Hollywood's Greatest

Rating: 10/10 (7 April 2005)

As Leonard Maltin says, "everything's right" in this movie about Vichy-occupied Casablanca in World War II. Bogie is the ambiguously ex-patriot proprietor of Rick's Cafe with Wilson as his loyal sidekick; Rains is the amoral (or is he?) local constabulary; Greenstreet is the owner of a neighboring saloon; Lorre does a stretch as a conniving weasel. Then Bogart's old flame Ingrid blows into town with resistance leader Henreid in tow and everything goes upside down. Almost every line is a gem, whether it bristles (most of them) or is so overdone as to be awesomely camp. The only arguably slow part (and it suffers only in comparison) is the extended Paris flashback. I think this is Bogart's signature performance, a notch or two above his (or pretty much anyone else's) best work. Bergman is breathtaking as his old girlfriend; and all the supporting characters shine in their own way, particularly Rains, who may actually have as many memorable lines as Bogart. Worth multiple viewings, it gets better each time. I've seen lots of great movies but never really question whether this was the best.