The Band Wagon Effect

Rating: 6/10 (18 January 2006)

I'm a fan of almost everyone who appears in Casablanca, at least in every other movie they were ever in. Bogart, Bergman, Rains, Greenstreet, Lorre, and so on. But I think that Casablanca made its biggest impression when it came out, in the heat of WWII, and its reputation has carried it along ever since. I'm certain that very few will agree with me on this, but I think that many occasional movie watchers and many would-be experts like to chatter about this film's "greatness", when in fact, it has very little of that. Number one problem for me is Bogart as anyone's love interest --- think about this: his very best performances weren't romantic, or anywhere near it(I give "African Queen" a comedy designation). The other problem is the dated silliness (in the so-called comic characters) that I suppose was put in to balance the seriousness of being stranded in Casablanca with Nazis buzzing around everywhere. Then there's that ever-present song...not bad, but very over-used. Since I know I'll stir up a lot of folks, I apologize for criticizing the "perfect film", but there are just too many truly great ones out there to get all blubbery about this one. Entertaining for its time period, but not great. But cheer up, Casablanca fans, we'll always have Gaslight, Notorious, Maltese Falcon, and Treasure of the Sierra Madre'.