The Best Movie Ever Made

Rating: 10/10 (6 December 2004)

It's hard not to repeat others when commenting on the movie that many people consider to be the best of all times. The Film Institute ranks it number two behind Citizen Kane. I like Citizen Kane very much, but I do not think it is anywhere near as good as Casablanca. It is simply the finest blend of script, sets, characters, casting, music and photography that Hollywood has ever produced. Who can forget the shadow of the dancing woman on the wall? Has there ever been a funnier straight man than Claude Raines? Or an oilier villain than Peter Lorre? The scene where Paul Heinried leads the audience in the Marseillaise is rightfully one of the most touching in the history of the cinema. But what impressed me is how the French National Anthem blended with the German song the Nazis were singing, so well that it sounded like a round. As much as I liked the movie itself, I never appreciated it as much until I bought the VHS version showing the making of the movie. How many viewers realize that the writers didn't know which of the lead characters Ilse would go off with until literally the end of the movie? How many know that three different directors worked on various parts of the movie? Or that it was one of the most brilliant success stories of a movie put together by committee? Not too many years ago, the favorite trivia "factoid" was that Bogart never said "Play it again, Sam." He actually said, "Play it, Sam." I still get misty-eyed every time I hear As Time Goes By. It's very unusual that I remember the theme from a modern movie by the time I leave the theatre. Only the Ring Trilogy has come close to matching Casablanca in so many different ways. But who wants to watch something for ten hours when you can get the same effect in an hour and a half?