Casablanca

[Feraud]

He had a certain fluid grace to his movements, owing in part to the tremendous cut of his suits.

I agree. The host of TCM was mentioned recently in regards to the cut of his suit. He looks very stiff and I have always thought a made to measure suit would flatter his figure.

Although I've seen Casablanca dozens of times, today was the first time I took notice of the cummerbund. [huh]

I am always noticing new details in films as I review them.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

I agree. The host of TCM was mentioned recently in regards to the cut of his suit. He looks very stiff and I have always thought a made to measure suit would flatter his figure.

That was me who mentioned it! lol

 

[Tony in Tarzana]

Sydney Greenstreet is one of my sartorial role models. I can't decide between his suit in "Casablanca" or the one in "Across the Pacific. The later was a peak-lapel DB in what looked like linen.

 

[cookie]

Re My post on Night Attire

You guys have gotta agree that Bogie's shawl collar jacket is the nightmoves numero uno of all the dinner jackets. Had one once (sighs)....

 

[dhermann1]

I saw Casablanca at the old Regency Theater on Broadway in Manhattan, maybe 20 - 25 years ago. Blew me away. I saw a lot of classics when they first came out (being an old geezer of 60 (sheesh!)), but seeing this really opened up my eyes as to how much you lose seeing a film on a TV screen, even a big one. I have a 36 inch CRT TV and it still doesn't compare.

 

[Diamondback]

I went to see this at a close by 1920's movie palace this November, and even though I'm not an enormous devotee of the flick (an opinion I know is next to blasphemous here )...

Don't feel too bad, dear lady, I've never seen it myself. At least we'll have each other for company when they burn us heretics at the stake... *grim chuckle*

In all seriousness, it's on my to-do list someday.

 

[ScionPI2005]

Speaking of Sydney, I've always wanted to be able to do his specific chuckle/laugh like he did in "Maltese Falcon". I commented to a friend how odd his laugh sounded in that movie, and once the subject was brought up, we burst out laughing each time he laughed in that movie.

 

[dhermann1]

It looks like Greenstreet is wearing cummerbund.

Looking at these two pix is making me a little crazy wondering what color tie he's wearing. Somehow I at first imagined it as some shade of pink, then maybe gold. Anyone else care to venture a guess? Also, of course, the color of the cummerbund. Maybe purple? Blue?

 

[Feraud]

Looking at these two pix is making me a little crazy wondering what color tie he's wearing. Somehow I at first imagined it as some shade of pink, then maybe gold. Anyone else care to venture a guess? Also, of course, the color of the cummerbund. Maybe purple? Blue?

I am always wondering what color clothes are in classic films. We know they are not bland shades of gray!

About the cummerbund.. tell me it does not look like sequins!

 

[imoldfashioned]

I went to see Casablanca at a local Boston deco movie theater tonight (if I'd have been thinking I'd have tried to get an FL group together to go; next time). I'm happy to report that not only was the theater sold out such was the popularity of the film that staff had to turn people away.

If you get a chance go see this on the big screen--it was a wonderful experience.

 

[VegasMike]

Well, I admit that I have never seen this film.
But that will change tomorrow when the mail man gets here with my Netflix envelope
I plan on thoroughly enjoying it on my 65" screen..I figure that should be about as close to being on the big screen as I'm gonna get right now.
I shall report back after the film!

 

[Nashoba]

I was able to go see it when I was in Ca along with another really little known bogart film that to be honest I can't even remember the name of now. It was that memorable. They even had an organ player before and in between the double features! I just love Casablanca. It was fun to see it in a theater and to hear other people laugh at the funny parts and to hear a few of the women sigh a bit (ok maybe it was just me) at the tender moments..

If you live in the Bay Area in Ca, and you havn't already done so, you owe it to yourself to check out the Stanford Theater in Palo Alto. Hewlett Packard bought it some years back and restored it and insists that it plays nothing but golden era classic films. It's a fantastic old theater and I kid you not popcorn, a soda, and my package of redvines cost my dad less than $8. (I paid for the movie which automatically elected him to buy me my movie sugar fix. house rules) A large popcorn was something like $2.50 - $3. Heck admission to the theater is only $7 which is far less than the cost of going to see a new crappy movie in a cookie cutter theater. I know that you NorCal folks are out there. It worth checking out. And the lines are almost always long to get in, so it's best to show up a bit early for the best seats in the balcony.

 

[Havana Joe]

I just got my Casablanca DVD via mail yesterday. It had been about five years since I'd seen it last, and I enjoyed it very much. The DVD has a nice documentary and I was amused to find out that they used a scaled down cutout for the airplane on a sound stage in the last scene. They also used midgets as the mechanics walking around the plane to establish scale. I thought it was a great use of forced perspective to create a realistic scene.

It was also very interesting to hear that at the time, Casablanca was just one of the fifty movies being cranked out by the studio.

 

[Spitfire]

I've seen Casablanca too many times - because it was "art", a must seefilm, a classic...now I don't care about it anymore.[huh] Sorry Bogielovers.

 

[MisterCairo]

Spitfire, them's fightin' words.......

 

[Spitfire]

MC. It might be to some. But would you rather that I just shut up, if i do not share the common oppinion here? (If you do, please say so and I will delete my post)
Is it better that we all just slap each others backs, on and on and on....

The first time I saw it - and even the second time - I found it exciting. But that was 40 years ago. And since TV stations obviously have no imagination, they just keep on sending it every other month.
Very few films can hold up that long...not even Bogart is that good.

 

["Skeet" McD]

MC. It might be to some. But would you rather that I just shut up, if i do not share the common oppinion here? (If you do, please say so and I will delete my post)
Is it better that we all just slap each others backs, on and on and on....

The first time I saw it - and even the second time - I found it exciting. But that was 40 years ago. And since TV stations obviously have no imagination, they just keep on sending it every other month.
Very few films can hold up that long...not even Bogart is that good.

Well, I for one enjoy hearing various opinions; we're all entitled to one, of course, but it gets interesting if there's thought behind them...and I'm sure I'm not alone.

My experience is just the reverse, Spitfire: I saw the film years ago and couldn't imagine what all the fuss was about. Then it came onto our Turner Classics Film channel a week or so ago and, as I've been reading a good deal of WWII stuff for one reason or another, decided to give it another go. I found it tremendously moving, because now I had a better handle on the picture AROUND the picture...it's only moving if you can understand it with 1942 eyes, and my ignorance prevented me from doing that. It goes without saying that I know that you have the knowledge to do so, without a doubt...and tastes differ, so there's no implication here that you'd like it "if only you understood." But...for me...that made all the difference in the world, and changed my impression of the picture 180 degrees.

Just one man's opinion, as always
"Skeet"

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm always taken aback when people consider this an "art film", because as Havana Joe points out, it was just another film off the Warners production line when it was made -- a studio director, studio scriptwriters, studio musicians, studio cast. It wasn't the product of anyone's singuar vision -- rather, it was the prototypical example of a "studio film."

And I think that's what makes it so popular today -- because it might just be the definitive example of a studio film. It completely encapsulates everthing that was typical of Warner films in the mid-forties, from the look to the mood to the feel. Add the wartime propaganda elements, and the fact that all of the cast memebers turned in definitive performances, and you get the ingredients that make it memorable.

What cinched it though was the Bogie Cult of the early 70s. With Bogart pictures being endlessly rerun on local TV, and campus film societies showing them constantly in 16mm, the film became so familiar that it's the first picture most people think of when Bogart's name is mentioned. Whether it's "art" depends on how you define art -- personally I think of it as a very well crafted piece of merchandise that does exactly what it was designed to do. We showed it on the big screen a couple years ago, and the Marsellaise scene got a standing ovation from people whose parents weren't even born when the film was made.

 

[BellyTank]

Is it better that we all just slap each others backs, on and on and on....

Only in the "Hats" forum, please.


B
T

 

[Shangas]

Sam's piano is just adorable. If I could, I'd buy a reproduction of it and use it every day!