A most enduring classic

Rating: 10/10 (15 April 1999)

The only pre-MPAA rating system movie that holds its popularity and cult status from the very time it was released (even "Gone With the Wind" had a minor period of neglect), "Casablanca" is most people's primary association when they hear the word "classic". And rightly so: all aspects of the production have no glitches whatsoever. Plotwise, the film recounts the aftermath of a romance undermined by a disaster (in this case, a devastating war): a theme forever exploited for its box-office potential. Here, the three-hankie quotient is relatively low due to an intelligent script which concentrates on Europe's reaction to a near-apocalyptic threat to its way of life and its freedom of spirit. We also have some unforgettable musical moments (and an answer for why the Beatles used "La Marselliase" in "All You Need Is Love"), the inspiration behind the Mos Eisley cantina in "Star Wars", the only representation of a black character up to that time that wasn't somehow demeaning, references which are widely speculated to be bisexual, and so much more! Some characters, one has to admit, are better developed than others (Bergman, who pimps herself back to Bogart in order to help the Resistance, is considerably more interesting elsewhere), but the writing is flawless and works of cinema and literature are still being named after the movie's lines of dialogue, one as recently as '95. Ironically, Ronald Reagan was supposed to play Rick Blaine before Humphrey signed on: what the picture might have been with him in the lead is anyone's guess.