My all time favorite

Rating: Null/10 (15 May 2010)

SPOILER ALERT! This film is over a half-century old. If you have not yet seen it, do not read the following review.
I cherish this film. There are films I love, but I cherish Casablanca. The premise of the film is about doing the right thing. Fighting the Nazis, giving up your one true love, making sacrifices, etc. How can a person not identify with such a film? The dialogue is priceless, many of the phrases and lines have made it into our common speech. There was even a movie made called "The Usual Suspects". How many films have had a whole film made, from a line in the film? And my all-time favorite line, is when Captain Renault tells Rick to be kind to women "Someday, they may be scarce"! I must say I cringed when I learned that there was a "colorized" version of this film released in Australia. This film must be seen in monochrome. The issues, love/jealousy, and freedom/tyranny are black-and-white issues.
The "battle of the anthems" scene, is one of the most powerful scenes ever committed to film. The band strikes up "La Marsellaise", and the people sing it with fervor. Many of the actors, had recently escaped from Europe, and they cried real tears. I always weep profusely, when I see this part of the film.
One of my pastimes is hookah smoking. This film is one of the very few films ever made, which show a smoldering hookah. Every time I smoke a hookah, I channel "Casablanca".
I am delighted that the AFI voted "Casablanca", as the #2 all-time greatest film of the past 100 years. It deserves the honor.