effortless

Rating: 10/10 (23 June 2002)

The lasting attraction of this film must be its seemingly effortless use of the medium. We know that Casablanca was at the time one of dozens of "cardboard cutout" features from Warner Brothers' World War Two domestic audience assembly line. This film was not intended to be a classic. What happened? One can watch this movie without sound and marvel at the human struggle in northern Africa. Did Michael Curtiz perfect his directorial technique during the silent film era? Obviously his silent film experience is evident. Why watch Casablanca with the sound off? One would miss the orchestration by Max Steiner and vocal by Arthur Dooley. The dialogue is very rich, the plot compelling and acting perfect. Someone will try to convince you that this whole effort was well planned. My understanding is that it was not. This film is an accident that happens only once every few generations and it is a joy to experience again and again.