1. When we go over the themes in the power points for the
movies we’re about to watch, I usually pay attention for them throughout the
movie. Most of the time, the themes are easily identified, but that isn’t the
case with Casablanca. Romance, honor
and self-sacrifice in war were obvious throughout the movie, but I didn’t find
Casablanca to be a chaotic place. I know that the movie was based on a time of
war, but the way that enemies treated each other with plenty of respect gave it
a warm feel, even though you knew it wasn’t. Other than that, I would say that
the themes we discussed in class were spot on.
Basically this article gives behind the scenes info on Casablanca. The website gives fun facts
that most people wouldn’t know about the movie such as how much the set cost to
make, how much the actors were paid and how Ingrid Bergman hardly knew Humphrey
Bogart. I personally found some of the facts very amusing; one of which being
that Paul Henried, who played Victor Laszlo hated the role and initially turned
it down, until he would be paid star salary of course. Also, the salary of all
the stars ranged from $5,000 to $1,750 weekly except for Dooley Wilson, the
actor who played Sam, who was paid only $150 a week. Finally, one of the most
interesting facts to me was that the set of Rick’s Café cost $9,200 to build, which
was more than half of the $18,000 set budget!
3. Normally
I would feel very discouraged at humanity to hear how much lower the pay was
for Dooley Wilson compared to the other stars, but I also understand that
racism was a normal thing in those days, and he was actually lucky to be able
to land the acting job, just based off the color of his skin, in the first
place. Another story from the article was that Bergman and Bogart failed to get
to know each other before working on Casablanca,
mostly because of Boart’s “standoffishness,” so Bergman watched The Maltese Falcon over and over until
she felt that she knew Bogart well enough. To me, this says a lot about Bogart,
mostly about what a personal human being he is. I feel like that trait of his
makes his performance as Rick even better, since Rick had that trait as well.
4. Overall,
and I know I say this regarding pretty much every movie we watch in class, but
I can see why this film has gone down of one of the best in history. My father
always used to tell me how we should watch Casablanca
together. He would frequently quote the film around the house, particularly “of
all the gin joints in all the world, she has to walk into mine,” which I now
realize isn’t the exact line, but that is what he would quote. Its films like
these that make you better appreciate great acting and even better directing.
Obviously Humphrey Bogart and Michael Curtiz have gone down in history for
their work in this movie, and rightfully so. I would rate this movie a 10 out
of 10, and would definitely recommend the film to anyone, regardless of age.
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