The Eyes Have It

Rating: 6/10 (9 September 2006)

To get straight to the point as to why I don't give this special praise: it's obsolete. Not the plot - I mean the whole manner of storytelling. It's passé, where something like "Citizen Kane" still speaks to us.
The center of this, of course, is Bogart - an old-style Real Man, not unlike John Wayne. His acting is tight and mannered, to reflect what was expected in those days - tight control of emotional expression, control of the situation, no irony whatsoever...All sentiment is quickly dissolved in alcohol.
That said, what IS worth watching is how Bergman carries emotional content - specifically, within her eyes, which tell all. "Here's looking at you", indeed. It's honest, and Bogie feeds off of it.
And how the musical 'accompaniment' moves the pieces on the chess board. The famous "As time goes by" and "La Marseillaise" are the expressions of this force which buffets the actors within the romance, and the actors within the political intrigues. The musical performances are both 'staged for us', as was de rigeur back then, but also is indispensable to the larger narrative.
Worth at least one screening, but do take it with a grain of salt.