Review of Casablanca (1943) by Donald W — 06 Jul 2012
This is Humphrey Bogart's best movie. Some think it's the best movie ever made. It's ironic that it wasn't supposed to be. It was supposed to be a low budget chick flick. World events made it a very popular movie.
They wrote the story before the attack on Pearl Harbor. They finished the movie the same month as Pearl Harbor and released it in early in 1942. By the time of the 1943 Oscars the United States has invaded Morocco and had liberated the real city of Casablanca.
The movie has a strong anti-Nazi message and helped inspire American patriotism in the war against the Nazis. The movie covers up the fact that there were many French Nazi sympathizers in North Africa.
When the U.S.A. invaded Morocco they didn't fight Germans but the French including the French Foreign Legion. In the movie the French authorities cooperated with the Germans because they had to. Although the movie has a spy story intrigue element to it, it's actually a love story.
After playing gangsters in several movies in the 1930's Humphrey Bogart had been type cast. He broke the mold in this movie. He played a saloon keeper with a questionable past but turns into a love sick teenager when an old girl friend shows up.
The women during World War II loved it. They could imagine their boy friends and husbands going off to war as a Humphrey Bogart type character. The movie still holds up today because it's well written and acted.
This review of Casablanca (1943) was written by Donald W on 06 Jul 2012.
Casablanca has generally received very positive reviews.
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