Casablanca
"Here's looking at you, kid."

Casablanca is a very unusual film, for its day. Born out of the studio system that Hollywood was so proud of it was worked on by at least three sets of writers and should be a mess. But it isn't. It's a gem. A wonderfully understated film that combines romance, drama and comedy in an almost perfect blend that I for one cannot fault. We all know the story by now - boy runs club in a small town in Morocco during the war, boy meets girl who abandoned him in France when the Nazis invaded, girl admits she still loves boy despite being married to a great Resistance leader, boy lets girl go with husband because some things are more important than his happiness. But there is much more than that beneath the surface of the romance the film is so famous for.

For a start, it is brimming over with atmosphere and detail. All the minor characters are wonderfully real, from the Romanian couple who need to make enough money to get exit visas, to the female French barfly who goes with anyone who'll spend money on her. Then there is the interplay between the characters - not just between Bogart and Bergman or Bogart and Raines but also between Bogart and Lorre, and Bergman and Henreid. Finally there's the dialogue - forget obvious pieces like "Here's looking at you kid" and "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship", there are also exchanges like "I came to Casablanca for the waters." "But we're in a desert." "I was mis-informed." or Raines's closing down Rick's Place for gambling, pausing only to make sure he takes his night's winnings with him.

Add to this a set of outstanding performances from the film's main leads - although I advise you to gloss over Paul Henreid a little and concentrate more on Claude Raines, Sidney Greenstreet, and Peter Lorre - and a wonderful use of music, and you have what is in my opinion a perfect film. I just thank the Goddess that Ronald Reagan was unavailable to play the part of Rick. Shame the same wasn't true when the part of President of the United States came up for grabs.

(Please note, all pictures displayed here are not mine are used without permission of their owners because I'm recommending that you go out and rent/see/buy a copy of this film, thus increasing their profits. However, should they disapprove, please can they mail me and I'll remove them.)

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