CASABLANCA V d: Michael Curtiz
CASABLANCA IV – Ingrid Bergman
Casablanca is part of a two-disc DVD package, put out by Warner Bros. Disc one has the film in a transfer (1.33:1 aspect ratio) stunningly free of blemishes. The disc also has two theatrical trailers (the original and re-release trailers); an introduction by Bogart’s widow, Lauren Bacall; and two commentaries. The lesser one is by film historian Rudy Behlmer. It’s loaded with information on the making of the film, but Behlmer is just reading from a script of Warner Bros. inter-office memos about the film, and few of the facts are scene-specific. Behlmer’s monotone is also rather off-putting, and he rarely ventures an idea or opinion of his own about the film.
By contrast, film critic Roger Ebert provides his usual quality commentary. What makes it good is not that Ebert has such profound insights, for he repeats much of what Behlmer imparts, but he has a love for the film while offering scene-specific comments that illuminate things a casual viewer might miss. As I’ve stated before, Ebert has serious limitations as a critic of film, but he is thoroughly qualified as a film historian. (Admittedly, much too often Ebert lets his emotions get the better of him, such as in some embarrassing burblings about Ingrid Bergman’s lips, as if they had any bearing on her acting. Compounding matters, Ebert offers a constant denigration and misassessment of Paul Henreid’s acting.)
The second disc has many of the goodies that DVD fans love. There’s a long documentary, hosted by Bacall, that covers Bogart’s career. Called Bacall on Bogart, it’s a quality film. ‘You Must Remember This: A Tribute to Casablanca,’ is a good piece, as are a few other featurettes. There are deleted and alternate scenes, a 1943 radio adaptation, as well as a 1955 TV adaptation and a ‘Looney Tunes’ spoof, Carrotblanca. All in all, it’s a good package.
The Casablanca screenplay was based upon an unproduced play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, ‘Everybody Comes To Rick’s.’ Screenwriters Julius and Philip Epstein added some mediocre comedy touches, whereas Howard Koch added melodrama. (Casey Robinson also contributed to the mix.) Among the things that date Casablanca are some poorly produced backscreen projections, and a ridiculously bad model airplane. As stated, the film lacks a single memorable shot — nothing that defines cinematographer Arthur Edeson’s images the way, say, an Ingmar Bergman film is noteworthy for the images of a Sven Nykvist. (It’s not that Edeson lacked talent; he helped create film noir with his work on The Maltese Falcon and helped to define 1930s horror films with his work on James Whale’s Frankenstein).
Dooley Wilson, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca
As for Michael Curtiz’s direction, it’s rather pedestrian. Having stated that, does it surprise you in the least that Curtiz garnered one of the three Oscars Casablanca won (out of eight nominations)? The other two won were for best picture (of 1943, the year the film opened in Los Angeles) and, no surprise, best screenplay. But the worst technical aspect of the film is its music, most of which is diegetic. In the formal scoring field, Max Steiner shows an inept handling of music, for the ‘As Time Goes By’ piece (used as the love theme for Rick and Ilsa) too often gives away upcoming dramatic elements, while at other times the scoring is heavyhanded and mawkish, often intruding on scenes better left unscored, giving away plot elements before they arise, or trying to emotionally lead the audience in ways the actual narrative does not.
Now, the biggest mistake that prevents Casablanca from greatness is that it lacks great themes. There is nothing in the film that is so overwhelmingly majestic, technically or performance-wise, that can put it in a class with many of the other highly praised motion pictures of the past. Seen next to Citizen Kane, Tokyo Story, Seven Samurai, La Dolce vita, or 2001: A Space Odyssey, Casablanca comes up short, way short. It lacks Citizen Kane’s innovations, acting, and screenplay; it lacks Tokyo Story’s characterizations and philosophical depth; it lacks the action, acting, and universal appeal of Seven Samurai; it lacks the acting, humor, and biting social commentary of La Dolce vita; and it lacks the intellectual probing, audacious screenplay, and mind-blowing presence of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Naturally, most film critics were utterly clueless. Some yahoos have read homosexual and Oedipal subtexts into the film. But it is the unstinting (and often unthinking and uncritical) praise by those who should know better, that is the most silly. I’ve mentioned a couple of Roger Ebert’s missteps in his audio commentary on the DVD, but he, too makes some absurd claims about the film, such as: ‘Rains as the subtly homosexual police chief.’ Huh? If anything, Rains’ character is portrayed as an opportunistic womanizer.
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Tags: Casablanca, Classic Movies, DVDs, Film Reviews, Howard Koch, Julius J. Epstein, Michael Curtiz, Phillip G. Epstein
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