CASABLANCA is a classic.   No matter what I write in this review, there are plenty of really great review that shed interesting facts about the production.   However, CASABLANCA is one of the best films starring Humphrey Bogart.  It still isn't my favorite Bogart film of all time (that honor belongs to THE BIG SLEEP), but it is in my top five Bogart films.   This is the film that changed everything for this great actor.  His chemistry was spot on with Ingrid Bergman like his chemistry was on-screen with his wife Lauren Bacall (in films that came after that).  CASABLANCA was just a movie to many actors and they were mystified by the appreciation it gets.  CASABLANCA is an often quoted film that stands the test of time 70 years later.

 

Rick (Bogart) is an owner of a cafe in Casablanca, Morocco during World War Two.  He looks out for himself and helps no one.  It all changes when an old flame, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) walks into Rick's Cafe with her husband Victor Laslo (Paul Henreid).   They know Rick has obtained some travel papers and they want them before the Germans close in.    Rick sometimes is at odds with his unlikely friend, Louie (played by Claude Raines), the police commander of Casablanca.   Rick is a cynical bar owner running from his past.   The events in CASABLANCA ignites a love triangle in a film that was written as it was filmed (which didn't make the actors happy and left Ingrid Bergman unsure on how to play her role).  In the end, CASABLANCA has emerged as  a classic.  

 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

two minute Introduction by Lauren Bacall

 

MICHAEL CURTIZ: THE GREATEST DIRECTOR YOU NEVER HEARD OF-  a retrospective of the career of the multi-faceted director who directed great films in several different genres.  Some people speculated that he wasn't known as a director since he did his job too well.

CASABLANCA: AN UNLIKELY CLASSIC-  the story of how CASABLANCA was made.

YOU MUST REMEMBER:A  TRIBUTE TO CASABLANCA-  fans of the film pay tribute to the classic film

AS TIME GOES BY: THE CHILDREN REMEMBER-   children of the stars in the movie recount a few stories about the making of CASABLANCA.

 

GREAT PERFORMACES: BACALL ON BOGART-  Bacall gives insight on the career and life of Bogart

WARNER NIGHT AT THE MOVIES- see what played before CASBLANCA when it first opened.

The first episode of the short-lived CASABLANCA TV series from the 1950s (WHO HOLDS TOMORROW?).

CARROTBLANCA-  a Bugs Bunny cartoon that provides an excellent parody and homage of CASABLANCA.

 

AUDIO SCORING STAGE SESSIONS of songs from the movie.

A thirty minute radio theater adaptation of CASABLANCA with the original actors Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid reprising their roles.

11/19/47 VOX POP RADIO BROADCAST- an interview with director Michael Curtiz.

 

Theatrical trailer (which is a classic trailer) and re-release theatrical trailer (which makes one see how genius the original trailer is compared to this trailer) round out the disc.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  Fans of the film should upgrade just for the improved transfer that more accurately reflects the look of the film.  CASABLANCA is a classic that many people should own in their collection.  The extras are imported from the old DVD and blu-ray in addition to a couple of new featurettes.  The Target one disc makes an attractive buy for those who don't want to buy the big box set with the extra blu-ray disc and bonus DVD and the book (plus the single disc takes up less space than the CASABLANCA box set).

 

this Blu-ray review is (c)4-11-2012 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted iwthout permission.  send all comments to feedback@enterline.media