A Perfect Example of the Golden Age of Film

Rating: 9/10 (18 February 2013)

Adam Roberts ENGL 110 MA 1 Kopplin Due 2/19/13 Casablanca
There was a time when movies did not have to be gory or intricately produced to score big at the box office. Though some will say that time has since passed, it is always nice to look back at how the modern movie scene came to be. Perhaps one of the finest movies of the mid-20th century exemplifying early movie styles is Michael Curtiz's Casablanca. If it were to be released today, many modern movie goers would shrug it off as "old grandpa crap". However, due in part to its portrayal of refugee lifestyle, direction, and unique take on current events, it cannot be argued that Casablanca has earned its place among the early classics.
The very thing that puts Casablanca in a unique position is its borrowing of the current state of political turmoil that existed in the early 1940s and making a side story to it. Many actors were refugees from Europe who had come to America to escape the German Reich. The cast features such top-notch actors as Ingrid Bergman, who plays the tender Ilsa, and the star Humphrey Bogart as Rick, a bitter and sarcastic club owner who can't quite let go of past love. It is clear from watching that every viewpoint is shared in the story; each refugee shares a different look on how the events of the time affected them. The mix of French, German, Austrian, American, Czech, Hungarian, and even Moroccan refugees adds a sort of cohesion to the movie; it is telling a tale of the 1940s human experience.
The setting of World War Two is quite honestly not the greatest setting for a love story, yet at the same time Curtiz sees a prime opportunity. The theme of sacrifice, one of the common ideas behind true love, is notably present in Bogart's character. Curtiz looks at the picture as a series of moral dilemmas that need solving one at a time, starting with Rick overcoming his disgust with Ilsa. It shows a passion for revealing a character's interior struggles one at a time.
Warner Brothers had a knack for mass producing movies during the Second World War to entertain citizens during a time of great emotional toil. Casablanca captures the attitude that many held during wartime, but wraps these views around the central plot of a love story. Love is hard to find in a war environment, and in the end Rick has to allow common sense to overtake his emotions, but in a way this is the greatest show of love in the entire film.
"Here's looking at you, kid". It is one of the most recognizable quotes from a highly recognizable movie. In a time when everybody desires to get what they want when they want it, maybe some of us should examine what it means to sacrifice for the greater good.