Casablanca 1943

The Film:

Here we go with another classic. This one has topped loads of lists, has been parodied and tributed (is that a word?) on numerous occasions, and just happens to be one of Andy's favourite films. It's been a few years since we've seen it, so it will no doubt be a delight to watch it all over again for the umpteenth time. (I've not seen it quite as many times as Rebecca - but not far off).

It's another wartime film, albeit one with a very different tone to last year's winner, Mrs Miniver. Apparently an earlier version of the script had been doing the rounds for several years with several people liking it but no one being overly keen to actually make it. The day after Pearl Harbour was the day that the first steps were made to put the film into production and the rest, as they say, is history!

There are many things that could be said about the background and production of the film, but I think my favourite bit of Trivia is about how international the cast was. There are only three American actors in the cast - Rick, Sam and the young Bulgarian wife. Claude Rains was an incredibly British Frenchman, and everyone else used their own authentic and varied European accents. Even Nazi Major Strasser was played by a German - one who had a Jewish wife and, therefore, a deep dislike of the Nazi regime. To pull all those people together to produce a film like this in wartime is pretty impressive!

Funnily enough, the morning after we watched Casablanca, I was watching an episode of Frasier that both commented on and parodied the film. Including Frasier being left with an accidentally abandoned cat called Louis. Queue the line......

The Ceremony:

An actual ticket for the ceremony!

Lots of firsts (and a last) this year as the Oscars took a big step towards the sort of ceremony we are
used to today. For the first time it was held in a large public venue rather than the small cabaret/banquet set up of previous years. It took place on March 2nd 1944 at Grauman's Chinese Theater (the one with all the handprints outside!). Free passes were given out to service personnel in uniform. And the whole thing was presented by.....nope, Jack Benny. The whole ceremony - which took about 30 minutes - was broadcast internationally for the first time. And, finally, Supporting Actors and Actresses got a proper statuette rather than just a plaque!

It was also the last time for 65 years that there would be more than five films nominated for Best Picture. Which might make things a little easier for the next 65 entries....


Other Notable Winners That Night:

Paul Lukas and Jennifer Jones

Despite nominations for Bogie and Claude (and Bergman being nominated for For Whom The Bell Tolls) there were no acting awards for Casablanca. The main awards went to Paul Lukas and (odds on favourite) Jennifer Jones. Charles Coburn must have been really good in the role he won Supporting Actor for, in order to beat Claude Rains in one of the best supporting roles of all time (but maybe I'm biased).

The war theme continued again this year in the documentary categories, with both the short and the feature length awards going to films about the events of the time. The Animation award was also given to a film with a wartime film - the first Tom and Jerry (of many) to win the Oscar. Here it is (or at least some of it!):

Best Song:

I didn't recognise the title (You'll Never Know) or the film (Hello Frisco Hello) but I recognised the tune when I played it. And it gives me the chance to post a bit of the wonderful Alice Faye. Gorgeous voice, great comic and dramatic actress. And best of all, she quit while she was ahead, had a nice happy quiet life and lived to a good age!

Required viewing for all good Catholic
school children of a certain age!

What We Could/Should Have Been Watching:

Of course it's right that we were watching Casablanca. It's stood the test of time for so many reasons
and still gets watched regularly today. However, apparently the hype beforehand was all surrounding Song of Bernadette and For Whom The Bell Tolls. They both had more nominations than Casablanca, and Song of Bernadette won four Oscars to Casablanca's three. (For Whom The Bell Tolls won one.)


Our Verdict:

Play It Sam - just not "again"!

It's definitely more difficult to review a film that I already knew well before the challenge (along with most other film lovers in the world!). There's very little to be said about Casablanca that hasn't already been said - including in over a thousand reviews on IMDB.

However, it did feel different this time. There is something to be said for watching these earlier films with a much greater sense of their context. The war time winners reveal an interesting pattern. If we go with December '41 as being the significant start of the war for Americans, then so far we've had heartwarming British nostalgia with a resilient edge (and Walter Pidgeon), blatant but effective stiff-upper-lip we're-all-in-this-together rousing and poignant propaganda (and Walter Pidgeon). Next year we get more heartwarming pap with a message of love and peace (and Bing Crosby) before we move on to some grittier post-war "issues" films (and a random bit of Shakespeare) to see us to the Technicolor 50s.

Low maintenance!

So, slap bang in the middle of the war, where does Casablanca fit into this pattern? It's a contemporary war film. It definitely doesn't like Nazis (even the German actor playing a Nazi hated Nazis) and yet it's doing something quite different that the other wartime winners. And something that, to me, feels very much ahead of its time. It's satire. There's plenty of comedy, wrapped up in tragedy, revealing further layers of comedy and tragedy. It pokes fun at the systems, events, institutions and individuals all playing (or sitting out) their part in the war effort and it does so in a subtle but cutting way, without ever being dismissive of the real pain that some of them are going through.

Of course, it's also a classic doomed love story with a perfect ending (and a wonderful way of pushing the Hays Code to its absolute limits - we know what they were up to in Paris, we know she was married, but lets just play innocent and deny everything if Joe Breen comes sniffing around.....).

The early signs of a beautiful friendship.....

However, this time around I pretty much ignored the Rick-Ilsa-Victor stuff and concentrated more on the politics. And my absolute favourite character, Louis. He doesn't have all the best lines, but he delivers his better than anyone. I love him!

The constant parodying of Casablanca over the years, coupled with the mere existence of Allo Allo means that we were finding jokes where there weren't any (and were quoting When Harry Met Sally rather a lot). However, when I really think about it, in the scenes with Louis I was reminded more of Blackadder than anything else. I know it's the wrong war, but the way Claude Rains delivers many of his lines with a wry, knowing glint and very little shame in playing the system and getting what he can out of the situation, reminded me of the way Rowan Atkinson plays Captain Blackadder. And, ultimately, they both can't help being a little bit decent deep down.

"Round up the usual quotes...."

The sad situation that the Bulgarian couple find themselves in, and the unhappy end of Peter Lorre's character give depth and weight to events surrounding the love triangle - and I think the only really unsatisfactory thing about viewing the film from this angle is that Victor Lazlo is, well, just a bit rubbish really, isn't he? Thing is, when all you are doing is rooting for Rick and Ilsa, then it sort of helps to think Victor is a bit wet. But when you're really trying to grasp the idea that this man can inspire hoardes of revolutionaries and might just change the world for the better (as long as Ilsa is by his side) then he needs to have a bit more about him than an aloof and wistful manner and a smug way of saying everything as though it's a deeply philosophical announcement on the state of the nation.

Well, anyway - it appears that I did have plenty to say about this film after all. It stands up to repeated viewing. It can be interpreted in lots of different ways. It's still one of the best screenplays ever. And I'm still (pleasantly) amazed that the Academy went for it over Song of Bernadette, given their generally conservative tastes and the public mood at the time. Maybe all they saw was a love story and an anti-Nazi addition to the war effort. Thankfully there is much more to it than that!