Two Movies

Two movies upon which to comment today.

I watched this one on Netflix this past weekend, and I highly recommend it.  It tells the story of how the BBC secured an interview in 2019 with Prince Andrew, Duke of York to discuss his relationship with well known sex predator and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.  The movie stars Billie Piper and the young BBC producer who worked to get the interview, Gillian Anderson as the reporter who conducted the interview on the telly, and Rufus Sewall who plays the priggish and clueless Andrew.  If you know the story, you know that it was this interview that led to Andrew essentially being fired from his "job" as a Royal by his mummy, the Queen.

I give this movie Three and One-Half Grandstander Stars, and make this observation.  The way the British Royal Family is portrayed in movies and television - if only a third of it is actually true, then they are just a bunch of batshit crazy eccentrics.  I mean, what was with "Randy Andy" and the stuffed animals on his bed pillows?  The man was sixty years old at the time!

Last Sunday afternoon, Linda staged a surprise "Date Afternoon" for me.  I had no idea where we were going until we got to the place:

Yep, the Strand Theater in beautiful downtown Zelienople, PA was showing "Casablanca" on a big screen, and my perfect date was treating me to the perfect movie in a perfect setting.  I have written of "Casablanca" many, many times in this space,  just type "Casablanca" in the search box to verify that fact, so I won't go into detail about it again today.   If you've never seen it, then what in the hell is the matter with you?  Stop what you're doing now, find it on a streaming service, and watch it today.  And if you ever get the chance to see it (or any other classic movie for that matter) on a big screen in  theater, do so.  This is the third time that I have seen it in this manner.

In a 1992 book, "The Making of Casablanca", marking the fiftieth anniversary of the movie, author Aljean Harmetz includes this paragraph in the Preface:

"Cynicism is a necessary protective cost for those who come close to the film industry's seductively hot center, and I have needed a doubly thick coat.  I grew up on the outskirts of MGM where my mother worked in the wardrobe department, and I later wrote about Hollywood for the New York Times.  But my cynicism dissolves when Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman say goodbye at the airport, and, at least in the dark corner of a movie theater, I am sure that I would be capable of such a sacrifice too."

That is the essence of "Casablanca".  It is a perfect movie.

"Casablanca" and The Face of Ilsa Lund

Last night we saw "Casablanca" on a big screen at the Cinemark Theater in the North Hills.  I asked the young (twenty-ish)  lady taking our tickets if she had seen this movie.  "No" she said "but I heard it's good.  Have you seen it?"  Well, how do you answer that question and explain just why you want to watch this movie over and over and over again.  Last night was the third time that I had seen "Casablanca" on a big screen in a movie theater.

As we settled in to watch this one, an early scene with Ingrid Bergman, perhaps when she was asking Sam to play "some of the old songs", it was the face of Bergman that caught my eye, and I decided that this was how I was going to watch this umpteenth viewing of the film - by watching and concentrating on Ilsa's face.  I know, tough duty staring at Ingrid Bergman's face for two hours, but somebody has to do it.

Bergman's expression and the nuance she gave every scene were astonishing to me.  And when you know the story, of the secret that she had as she was falling in love with Rick in Paris, especially when she asked that he kiss her "as if it were the last time", and doing her two confrontations with Rick in his apartment above the Cafe, well, just watching her face and eyes added a whole new dimension to a movie that I had already seen dozens of times.

And do I even have to mention that goodbye scene at the airport?

I've said it before, and I'll continue to say it:  If there is such a thing as a perfect movie, "Casablanca" is it.

Here's looking at you, kid.

A Couple of "Casablanca" Books

Regular readers know of my affinity for the movie "Casablanca", and in the last few weeks, I have read a couple of books about the making of this classic film.  

I recently received this book as a gift...

It was published in 2017 to mark the 75th anniversary of the release of the movie in 1942. 

One of the author Noah Isenberg's sources for his book was this book, that was published in 1992 to mark the 50th anniversary of the movie.  (It was originally titled "Round Up The Usual Suspects", by the way.)

Reading the Isenberg book prompted me to seek out and read Aljean Harnetz's book.

Both books cover much of the same ground, but both are worth reading.  When Warner Bros. bought the rights to an unproduced play called "Everybody Comes To Rick's" in 1941, it was felt that it had the makings of a pretty good melodrama, that it might make some money, and it would serve as product to show in the hundreds of theaters that Warner Bros. owned across the country.  It would be just like the hundreds and hundreds of other movies that Hollywood churned out under what is now referred to as the "studio system".  No one, no one knew that they were making a classic, arguably the greatest American movie of all time.

The "Studio System" (and you learn a lot about the studio system when you read these books) operated like factories that produced widgets....Ford made automobiles, General Electric made light bulbs, Warner Bros., MGM, and Paramount made movies.  Many of the writers and technical people that worked on "Casablanca" got the assignment simply because they were available during the time that the movie started shooting. Seven different writers had a hand in fashioning the script.  Ingrid Bergman didn't really want the part of Ilsa, and never considered it her favorite role. In fact, as her life went on, she never could quite understand why "Casablanca" became the beloved movie that it is.  The actors didn't always get along with the director or with each other.  Humphrey Bogart and Bergman, while they didn't dislike each other, they weren't great pals either, and had virtually no interaction with each other except for the scenes that they filmed.  Paul Henreid and Claude Rains didn't much like each other at all, and Rains never, until the day he died, ever actually sat down and watched "Casablanca".

Yet somehow, all worked together to create a classic.

Some interesting points:

• We watch this movie today knowing what happened.  The United States and its Allies won the war, and fascism was defeated.  When the movie was being filmed in 1942, these outcomes were not known, nor were they a sure thing.  Think about that the next time you watch the movie.
• The movie is in large part about refugees fleeing oppression and trying to come to America.  Many of the actors in the movie - Henreid, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall and numerous extras actually WERE people who had fled the tyranny of Germany and Nazi oppression.
• Contrary to a popular myth, Ronald Reagan was never considered for the part of Rick Blaine.  Knowing the trajectory  Reagan's life was to take, it's a fun thing to talk about, except it wasn't true.  Warner Bros. did plant in item in the papers that a new production of theirs, "Casablanca", would star Reagan and Ann Sheridan.  This was planted for the sole purpose of providing publicity to another movie being released at the time that did star Reagan and Sheridan.  This was common practice in the days of the Studio System.
• George Raft did want the part and campaigned for it with studio head Jack Warner, but that was quickly nixed by producer Hal Wallis.  He wanted Bogey all along.

If you love the movie - and who doesn't? - I would recommend that you read one or both books.

I will leave with words from the opening paragraph of the Preface to Ms. Harmetz's book:

"Cynicism is a necessary protective cost for those who come close to the film industry's seductively hot center, and I have needed a doubly thick coat.  I grew up on the outskirts of MGM where my mother worked in the wardrobe department, and I later wrote about Hollywood for the New York Times.  But my cynicism dissolves when Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman say goodbye at the airport, and, at least in the dark corner of a movie theater, I am sure that I would be capable of such a sacrifice too."

By the way, the makers of "Casablanca" did toy around with a different ending, a "happy ending" where Victor went off by himself and Ilsa stayed with Rick.  Thank goodness they chose the ending that they did.  Had they gone with the Happy Ending, "Casablanca" would have indeed been just another movie, and would probably be forgotten today.

Here's looking at you, kid.

"Casablanca" On The Big Screen

Last  night we had the treat of seeing the 1942 classic motion picture, "Casablanca" in  movie theater on a Big Screen.  Thanks to Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events for continuing this excellent service to movie lovers everywhere. In his opening remarks, TCM host Ben Mankiewicz said that even if you are seeing "Casablanca' for the fiftieth time, chances are, you have never seen it in a movie theater in company with other movie goers, and that will surely add to the enjoyment of the movie.  He was right!

I'm not going to go on and on about he movie - most of you  all know what it is about - other than to say what I have often said:  If there is such a thing as perfect movie, "Casablanca" is probably it.

Thanks to the Google Machine, though, I was able to go back in time and read the review of the movie written by critic Bosley Crowther of the New York Times from November 27, 1942.  I part, this is what Crowther had to say:

Against the electric background of a sleek cafe in a North African port, through which swirls a backwash of connivers, crooks and fleeing European refugees, the Warner Brothers are telling a rich, suave, exciting and moving tale in their new film, "Casablanca,".....

Yes, indeed, the Warners here have a picture which makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap...... they have turned the incisive trick of draping a tender love story within the folds of a tight topical theme.

Like the film itself, Crowther's review has pretty much held up seventy-five years later.

Here is a link to the Times review in its entirety.

http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E1DF1039E33BBC4F51DFB7678389659EDE

As we have learned from these TCM events, there is nothing like seeing a movie on a Big Screen  in an honest-to-God movie theater.

Here's looking at you, kid.

"Casablanca" Is Coming To The Big Screen

A couple of years ago, my pal David Cicotello surprised me with a copy of this book....

As the title self-explains, it contains the complete script of the classic 1942 film, "Casablanca" as well as several essays with fascinating behind the scenes stuff from co-screenwriter Howard Koch and others.  Many of the essays in the book expound upon the popularity of "Casablanca", and how it continues to find new life in younger generations who are always flocking to see it when it was shown in revival houses.  What was interesting about that was that this book was published in 1973.  

Think about that for a minute.  In 1973, the video cassette recorder did not exist, which means that there were no video cassettes that could be rented or purchased, and things such as dedicated classic movie cable channels, DVD's and DVD players, Blue-Ray discs, and video streaming were probably not even figments of the imaginations of anyone.  In 1973, the only way that you could see "Casablanca" was either waiting for some college campus revival theater to run it, or catch it in a chopped up version on the late, late show on your local television station.  Yet, despite all of that, "Casablanca" had already established itself as a classic, must-see film.  In 2017, anyone who remotely cares no doubt owns a copy of "Casablanca" on DVD, and Turner Classic Movies runs it at least a half dozen time a year, so we can watch it pretty much any time we want to do so.

However, how many of us have actually seen "Casablanca" in an actual movie theater on a big screen?  Not me, and probably not may of us under the age of seventy or so, but in the coming week, we have the opportunity to change that.  To mark the 75th anniversary of its release, the TCM/Fathom Events Big Screen Classics series will be showing "Casablanca" in theaters nationwide on Sunday, November 12 and Wednesday, November 15.  In Pittsburgh, this will be shown at the Cinemark Theaters.  

Mrs. Grandstander and I plan on being there at one of these showings, most likely Sunday evening.  Yes, we will know every line of dialog before it is spoken on screen, and we'll probably be reciting some of those classic lines right along with Rick and Ilsa, but how can we pass up this chance to see this in all of its wide screen black-and-white glory?

I hope that we'll see a lot of friends there as well, and if not, well....

To Absent Friends - Madeleine LeBeau

Madeleine LeBeau

1923 - 2016

Little known French actress Madeleine LeBeau died earlier this month at the age of 92.  This is notable because Miss LeBeau was the last surviving credited cast member of the all-time great movie, "Casablanca" (1942).  Miss LeBeau played Yvonne, the jilted lover (perhaps one of many) of cynical cafe owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart).  What she meant to Blaine is best explained in this memorable bit of dialogue:

Yvonne: Where were you last night?

Rick: That was so long ago, I don't remember.

Yvonne: Will I see you tonight?

Rick: I never make plans that far ahead.

Yvonne is also featured in one of "Casablanca's" most memorable scenes: Singing the Marseillaise with tears in her eyes (see above) when Victor Laszlo leads the cafe orchestra to drown out the Nazi soldiers singing German patriotic songs.

The story of LeBeau and her husband fleeing Europe in the wake of Nazi invaders is a tale right out of "Casablanca" itself.  She eventually made it to Hollywood, had a few minor roles but never became a major player.  She did some movies in Europe, most notably in Fellini's "8 and 1/2" in 1960, and was pretty much done as an actress by the late 1960's.  However, her one small role as Yvonne in what is considered one of the greatest movies ever made has assured her a piece of movie immortality, and as the last survivor of the movie, she will forever be an answer to a movie trivia question.

RIP Madeleine LeBeau.

"Casablanca" and Me

Allow me to share with you what I think is a pretty cool story.

I recently became of a Chat Page on Facebook called My "Reel" Life that is devoted to old, classic movies.  Yesterday, I got involved in a discussion about the movie "Casablanca" and in my comment, I quoted a line spoken by actor Paul Henreid, playing resistance hero Victor

Laszlo, during the climactic scene at the Casablanca airport.  The line was "Welcome back to the fight, Mr. Blaine.  This time, I know our side will win."

Okay, just another comment on Facebook that will disappear shortly, right?  Well, maybe, but a few minutes later, someone else made a comment that said "Hi, Bob.  Thanks for quoting Victor."  The person making that comment was Mo Henreid, who just so happens to be the daughter of Paul Henreid!  How cool is that?

So, I am now connected to one of the greatest movies of all time by a mere two degrees of separation.

Thank you, Miss Henreid.  This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.