Ebert's GREAT MOVIES, Part 9: "Casablanca"

Hi Timber:

I read that Michelle Morgan and Hedy Lamarr were considered for the role, too. Thanks for seconding my vote.

I agree with Phoenix, there wasn't a bad role - Peter Lorre was so Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet - Bergman was so bewitching, but the last scene belonged to Bogie. How could you ever expect the sacrifice. Gotta see it again.

I voted for Bergman. She does look like she loves both men.
Bogey played Bogey. (Or is it that we consider Bogey is Rick?).

I have heard that none other than Ronald Reagan was to have Rick's role. It would have been a whole different picture.

That story's been making the rounds for decades, fbaezer, that Ronald Reagan had been cast for the Rick role and had to reneg at the last minute. Bogie, the story goes, was second choice, an afterthought. I have absolutely no idea how true this story might be. Anyone have any documentation on it?

The only "hit" I got was this (which leaves us in the same spot):



http://dvdmg.com/doubleindemnity.shtml

Fbaezer: An excellent reason to vote for Bergman.

Fbaezer and Merry Andrew:

I, too, was under the impression that Ronald Reagan had been considered for Bogart's role, but I just read the following in the Trivia section of the Internet Movie Data Base:

"Studio publicity in 1941 claimed that Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan were scheduled to appear in Casablanca, but this was never the case and the false story was planted to keep both their names in the Press. Meanwhile, George Raft was angling for the part with Jack L. Warner, but Bogart was always the first choice."

Can't even imagine Ronnie as Rick -- unless Ilsa was rewritten as a chimp.

I can imagine George Raft as Rick.

George Raft as Rick makes sense. But Ann Sheridan as Ilsa doesn't.

I can't even remember Ann Sheridan. The name, yes, the person - no. What other roles was she in? Anything famous about her?

I'm not quite old enough to supposed to be able to remember this, but Ann Sheridan was "The Oomph Girl" in the late '30s, early 40's. She was then a sultry type, and often played wise-cracking "Tough-Girl" roles. Interestingly, she appeared with both Bogart and Raft in 1940's "They Drive By Night". Her career dwindled into the 'Fifties and whimpered to an end with her long-running performance as a doyenne in a TV soap opera (never was a soap opera fan ... not sure which one it was ... my Mom watched it). She is probably best remembered as the WAC married by Cary Grant's character in 1949's "I was a Male Warbride".



timber

Very good, timber -- and here's the link to her filmography:

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Sheridan,+Ann

"Casablanca" is the result of is perfect casting and this rarely happens. That's one of the factors in making a film great -- all the collaborative components (which have creative human beings behind them) come together in perfect unison like a great symphony orchestra. One or two of those components fail and you have a good film in the three star category. More components fail and you have an average film. Nearly all or all of the components fail and you have a turkey. In the thread that explored why a film is great, the director came off as the most important element. He's hopefully in control of all the other components. Michael Curtiz, the director of this film gave us many other great movies which may or may not be in a list of 100 films:

"Captain Blood"
"The Adventures of Robin Hood"
"Young Man with a Horn"


among others.

GW,
...A couple of your posts remind me of a zen story. [There was a deep sea fisherman, who for many years, caught great fish, using a a thin line, that never broke. When asked about this he replied, "As a chain is no stronger than it's weakest link, my line has no weak spot, thus there is nowhere for it to break"] So therin lies the greatness of "Casablanca," it's flawlessness.

I like that. I had to make a pot of green tree and meditate!

Sounds good....Grasshopper

Yes, Booman seems to stay at his punch bowl, doesn't he?

As for Casablanca, I think less of it with the passage of time. It's like a piece of jewelry that is "shopworn," i.e.,
a piece that's been in the store so long, customers have just about worn it out from trying it on. Everybody wants to try this piece, but no one wants to buy it because it looks used.

Don't misunderstand . . . I think Casablanca is a "must- see" film for those who haven't seen it. Its mixture of cigarette smoke and fog create a lethargic mood that is beguiling. Bergman, I think, was superb in Casablanca.
(I thought Bogie's turn in The Caine Mutiny was his most effective.)

Thanks again for these film threads, Lightwizard, and to all Happy Holidays!

Hey waita' minute, GW started it.!

Some of us have seen some classic film so many times that it can appear "shopworn." Much of this is due to a film being emulated over and over and much of the time unsuccessfully. "Far From Heaven" is in the tradition of the 50's dn 60's Douglas Sirk melodrama but is given fresh ingredients. Would "Casablanca" be served by being updated to todays kind of realism? Nope -- it's basically a fable romance with the dressing being a slice of history.
I personally find it succeeds in taking me back to that time in history and enjoying the fable.

The Wizard's right, as usual. If Casablanca seems shopworn, it's the same kind of shop-weariness one senses in daVinci's Mona Lisa painting. We've seen it reproduced too many times. It does not diminish the quality of the work. It might, however, adversely affect our unqualified enjoyment of it.