Casablanca Turns 70

This was an entertainment column I wrote for A&M-Texarkana's online newspaper, The Navigator:




Right now all the buzz in the movie industry is the outcome of the Academy Awards which were held in February, and upcoming movies such as The Hunger Games and The Avengers. However, there is one film that is redeemed as a true American classic headlining entertainment news; yet no one seems to know.


This year Casablanca celebrates its 70th anniversary of its release.What is astonishing is that not only do most people not know about this iconic event in movie history, but they haven't even seen the movie. Particularly people who fit in the college-age demographic. "To be ignorant of American art is astounding", Dr. Wagy, History professor at TAMUT said.


The film follows character Rick, who owns the night club "Rick's Cafe Americain" in unoccupied Casablanca, Morocco during World War II. His encounter with a former flame and her libertarian husband supplies us with the plot; the characters deal with emotional wounds of their past that are now brought into the present while also encountering situations with Nazis.


IMDB lists these headlining actors that can be seen in Casablanca and other movies you can see them in: Humphrey Bogart(The African Queen), Ingrid Bergman(Murder on the Orient Express), Claude Rains(Lawrence of Arabia), and Peter Lorre(The Maltese Falcon).


Although the movie is set in a french-speaking country, the movie is an obvious American-made product. Rick, although a solemn character who keeps to himself and "sticks his head out for nobody", is respected and admired by all of the citizens of Casablanca. He, the American, is depicted almost as the epitome of cool. The local government keeps his club open because they know that he has nothing to do with certain illegal activities that goes on in it, and also because he fixes Roulette to where Claude Rains' character, Captain Louis Renault wins big money.


Although Casablanca focuses on the romantic and war aspects of the plot, it does deliver several doses of humor. In one scene, Rick is speaking to Captain Renault about why he is in Casablanca. He says he came their for the waters, where Renault exclaims, "The waters, what waters? We're in the desert!" where Rick states "I was misinformed."


The acting in this movie has never really been surpassed in any other. The actors perform in such a way that conveys how one can experience multiple emotions at a time. Anger, bitterness, fear, heartache, confusion, and excitement can all be identified in Rick when his lost love Ilsa comes back into his life. Another instance where emotions are realistically conveyed is when a flashback of Paris being taken by the Nazis is shown, and the sheer panic and fear is shown by the extras who are playing Perisian citizens.


Everyone has movie quotes that they love to bring into everyday conversation. This movie gave us many quotes that have been duplicated in other movies for comedic effect. "We'll always have Paris", "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world she walks into mine", "Play it again Sam", "Here's looking at you kid", and "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" are some quotes you may recognize. One film, Out Cold, is almost an unofficial modern remake of Casablanca, as the plot and some of the quotes are similar.


It should be noted that this film was actually made DURING World War II, so emotions were high when it came to Nazis. In one scene, some Nazi characters are singing a German anthem, when all of the other patrons in the club start singing "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem at the same time, starting a "battle of the anthems" with the Germans. They eventually blur out the German song with theirs and start yelling "Viva La France!". The scene is very powerful as I watch it in 2012, I can only imagine the effect it had on audiences in theaters when the film was first released.


For those of you who don't know much about the plot or the actors in the movie, you may just want to watch it just for the fun of it. This movie was made when men and women alike dressed in style, and the costume design of this film really shows it. There are some black and white movies that move at a much slower pace than what we're used to today, but this film is not one of them; it is entertaining and informative of World history from beginning to end. If that doesn't make you want to watch it, atleast see it for the pure beauty that is Ingrid Bergman.


To celebrate the film's 70th anniversary, many theaters are showing the film for one night only, and one of Texarkana's own cinemas is doing so! Cinemark Movies 14 will be showing the film on March 21st at 7 P.M. To find out other theaters Casablanca will be showing at, go to: http://www.fathomevents.com/upcoming/alllocations.aspx?eventid=1067

Movies about Movies article

Here's a link to an entertainment column I did for my college's online newspaper--April edition
http://tamutexarkana.wordpress.com/movies-about-movies/