Time Hasn't Gone By This Classic!

Rating: 10/10 (18 August 2003)

I saw this movie in college 20 years ago with over seventy 18-23 year old fellow students. And the audience reaction was like the movie just came out yesterday. Here's a movie that assumes that the average audience has intelligence. And the tons of laughs were all in the right places for the right reasons. Twenty years later, I can still hear the laughter and applause...and the cheers; especially for that now classic closing line.
If more black and white classics were given this kind of DVD treatment (the recent 2 disc release), then I'd own more black and white classics. Bogart's brilliant portrayal was ahead of its time and no one else but Bergman could of been Elsa. Same for Rains, Henreid, Sakall, Veidt and EVERYONE else. Perfect cast, perfect acting.
It's a shame most people will never see this with an audience because this is a crowd pleaser if ever there was one. So the next best thing is the quality and care that was put into the new DVD. Believe it or not, this makes a great "at home" date flick. And even have a few friends over...but not the 'chatty' ones. There's just too much to miss if so and so starts to "yackitty! yackitty! yackitty! during the many (& there are many) priceless and subtle moments. This movie deserves full attention. And the nice thing is...you pick up more the 2nd time seeing it (& 3rd, 4th...etc).
My favorite line (no way am I repeating it or any others) is Rick's "poor salesmanship" rejection. This one film has more great 'one liners' than some hundred movies put together. And it still seems as fresh today as when...well; when I saw it the 1st time.
It's not that "they don't make em like this anymore" applies to 'Casablanca' because most movies, for every year, in every era (since the 1920's); aren't very good. It's always the very few that rise above the heap, every year; especially when you take into account that over 100 movies are made every year. But 'Casablanca' represents a sample of damn fine storytelling for that particular era that time has proved to be...timeless.
A 'must see' for most movie lovers (but not the 'yackitty' ones).
10 out of 10!
(Can't wait for Bogart's "Treasure of the Sierra Madre"s 2 disc DVD release next month. Another sample of just how brilliant Bogart's acting is.)