the French patrons sing La Marseillaise is even more emotional when you realize so many of the actors in the scene are refugees from Europe who fled to escape the Germans. A brilliant scene.
The very Definition of a Classic Film. It's charming, funny, romantic, exciting, mysterious and witty. A perfect film.
This is my favorite movie of all time. It is perfection.
Everytime I watch it, I still feel it will end differently.
❤
Musical foreshadowing: In Paris, Rick and Ilsa dance to an orchestral version of "Perfidia". The English lyrics would probably be known to the 1940s audience:
"To you, my heart cries out Perfidia
For I found you, the love my life
In somebody else's arms..."
Every romantic couple dances to Perfidia in these old films
When I watch Casablanca, my mind begins to play Al Stewart’s “The Year of the Cat”:
“On the morning from a Bogart movie, in a country where they turn back time.
You go strolling through the crowd like Peter Lorre,
Contemplating a crime.”
"We'll always have Paris."
Here's looking at you, kid."
Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
You winnings sir
That is my least vulnerable spot
I was misinformed
@@shawnmiller4781 "But make it ten. I'm only a poor corrupt official." Captain Renault has many of my favorite lines.
Renault damn near steals the show. Great part.
It‘s also the origin of „rounding up the usual suspects „
Like someone said about _Hamlet,_ "why do people think it's so great -- the script is just a series of clichés strung together!"
21:28 - The singing of La Marseillaise in the cafe gives me goosebumps - every time!
And the scene illustrates one of the themes of the film - Democracy vs fascism. The people in the bar, many of them displaced refugees from across Europe (many of the actors in the film were real life refugees including Madeleine Lebeau who played Yvonne who we see tearfully singing the song), led by Victor Laszlo literally rise to their feet and unite to combat Nazi fascism. It reflects something Laszlo said earlier in the film: "What if you murdered all of us? From every corner of Europe hundreds, thousands, would rise to take our places. Even Nazis can't kill that fast." Also, the words of 'La Marseillaise" itself are particularly poignant (the English translation): "Grab your weapons, citizens! Form your battalions! Let us march! Let us march!" (And strains of La Marseillaise play over the closing titles, as Rick and Captain Renault walk off, determined to re-join the fight.)
And the scene is a sort of microcosm of the whole film, showing the dynamics between the three main characters Rick, Victor and Ilsa. At first Rick is willing to sit back and allow the Nazis to sing, reflecting his stance to remain neutral and "not stick his neck out" for anyone. But Victor is a man of action and cannot sit by and do nothing. Yet Rick gives the band leader a nod letting him know he approves of them playing the song. Laszlo unites the people and together they stand up (literally) to the Germans. Meanwhile, we see Ilsa, who is torn between her feeling for the two men, watching the whole thing and we see in her eyes the love and admiration she has for Victor and also great fear because she knows this act of defiance will put him in greater danger.
For whatever reason, the older I get, the harder that scene hits me. So much emotion.
Because of what this film represents to me, my favorite line of the film is “Welcome back to the fight”.
This movie has so many iconic lines, and the ending is bittersweet. "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
“I’ve got this gun pointed right at your heart”. - “That is my least vulnerable spot”.❤
Of all the Jen joints of all the channels in all the world, she streams into mine.
Awesomely clever
Walt Disney World's MGM Movie Park had an attraction called "The Great Movie Ride".
It was a ride showing the History of movies using Audioanimatronic (Robot) Actors in famous movie scenes.
One scene was the ending of Casablanca (the famous speech between Ilsa and Rick at the Airfield).
When building the ride Disney Imagineers searched for a plane identical to the one in the movie.
They found and purchased the actual plane from the movie!
Sadly the ride was replaced by another attraction and I always wondered where that plane ended up.
And the plane in that ride was only the front half since the whole plane wouldn't have fit in that scene area. So they cut the backside off from the front. Do you know what happened to the back half? It can be found in the Disney World version of The Jungle Cruise.
Humphry Bogart also played a captain in "The Caine Mutiny" ... a flawless performance
The dialogue in this film is absolutely top tier.
at 67 yrs old this is probably my favorite movie.....brings a tear....
Winner of 3 Oscars including Best Picture.
The greatest romantic drama adventure ever made.
"Sam play our song?"
"Ding dong! The witch is dead, the wicked witch is dead....."
"No Sam, the other one."
Naked Gun 2.5, baby ! Good one ! LOL
This is our hill, and these are our beans
This is my favorite Bogart movie. The Maltese Falcon is second place.
This is also the best love story in my opinion. Not that I watch a lot of love stories but my wife did, so under duress I watched them too.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre should be in your list. Bogart's work is AMAZING in it.
Around 9:15:
There's often a bit of menace underneath the polite words when international politics get involved.
My dad was an Army officer, and our family was stationed in West Germany in the later years of the Cold War. Dad could occasionally arrange for the family to get orders for the Duty Train, which was a sleeper train that ran from Bremerhaven or Frankfurt in West Germany, overnight through East Germany, into West Berlin.
Once in a very great while, he could get an additional set of orders authorizing us to visit East Berlin for a day. Military and civilians had to go through separate sides of Checkpoint Charlie, and on one occasion, my brother and I were turned back from the civilian side by an East German official with an attitude.
We headed back toward the West Berlin side, but before we got there, a Soviet officer politely stopped us and asked, in flawless English if I remember correctly, what was going on. We explained what had happened, as best we could, and while that was going on, Dad (who'd spotted my windbreaker all the way from the East side) came around to assist.
The Soviet officer, contra what you might have expected, was, while not exactly "friendly" in the Western sense, completely professional, which, I would learn decades later, wasn't a Soviet thing, but more of a Russian cultural thing.
He talked to Dad for a few seconds, took one look at our documents, nodded, and walked us right back up to the East German officials. I didn't exactly catch what was said between them: there was lots of technical German going back and forth. But the Soviet officer never once raised his voice, and the East German officials went from animated to very, very quiet.
They then asked us for our passports, which, when we had been briefed, we were told to never unhand those, ever, under any circumstances. My brother and I gave each other a look of, like, do we trust them?
The Soviet officer spotted that, and said something like, "Relax, kids, they'll give them right back." He then asked the East German officials, in basic German that he knew we'd understand, to confirm that, and they started nodding like bobbleheads on a triple espresso.
Once the paperwork was sorted out, and we gave a respectful "Danke schön" to the East German officials, the Soviet officer told us to enjoy our visit.
I asked him how to say "thank you" in Russian. He seemed to fight back a smile, and said, "It's спасибо." (pronounced spah-SEE-boh).
I said, "Well, spasibo, Sir."
He did smile at that. "Пожалуйста. До свидания." He then did a smart about-face and headed back toward his post. My brother and I met Dad right past the checkpoint, and the rest of the day was incident-free.
My point in all that, is that there was a certain...decorum is too polite, protocol is too harsh, so..."understanding?"...when it came to how individuals from opposing nation-states interacted in times of conflict. It seems to have become a bit of a lost art in the 21st century.
Many of the extras at Ricks including the young woman playing Yvonne "Madeleine Lebeau" , escaped the Nazi's . In June 1940, Lebeau and he husband Dalio (who was Jewish) fled Paris ahead of the invading German Army and reached Lisbon. So when they were singing the French National Anthem, "La Marseillaise", they weren't acting, those tears and emotions were real. Every time it gets to that part of the movie it brings tears to my eyes knowing what the went through in real life. It's a great movie and Ingrid Bergman was breathtakingly beautiful. It's just one of the greatest movies of all time! ❤
Awesome reactions from Jen, to this superb piece of cinema.
And one of THE most quoted movies, of all time. :)
Jen does a classic of classics! Claude Raines steals the show as Cpt. Louis Renault! Have a good time and thanks!
The plane in the fog at the end was actually a smaller than life model on the sound stage. They made it look larger by hiring “little people” dressed as mechanics to walk around it.
If I had known you were watching Casablanca, one of the greatest movies of all time, I would have dressed up really nice. "We'll Always Have You Tube, Jen"
🤣
You weren't watching closely enough; we saw him hide the papers in the piano.
For about ten years, I had a long distance relationship with a British woman. We enjoyed watching movies, especially old movies. Casablanca is one of my favorites, but she refused to watch it with me. She said that the airport scene would be too much for her. For ten years, we were always saying goodbye at airports.
This is THE MOVIE. Master class on filmmaking
For my money, the best screenplay of all time-- so many amazing lines.
Laszlo represents Europe and Rick represents the US. The film was trying to shake the us from its pre-war isolationism.
A true romantic movie. This is the favorite of mine. Humphrey Bogart is iconic. You are entranced from beginning to end! It was a great experience to see it in a retro cinema. Peter Lorre also delivered a great performance. Ingrid Bergman Is a great addition to the cast. Top notch!
I so adore this film. One of the best ever made! So many iconic lines and great moments. I finally saw this for the first time a couple years ago, and hated myself for waiting so long. I’ve watched every reaction here on TH-cam and no one has disliked it yet.
An all time classic! It's in my top 10, easily. What a great script full of wonderful characters. Glad you're finally seeing it.
In my opinion, still the wittiest and most quotable script ever penned in Hollywood.
Two key moments missed here--Rick's nod approving the orchestra to play and Renault's oft-quoted line "I'm shocked, shocked to find gambling going on in here!" as the croupier tells him, "Your winnings, sir." He replies, "Oh, thank you very much."'
When the film was being made there was a fight behind the scenes as to who exactly was the male lead, Bogart or Paul Henreid (Laszlo). Part of the idea was whoever gets the girl is the top guy. They had to explain to Bogart, no, you don't get the girl but you lose her in a heroic gallant way that doesn't make you the loser. I don't know anybody who would think of Laszlo as the male lead. Lol.
What makes this movie so extraordinary is that it was just a standard conveyor-belt "studio system" production. A script is selected, a producer assigned to it, and the producer picks director, writers and most if the cast, and they crank it out in a few weeks. But in this case, everything aligned perfectly--IMO, literally. The direction (note the use of lighting and shadow to tell the story), awesome performances, crisp dialogue full of iconic (and telling) lines, and of course the plotting. It all came together to make truly "movie magic"!
At the end of the movie, a Scoundrel and a Rogue left Casablanca. Rick didn't get the partner he wanted but he got the partner he needed.
Loads of iconic moments but the sing-off in the bar is the one that hits hardest for me.
In a world where the word "iconic" is misused to almost a criminal level, it's a joy to read it used properly. There truly are iconic moments in this classic.
The phrase "Round up the usual suspects" is from this film. No good law official would have "usual suspects" as that speaks to lazy half assed police work, aka Renault. So today you hear it in the film and it's a known saying. Back then when Renault says it early on it was like a joke for the audience. And then the second time he says it to save Rick it flips from meaning lazy to kind of being heroic.
The movie the usual suspects gets its name from this
One of my favorite movies of all time! Back when movies succeeded on the acting and great stories, and not special effects. Awesome movie! Awesome reaction Jen. ❤❤
Wow! Can't belive it, my favourite film being reacted to by my favourite TH-cam reactor!!" 😍❤
A classic Bogie with Bacall noir film is "The Big Sleep" 1946 which is a cool Private Eye story that also has a scene of old Hollywood in it.
This wasn’t expected to be a huge hit. However, the allies invaded and captured Casablanca second week of November in 1942, so they rushed the production to release it November 26 to take advantage of the free publicity.
It made me so happy to see you watching this. When I was a kid I saw this on late night reruns and I’ve watched it tons of times since. My love of movies, my desire to be a filmmaker, all came from me being a sleepy kid on my parents couch and having my mind just blown by seeing this
Good one, Jen. I enjoyed rewatching this with you! Thanks for sharing it. 🙂
This movie is really for Broken hearts...been there.. This movie is so good. They are such good actors.their eyes talk for them.. I have been to Casablanca in Morroco 5 times already..love there and you can t help it thinking of this movie while strolling the streets over there..Thank you thank you Jen...much love to you and your family.
Was surprised how much I enjoyed this but that's down to you Jen your bubbly personality and love of music and old movies is heartwarming and always a fun time 🙌 went with colour I see well you are wearing killer lipstick and purple so can't argue with that 🔥
Hi, Jen! I have been watching your Star Trek reactions and have seen you reacting to Casablanca! It's truly an amazing movie --- tight, crisp. The dramatic thrust of the movie is Ilsa saying, "One woman has hurt you and now you want to take it out on the whole world!" Like Kirk in Star Trek, Rick had let Ilsa go for the good of the world. I liked dropping by to watch with you! BTW, I played French Horn in concert band and orchestra, my mom was a music teacher and I majored in music, so yeah. No wonder your musical comments are spot on! Anyway, thanks for watching this movie. And right back atcha --- 🖖
My all-time favorite movie. I didn't love it when my mother made me watch it way back when, but after I grew up, I got it. Quoteable, lovable, and to everyone I've shown this to, still relevant despite the WWII setting. One of the best of the studio-era movies, and for my money, a contender for best movie ever (but TBH, there are lots of contenders).
Thanks, Jen.
There are so many iconic moments in this film, from the many famous lines you recognized (and a few you didn't), to all the non-American actors, to the special lighting for Ingrid Bergman and all the tricks they used to make Humphrey Bogart look taller than Ingrid Bergman, when she was in fact a couple inches or more taller than he was. With the backdrop of the war, the story can't help but hit hard. This movie is truly a classic, one worth watching over and over.
LOVE ❤ this movie! Thanks for sharing it with a new generation, Jen!
Every frame of this movie is a more beautiful photograph than I'll ever shoot. Some would make museum quality pieces.
It makes me so happy to see you reacting to this -- it's one of my all-time favorites. The Marseilles scene alone is my favorite scene from any movie ever. It never fails to give me goosebumps.
Years ago, I worked at a resort in New Paltz, NY. One year they had a film week and not only showed the movie but also had a couple of people who help make it. They had a nice lecture about what it was like making the film.
Wonderful to see you watching genuinely iconic older movies, Jen. Casablanca is one of those films that is as familiar and obviously great on first viewing as it will be on rewatches. Humphrey Bogart's Rick, Ingrid Bergman's Ilsa, and an all-time great rogues gallery of a supporting cast: Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Henreid, Dooley, Greenstreet, Veidt etc are all perfect. The script is bursting with quotable lines; "Round up the usual suspects", "Play it, Sam. Play "As Time Goes By"." (How many movies can lay claim to inspiring TWO movie titles thru their dialogue? The Usual Suspects and Play It Again, Sam) to name but two. The "La Marseillaise" scene alone is fantastic (it held real meaning for some of those performing). Gorgeous movie - and when they made it they could not guess how special it would be!
Would love to see you react to more old classic movies. I think that is so cool you like old musicals. Jen you continue to impress me. One of these days I will have to join your Patreon.
I often refer to this movie as the first 'mature adult film' I ever saw. Wildly entertaining and engaging on every level.
Another classic black and white film worth watching is 'Angels with Dirty Faces' from 1938. James Cagney is the main star, but Humphrey Bogart is in it too. It's a crime drama and is considered by some to be one of the finest films in Cagney's career, and a true example of brilliant American cinema 😊
One of me fav people watching one of me fav movies :) great reaction as always Jen!!
I love that you are so aware of the context and politics of what is going on in Casablance. So refreshing after seeing so many "first time" watchers that have no clue.
So pleased you reacted to Casablanca, plenty of CHAMPAGNE!
Well, coming home to see this in my notifications made my night. Thank you.
Rick is in danger in Nazi occupied Paris, not because of any criminal record in the US, but because he fought for the Spanish Republic against the Fascists in the Spanish Civil War, and ran guns to the Ethiopians who were resisting the invasion by Fascist Italy.
Hi Jen. I've been following you for awhile and to paraphrase Captain Renault I'm shock,shocked to find this was your first viewing of Casablanca 😂. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
You're absolutely right; the war was going on when they made this movie. You've picked up on one of the most impressive things about CASABLANCA that's not so obvious to us 80 years on... the writers (as well as the viewers) had no idea whether we'd win WWII. They were filming in the summer of 1942, America (and the Allies) were losing. We hadn't yet invaded North Africa. Captain Renault symbolically discards the Vichy water, yet when the movie debuted the French in North Africa were still loyal to Vichy. And yet the movie's optimistic aura gives us today the sense that it was shown in retrospect. The most amazing line is Rick's poetic foreshadowing (beyond the plot timeline) "It's December 1941 in Casablanca; what time it is in New York. I bet they're sleeping, I bet all America is asleep." Of course, in less than a week from the end of the movie, America will be awakened in Pearl Harbor and dragged into the war. So amazingly brilliant.
WOW!!!! You understood Casablanca on multiple levels. None of the other reactors I watched saw beyond love story. Jen Rules!!! The others drool!!!
This film still casts a spell. You could see our Jen getting wrapped up in the story and themes. It's lightening in a bottle especially if you know what a winding road the production was and how so much was done on the fly.
Side note... Rick is like a lot of us. He's not inherently bad, but he's in a part of his life where the slings and arrows of existence have drained him of any idealistic zeal. He's sanguine about how the world works, or so he tells himself. Like many people he fought the good fight and didn't see much for his efforts. Combined with losing the love of his life he curdled inside. When the true depths of his depression become known to him, and when his mettle was tested despite personal loss, he chose to rejoin the fray in the fight against Fascist Authoritarians. And he also doesn't purity test Louis, his own past too checkered to have any moral high ground, all that matters is Louis has TRULY seen the light and the error of his complicity and he is now committed to fighting the good fight.
Rick is one of the great fictional anti-Fascists and his story has lessons for all of us today.
from wikipedia:
"Casablanca was rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier. It had its world premiere on November 26, 1942, in New York City and was released nationally in the United States on January 23, 1943."
A true classic. Great reaction, as always.
Awesome reaction. Thanks for sharing, John
A bonafide classic. I knew you'd love it. I LOL'd when you said 'When're we gonna see Humphrey Bogart" literally as he appeared onscreen. :D. Fun fact: the basis of Rick's Cafe was the blueprint for Star Wars' cantina Mos Eisley.
One thing never said in the movie is “Play it again Sam”
No. He really just says "Play it, Sam. If she can stand to hear it, so can I."
Something else not said in the movie: "crap, I can't pick up a wi-fi signal ANYWHERE".
Credited with helping to turn the tide of American sentiment towards entering the second world war, Casablanca remains one of the most quotable movies of all time. Dragged a buddy to see it on the big screen once in college, and we were both blown away by how many lines we already knew - and how well it still holds up - still a classic!
B.S. After Pearl Harbor they didn't need anything else to "turn the tide of American sentiment against the war".
Hi Jen hope you are having an great and awesome day ❤
It was endearingly-wonderful (as always) watching you watching Bogey in possibly his most iconic role in this iconic, classic movie. SO good, especially with your Usual Suspects (ie Bow Tie and Champagne!) You played it for your Patrons, now play it for us TH-camrs. Play it, Jen. We'll always have your TH-cam Channel. Here's looking at you ❤
Love a film where doing the right thing trumps personal wants. Great react…keep’em coming.
YES!!! I'm so excited for this. Sad I missed the premier.
There's a reason it's considered a classic! Great movie. Great reaction
This is an iconic movie reviewed by an iconic reactor. Here's looking at you Jen.
Man, I've been waiting for this for over a year! Now this is the way to start a Tuesday!
The movie was released Nov 28, 1942. Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Vichy French Morraco occurred on Nov 8, 1942, so the theme of the movie was very timely to the audience. And remember, at the time no one knew how the war would turn out...
Just read all the comments... what a nice place for people to meet. In Casablanca. You tube is a little cultural miracle... Nice of you to host this.
We're all refugees just trying to get to Patreon.
An important detail is Louie’s discarding of the bottle of Vichy water near the end. Vichy France was the part controlled by the Nazis, so his action signifies his decision to stop shifting with the wind and become a genuine patriot of free France.
There are many details that the 1940s audience would understand that we miss. Like the man being shot beneath the mural of Marshal Petain.
Now you can see the comparison I mentioned the other day about That Star Trek TNG episode "We'll Always Have Paris". :)
Fun fact: I never realized the parallel until I watched your reaction video a few days ago.
Thanks, Jen, for addressing another of my favorites, and one of the greatest movies of all time.