Casablanca (1942)

“Casablanca” is a suspenseful and brilliantly crafted film that is often heralded as one of the greatest films ever made! So what did I think of this prestigious, austere and magnificent motion picture that is supposedly better than over half-a-century of cinema that preceded it and has had praise lavished upon it for over seven decades?

Um, it's good I guess.

When it comes to black-and-white films, I only find them effective in sombre, creepy or mysterious movies (“Schindler’s List”, “12 Angry Men” and “Great Expectations” are among the best motion pictures shot in monochrome.) The cinematography in “Casablanca” is outstanding, the lack of bright visuals increases the intensity of the narrative and adds a level of intrigue and suspicion that would be lost if the movie was filmed in colour.

I was surprised how “not dull” watching “Casablanca” was; although nothing particularly explosive occurs, the film moves from scene-to-scene with a momentum that kept me enthralled from opening credits to iconic ending.

The script is chock-full of iconic lines that I have heard millions of times already ("It's a topsy-turvy world, and maybe the problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans. But this is our hill. And these are our beans!"). The romance was believable; the characters interactions ranged from heartfelt to humorous.

The cast all deliver memorable and likeable performances, the standouts being Dooley Wilson’s Sam and Claude Rains as Captain Louis Renault.

Humphrey Bogart proved himself very adept at grumbling in a gravelly voice, staring into the distance and looking conflicted. In all seriousness he does have a very enigmatic screen presence and decent chemistry with the equally competent Ingrid Bergman; he’s cool, collected and sounds as though he smoked 30 cigarettes a day (which he probably did.)

Overall, “Casablanca” is good by today’s standards but great for its time (especially when you consider that it was made and released in the midst of WWII.) I liked it but I didn’t find it that exceptional. I’m sorry Sam but as much as I appreciated it’s technical qualities, I don’t need to “play it again.”