This is a thread about CASABLANCA because it is utterly awesome and the best black and white film ever.

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.. and if she'd turned bogey down and got on the plane, also a bad ending. But not as bad as my last post.

mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 17:36 (nineteen years ago) link

Umberto Eco's pan. Hmm... the bitter hero, unhappy love, the enigmatic woman, the triumph of purity. You wonder why Calum likes it, right?

gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 17:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Haha, Michael. Clicked on that and it told me that I had recently viewed 12,000 French Verbs

Someone was asking about French verbs on your thread yesterday and i linked it. If you'd like my identity, you're more than welcome to it.

gabbnebb's right about the who ends up with whom at the end part. If I recall correctly, the 'beginning of a beautiful friendship' scene was shot weeks after principal photography was over.

Michael White (Hereward), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 17:46 (nineteen years ago) link

I don't know when that line was shot. The scene in which she goes with Victor was shot before the end of filming, but she shot at least some scenes before she knew.

gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 17:49 (nineteen years ago) link

before she knew. Nor anyone else I believe.

Michael White (Hereward), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 17:51 (nineteen years ago) link

I checked and you're right - the final line was written by one of the producers and added at the very end.

gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 17:56 (nineteen years ago) link

Someone was asking about French verbs on your thread yesterday and i linked it. If you'd like my identity, you're more than welcome to it.
No, you can keep it, I've seen Seconds and The Passenger. I was just enjoying the interthreading although maybe I shouldn't have bothered to post it and confuse everybody else.

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 17:59 (nineteen years ago) link

Louie, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

So now that we've outed the Eco within, do we have to say that, dispite it's obvious flaws, we've thought about it some more and we do like Casablanca after all, to show we are not slaves to the things we have read written by famous critics?

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 18:03 (nineteen years ago) link

repost:
Louie, this could be the start of a beautiful bilingual friendship.

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 18:03 (nineteen years ago) link

I shouldn't have bothered to post it and confuse everybody else.

Why ever not?

Michael White (Hereward), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 18:06 (nineteen years ago) link

So surreptitiously plugging my own thread on another thread is a good thing?

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 18:08 (nineteen years ago) link

I'm indifferent to the thread plugging. It's neither good nor bad. Willful derailing and obfuscation, on the other hand, amuse me sometimes.

Michael White (Hereward), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 18:10 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, of course. That was my real intention. But then you explained it (to me!), revealing the secret in a perhaps too straightforward manner to the benighted.

TS Victor Laszlo vs. Laszlo Lowenstein vs. Laszlo Kovacs (I) vs. Laszlo Kovacs (II)

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 18:15 (nineteen years ago) link

In other words, get me Ben Hecht for a rewrite!

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 18:18 (nineteen years ago) link

Has anyone ever written about about the making of "Beat the Devil"?? I'd pay actual money to read that.

You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 18:36 (nineteen years ago) link

Maybe there is something about that in Who The Devil Made It? After all, they've both got "devil" in the title.

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 18:37 (nineteen years ago) link

Jeepers - pointless to release it after the war. Fucking hell man, do you know how long and slow a process making a film and then post and then the release actually fucking is? And this was in the day before mass openings state to state.

Ceezah, Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:14 (nineteen years ago) link

It opened in '42 when we still gearing up for the major war effort. It wasn't pointless at all.

Michael White (Hereward), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:16 (nineteen years ago) link

Hmmm, Umberto Eco prefers Stagecoach does he?

To each his own then...

Ceezah, Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:17 (nineteen years ago) link

Just rewatched it the other day. My main impressions were:

- Fabulous photography!!! Moody, striking, atmospheric, dramatic - the whole ball of wax.

- The plot is total cornball, but the pacing and dialogue are so crisp that you never have time to dwell on the silliness of it all. Each vignette is a perfect little bon-bon of entertainment. No waste. No chewing necessary.

- Claude Rains was having a ball and so were the scriptwriters for him. Every line he spoke was a gem. Probably a commentary on Hollywood studios in there.

- Not a good scenery-chewing Nazi to be found anywhere, just the ho-hum cardboard kind.

- It is very rainy and foggy in Morrocco. Who knew?

Aimless (Aimless), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:26 (nineteen years ago) link

Off the top of my head, here are ten black & white films I like much better than "Casablanca":

"Ninochka"
"Andrei Rubylev"
"Broken Blossoms"
"Pandora's Box"
"Orphans of the Storm"
that film w/Dirk Bogarde where he's a homosexual doctor who gets blackmailed (heh, sorry, bad memory)
"Sabrina"
"Valley of Song"
"Kind Hearts and Coronets"
"Passport to Piml1co"
"Night of the Demon"

That's eleven, but never mind, and I'm not even getting into Ford or Kurosawa films, either.

So obviously, I don't think it's the best black & white film ever, though I do like it quite a lot.

I don't really give a shit about what "name" critics think, and am curious as to why you keep bolstering your arguments by bringing these people's opinions in, c*l*m.

Regarding films as "quotable" is a bit james brown-edited magazine-ist for me, but I suppose if I were no think of the most quotable film, it would be "Scarface"

Pashmina (Pashmina), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:31 (nineteen years ago) link

This will surely be the best color film ever:

http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/images3/edisonposter.jpg

Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:34 (nineteen years ago) link

'Victim', Pashmina? Why does anyone like 'Sabrina'? Better Movie than all above, save 'Pandora's Box' = 'Trouble in Paradise'. All the old Ealing films are great.

Michael White (Hereward), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Yes, "Victim", that's the one, and he was a Lawyer, not a doctor. "Sabrina" makes me happy! "Trouble in Paradise" is really good, yes. NB I am not saying of my off-the-top-of-my-head list THERE ARE THE BEST PAULINE KAEL SEZ SO SO IT MUST = TRUTH!! They're just a bunch of random b&w films I like better than "Casablanca".

Pashmina (Pashmina), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:44 (nineteen years ago) link

Point taken.

That's eleven, but never mind
Why does anyone like 'Sabrina'?
I was gonna say, there's an obvious one to remove if you want an even ten.

Trouble in Paradise
Search! - Any movie involving Edward Everett Horton and gondolas.

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:45 (nineteen years ago) link

9/40 - US passes draft bill
4/41 - US begins undeclared naval war in Atlantic
6/41 - US troops in Iceland
8/41 - US signs Atlantic Charter
12/41-2/42 - Pearl Harbor; US declares war on Germany; Roosevelt announces wartime material production to be increased seven-fold and sends US troops to UK, agreeing to Churchill's Europe-first strategy
4/42 - Patton begins training
5/42 - British begin peripheral campaign in Africa
5/25/42-8/3/42 - Casablanca filmed
6/42 - FDR meets Churchill and urges cross-channel invasion; agrees to give higher priority to peripheral strategy
6/42 - Auschwitz opens
7/42 - mass deportations to camps begin
11/1/42 - US joins peripheral campaign, invading North Africa
11/26/42 - NYC premiere of Casablanca
12/42 - British Foreign Secretary advises Commons of mass executions of Jews
1/14-24/43 - Roosevelt meets Churchill, producing agreement for immediate invasion of Sicily and Italy and 1944 invasion of France; announces fight for unconditional surrender of Germany and Italy
1/23/43 - LA premiere of Casablanca

(xpost - please tell me that movie is real)

gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 20:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Rerecommend on this thread:
Search!- Leslie Epstein's Pandaemonium.

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:01 (nineteen years ago) link

trouble in paradise is indeed the best film ever, b&w or not. are we having a 1930s movie poll soon?

:| (....), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 21:10 (nineteen years ago) link

you know, Eco's characterization of Casablanca could apply just as well to Oasis' music (and, god help us, lyrics)

gabbneb (gabbneb), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 23:33 (nineteen years ago) link

My hairs are standing up on the back of my neck now, gabbneb. (What's the emoticon for that?)

Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 23:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Twubble in Pawadise is great but 'Sunrise' is the best.

Michael White (Hereward), Wednesday, 5 January 2005 23:52 (nineteen years ago) link

OK. In that case, have you read George O'Brien's son's memoir?

Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 6 January 2005 00:21 (nineteen years ago) link

are we having a 1930s movie poll soon?

I sincerely hope that's next. I nominate the five of the seven Sternberg-Dietrich collabs I've seen.

Eric H. (Eric H.), Thursday, 6 January 2005 11:19 (nineteen years ago) link

George O'Brien's son's memoir?

No. What's it called?

Michael White (Hereward), Thursday, 6 January 2005 19:42 (nineteen years ago) link

A Way Of Life, Like Any Other

Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 6 January 2005 19:43 (nineteen years ago) link

10 B&W movies that are way better than Casablanca (and only allowing one per director):

Vampyr
The Philadelphia Story
M
The Big Sleep
L'Age d'Or
The Man Who Knew Too Much
A Canterbury Tale
Throne of Blood
Peter Ibbetson
Alphaville

I like the implication in the title that Black & White films are somehow inferior to their Colour cousins. That's LadCrit for you.

noodle vague (noodle vague), Thursday, 6 January 2005 22:02 (nineteen years ago) link

I like the idea that there is one best B&W film, as if there are only a handful to chose from

Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 6 January 2005 22:05 (nineteen years ago) link

the philadelphia story = why "adaptation" sucks. maybe charlie kaufman too but eternaal sunshine was faaaaaaaaaaantastic.

John (jdahlem), Thursday, 6 January 2005 22:06 (nineteen years ago) link

surely there is a best green film? i mean after matrix (or even se7en?) a lot of films looked more green-ish than before. i think im going with machinist here.

:| (....), Thursday, 6 January 2005 22:08 (nineteen years ago) link

Best Blue film = Derek Jarman's Blue

noodle vague (noodle vague), Thursday, 6 January 2005 22:11 (nineteen years ago) link

*pauses for obligatory Blue Movie joke*

noodle vague (noodle vague), Thursday, 6 January 2005 22:14 (nineteen years ago) link

my old ethiopian roommate used to watch the scene where the german and the french anthems are played every single day, and he would cry everytime. that might be my favorite scene in all of film largely for that reason.

tracer, wanna read an AMAZING book on the making of a movie? devil's candy by julie salomom on the making of bonfire of the vanities. just finished it last night. soooooo good.

Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Thursday, 6 January 2005 22:19 (nineteen years ago) link

Especially when Yvonne joins in. *sob*

xpost

Michael White (Hereward), Thursday, 6 January 2005 22:21 (nineteen years ago) link

casablanca is fucking great!! i love it!! it's probably one of the most watchable and entertaining movies i've ever seen. and that is no small shakes! i mean yeah it is perhaps not as psychologically complex as notorious or as blah blah as this or that, maybe it is not "Great" in the textbook way but it is a great movie.

s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 7 January 2005 05:15 (nineteen years ago) link

i wanna read that bonfire of the vanities book.

s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 7 January 2005 05:15 (nineteen years ago) link

you should read "The Bonfire of the Vanities"

gabbneb (gabbneb), Friday, 7 January 2005 05:16 (nineteen years ago) link

that's what i meant

s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 7 January 2005 05:17 (nineteen years ago) link

not

s1ocki (slutsky), Friday, 7 January 2005 05:17 (nineteen years ago) link

"This is a thread about LES DEMOISELLES D'AVIGNON because it is utterly awesome and the best oil painting ever."

Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 7 January 2005 05:49 (nineteen years ago) link

haha "ladcrit"--that's great.

my old college roommate once told me "yeah, i saw 'citizen kane' and i liked it. it seemed really cool, not like those other black and white movies at all." i still don't know whether to be touched or appalled.

Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Friday, 7 January 2005 05:50 (nineteen years ago) link


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