CASABLANCA: 4K Blu-ray (Warner Bros., 1942) Warner Home Video
It is virtually impossible to assess Michael
Curtiz’s Casablanca (1942) without a myriad of superlatives immediately
coming to mind. ‘Masterpiece’ just happens to be one such moniker
foisted upon the movie – justly, most would agree, overrated some might say.
Yet, Casablanca has proven the rarest of movie treasures. It only seems
to grow more nuanced and fascinating with age. Many movies maintain their
classic status, appreciated as great works of art – exemplars attesting to a
level of craftsmanship both in front of and behind the camera from the period
in which they were made. One admires the precision in the exercise, or picks
out iconic bits of acting, cinematography, memorable quotations that continue to
resonate as truly outstanding accomplishments in and of themselves. But rarely does a movie – any movie – endure
so comprehensively to hold our collective fascination as Casablanca so
obviously does. It was a project born from a never heard of – un-produced -
play ‘Everybody Comes To Rick’s’, and made under the workmanlike
precision of a film factory at its zenith; quite simply just one of 52 projects
slated for the coming year. It went through various and constant permutations
from script to casting, with daily chaos, more the norm than the exception, on
the set. And yet, from this maelstrom emerged a movie as rare as a four-leaf
clover and more ravishingly dramatic than any bird of paradise.
Casablanca today is a
movie that has not only resisted changing audience tastes, it has resonated
with them as the years have rolled by. It has also miraculously leant to the
illusion to have changed with the times, along the way, remaining as fresh and
as vital in our collective movie-going consciousness as it must have played for
audiences back in 1942/43. True, the war is no longer with us; gratefully too,
neither are the Nazis. But the precepts in this morality play go far beyond
mere uniforms or timelines. One need not have been born prior to, at the height
of, or even in the immediate postwar aftermath of American prosperity to fully
appreciate the plight of these characters in their romanticized quest for
freedom. Sheer eloquence aside, Casablanca taps into a basic human
fundamental to achieve greatness against seemingly insurmountable odds. It
plays to our human strengths, our dreams, our desires and yes, even our fears;
a tenuous balancing act within the context of the traditional romantic
melodrama. Yet, it never allows sentiment to get in the way of a good story or
permit its cynicism to degrade our appreciation for life, liberty and the
pursuit of even greater happiness that not all of our characters will achieve.
In the penultimate moment, Rick
sends his true love off with her husband, knowing that, in doing so, he has
contributed more than his fair share of sacrifices as his part of the war
effort. But does he send Ilsa on her way to satisfy a magnanimous urge, or
simply because – after their brief renewal of passion inside his suite above
the saloon – he suddenly realized that, while ‘they’ll always have Paris’,
the sex wasn’t particularly as good as he remembered? We are never quite sure;
not of Rick nor Ilsa’s ulterior motives; she, dewy-eyed, but smiling, as she
boards the plane with Victor Laslo; he, departing with the prefect of police,
whom he almost shot but now regards as a trustworthy compatriot at ‘the
beginning of a beautiful friendship’. It is these moral ambiguities, at the
very heart of the tale, that continue to resonate and inform our appreciation
of Casablanca as a very high-functioning bona fide work of cinema art.
No one film can ever satisfy
everyone’s opinion as being ‘the greatest of all time’. That’s the
beauty of film – everyone has an opinion of it; favorable or ‘un’, valid and
steadfast. But if a decision had to be
made by popular vote, I have a sneaking suspicion that Curtiz’s wartime
melodrama would still be considered as worthy a contender. Playwright Murray
Burnett’s original, as reconstituted in the screenplay by Howard Koch and
Julius and Philip Epstein plays fast and loose with its assortment of unsavory
characters, their past indiscretions and current scheming - all in an attempt
to escape Nazi occupation on a plane bound for Lisbon. In retrospect, it all seems to fit together
so neatly. But at the time pre-production began, there was great confusion
behind the scenes. For years rumors have abounded Ronald Reagan and George Raft
were first considered for the role of Rick; the hard-bitten realist/saloon
keeper who comes face to face with the girl he thought he had finally flushed
from his system for good back in Paris. In reality neither Reagan nor Raft were
ever notified as forerunners. As for Humphrey Bogart? Well, Bogart had been a
Warner contract player for more than a decade, largely relegated to second
string status as thug muscle on the lam – a stock character, who usually died
in the third reel of gangster pictures starring Edward G. Robinson or James
Cagney. In many ways Casablanca was Bogart's graduation from this
‘murderer's row’. If he had not proven amiable as a leading man, there is
little to suggest Bogart’s career would have survived the folly. He was hardly
Hollywood's ideal of the romantic figure, well past the prime age of then
twenty-something heartthrobs readily adored by female fans. Yet, Bogart is
every bit the sensual lady's man in Casablanca; his cynical dispatch of
lovers, friends and foes alike and his bitter, careworn inner torment oozing
irresistible charm. And Bogart intuitively does something rather miraculous in
the part. He doesn’t try to be charming, though he so obviously is, and he even
reacts in ways that, as played by any other actor of his ilk, would have
branded the character of Richard Blaine as a boorish and disgustingly cynical
reprobate.
When Bogart’s Rick callously dumps
casual French flame, Yvonne (Madeleine Lebeau), telling her that he “never
thinks that far ahead” when asked if she will see him tomorrow night, his
averted glance and nonchalant attitude is hardly misconstrued as bastardly or
even uncaring. When Rick refuses to help a panic stricken Ugarte (Peter Lorre)
in his escape from the authorities, knowing that his incarceration will likely
– and eventually does – lead to Ugarte’s ‘accidental’ death/murder, we are
instantly more likely to align our sympathies with Rick’s necessity to remain
above the fray in order to keep his café open.
Bogart’s Rick may not be pure of heart. In fact, Rick frequently
illustrates through his actions that, as Mae West once astutely proclaimed,
‘goodness has nothing to do with it’. But when one stops to assess the
character for who and what he is, the likely reaction from audiences is both
warm and affectionate – not for the character as written, but rather, as
performed by Bogart.
Casablanca was shot under
a tight deadline; the process - anything but smooth. Convinced that her husband
might be having an affair with his co-star, Bogart's first wife, Mayo Methot
kept close watch on the set, causing Bogart to be overtly aloof toward Ingrid
Bergman. The actress would later comment, "I kissed him but I never
knew him." Yet, that tension seems only to have enhanced each actor’s
performance. Together, Bogart and Bergman are the quintessential war-torn
lovers - destined to be driven apart even though we come to realize they ought
to remain together. Bergman, on loan from David O. Selznick, is a knockout as
the jaded lover/devoted wife who will not emotionally forsake her bond of
marriage yet cannot maintain her physical fidelity in it. Bergman, who never
quite knew which man her character would eventually wind up with, plays Ilsa’s
affections right down the middle and the result is a portrait of a woman so
haunted by her past, suddenly caught up to her, and so germane in her devotion
to the husband she once thought dead, but rediscovered anew, that we instantly
bear the brunt of her conflicted sins.
Ilsa Lund is not a woman scorned, a
femme fatale, or a conniving seductress. Nor is she the virginal goddess Rick
only thought he was deflowering back in Paris before the occupation. Rather,
she remains a striking creature of habit whose faiths and passions have begun
to erode the very essence of who and where her loyalties lay. To carry off this
formidable challenge requires an actress, not only of incredible agility and
dexterity within her craft, but also the inner understanding with which any
fully-rounded woman of experiences infrequently operates, especially, on
autopilot when she is in love. As rewrites arrived almost daily to the set,
Bogart and his co-stars grew more impatient and uneasy about the last act.
Would Isla Lund go away with Victor Laslo or remain behind with the man she
truly loved - Richard Blane? The Epstein brothers could not decide. As filming
progressed, establishing a resolution to this romantic conflict became more
immediate. In a moment of sheer brilliance - or perhaps mere exhaustion for a
dénouement that would satisfy – any conclusion to their story - the Epsteins
suddenly turned to one another and simultaneously spoke the same line of dialogue
- "Round up the usual suspects!", an inspired bit of
creativity.
For those who have never seen Casablanca
(as it must be stated there are probably still many…to paraphrase Ugarte -
"Poor devils!") our story opens with Nazi Major Strasser (Conrad
Veidt) arriving in Casablanca to oversee the capture of Senior Ugarte (Peter
Lorre); the man who murdered two German couriers in the unoccupied dessert.
Strasser is first greeted by French Prefect of Police, Louie Renault (the
magnificent Claude Rains), whose roving eye is frequently focused on the
desperation of very young and as attractive refugee girls seeking letters of
transit to immigrate to America. At the start of the film, Louie and Rick are
fair-weather friends; Rick allowing Louie to win at his illegal casino to keep
from interfering in the daily operations of his cafe. Rick's Cafe Americain is,
in fact, a hub for the black market in this Moroccan port, where everything
from diamonds to human cargo is traded to the highest bidder. The sheer
lucrativeness for pure profit is hardly wasted on the unscrupulous Senior
Ferrari (Sidney Greenstreet); a slave trader who also owns the seedy ‘Blue
Parrot’ bar just down the street. Nor is Louie entirely convinced Rick's stoic
cynicism is anything more than mere smokescreen, masking a more mysterious
reason as to why Rick had to leave America. "I like to think that you
killed a man," Louie tells him, "It's the romantic in
me!" To any and all inquiries, however, Rick remains silent. When
Louie informs him that he plans to arrest Ugarte (Peter Lorre) for the murder
of the couriers, Rick's cold-blooded response is "I stick my neck out for
nobody." Ugarte is arrested after a shootout at the cafe and later 'dies'
of wounds inflicted by his Nazi captors. Even so, Strasser has a dossier on
Rick that illustrates his previous pattern for providing aid and assistance to
enemies of the Third Reich.
Enter the luminous Ilsa Lund
(Bergman) on the arm of freedom fighter, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid).
Described by Louie as ‘the most beautiful woman to ever visit Casablanca’,
Ilsa's mere presence in the café is enough to send shockwaves of contempt
through Rick. After the café closes for the night, Rick quietly gets drunk
while his piano player, Sam (Dooley Wilson) looks on. The halcyon haze from
this binge generates a memorable flashback. We see Rick and Ilsa at the height
of their passionate rendezvous in Paris before the occupation. On the eve that
Ilsa is supposed to meet Rick at the train station, she instead sends him a
cryptic letter, telling him that they can never be together. Understanding
Rick's life is in danger if he stays behind, Sam coaxes him onto the last train
out of Paris. Rick awakens from his stupor in the wee hours of the morning to
discover Ilsa in his doorway. She attempts to explain the situation. But Rick
cannot see beyond his own bitterness and jealousy. He admonishes Ilsa, driving
her out with dark, cruel words. The next day, Victor asks Rick if he will sell
Ugarte's letters of transit to him. But Rick denies the request by telling
Victor to ask his wife instead.
Ilsa confesses to her husband the
more superficial details about her affair with Rick, then quietly sneaks off to
beg - then threaten - Rick for the letters herself. After some romantic
friction, the two rekindle the sparks of their passion and Ilsa informs Rick
that she can no longer resist him. She will do whatever he says. Rick asks Ilsa
to bring Victor to the café after hours the following night where he says he
intends to hand over the letters of transit only to him to escape while keeping
Ilsa for himself. However, when Victor and Ilsa arrive at the café they find a
preening Louie Renault ready to arrest Victor as part of a conspiracy for the
murder of the two German couriers. In a moment of inspired brilliance, Rick
double crosses Louie, holding him at gun point while he forces his signature on
Ilsa and Victor's safe passage documents. Rick then tells Louie to telephone
the airport radio tower to confirm their reservations, forewarning that his gun
is aimed directly at Louie’s heart “That is my least vulnerable spot!”
Louie declares. Instead, Louie calls Strasser with an even more puzzling
explanation, thereby alerting him of Ilsa and Victor’s plans to escape. Rick,
Victor, Ilsa and Louie arrive at the airport where Rick explains to Ilsa in
private how their love would never endure his forcing her to separate from her
husband. She is getting on that plane with Victor while Rick stays behind to
make sure their takeoff is successful. As the plane begins to taxi the runway,
Strasser arrives and is killed by Rick in a shootout. Louie, who now has the
opportunity to arrest Rick for murder, instead informs his officers to
"Round up the usual suspects." Louie tells Rick that it will be best
if he goes away for a while, adding his own intentions to accompany him.
"Louie," Rick exclaims before the two men fade into the night fog
for parts unknown, "This looks like the beginning of a beautiful
friendship!" And so, it has
been between the film and moviegoers everywhere for the past 70+ years.
Any way one chooses to analyze it, Casablanca
remains a milestone. Under Michael Curtiz’s unerring direction, Casablanca
emerges as the most adroit, romantic and satisfyingly stylish film of the
1940’s and a perfect entertainment besides. In retrospect, Dooley Wilson’s Sam
is the film's most remarkable character. At a time when black performers were
considered little more than servants or comic relief, Sam is neither, but in
fact, Rick's equal, and at times even his superior. It is Sam who first
encourages Ilsa to leave his employer alone; Sam, who saves Rick from certain
Nazi capture at the train depot in Paris; Sam, who looks after Rick after he
has succumbed to drunken self-pity and despair. It goes without saying that
Bogart and Bergman are at the top of their game. Their screen chemistry is, to
quote another Bogart classic, 'the stuff that dreams are made of'. As the
audience, we yearn for reconciliation between Ilsa and Rick in the first act,
are glad when they evolve their relationship into its illicit détente at the
beginning of the third act, and then have our hearts torn asunder in the final
reel. In that arc of human emotion and conflict we also become disillusioned
romantics, just like Rick – even as we recognize that the ending of the story
is just as it should be. That is an extraordinary cinematic achievement.
Casablanca frequently
hovers in the top five on most critics’ ‘greatest movies of all time’. It is
also one of the most oft' misquoted movies in film history. For the record,
Rick never says “Play it again, Sam,” but rather, “Play it. If she
can stand it, I can.” After viewing Casablanca in excess of 100
times throughout the course of my lifetime, I have to say that I still consider
it the greatest movie ever made, if for no better reason, than because it
continues to generate a perennial freshness each time I watch it. The film has
not dated – not one bit. In fact, it continues to hold me spellbound in the
dark. Hence, Casablanca remains that rarity among film art, or as
playwright Murray Burnett wisely assessed of a true classic some time ago, it
is, "true yesterday, true today and true tomorrow." So, Sam,
play it. Not for old time's sake, but again and again... for all time's sake.
Casablanca was one of
Warner Home Video's earliest 'Ultimate Edition' Blu-Rays, to be put through the
studio’s patented ‘ultra-resolution’ process to produce a very crisp, yet, in
hindsight, somewhat homogenized image harvest. For the film's 70th anniversary,
Warner rethought its mastering efforts to create a brand new, arguably 'more
film-like' presentation in 1080p. This edition produced richer black levels and
more consistently rendered film grain. Bravo! And, in reviewing the Blu-rays just
prior to my screening of Warner’s new 4K release, I would argue Casablanca’s
70th hi-def release represented a pinnacle for the studio from whence
the prospect of topping it was pretty hard, if not entirely impossible.
So, how does the 4K measure up and
does it surpass the Blu-ray? Short answer – it does, and ‘yes’ its better…marginally.
Those viewing Casablanca on screens up to 85” will be VERY hard pressed
to denote the improvements this new 4K release has yielded over its predecessor.
It’s not that the 4K lags. It’s that the old Blu was just so damn good! The
real awe and surprise here is when viewing Casablanca on a dedicated
home theater projection system. Permit us to worship. Black levels modestly
advance and grain has NEVER looked more film-like than now. Close-ups are the
most impressive and age-related artifacts are virtually non-existent. There is
a depth, clarity and sheen to this 4K image in projection that truly belies the
fact Casablanca is being viewed on anything less than a vintage reel of
nitrate film stock. Bar none - this is an outstanding 4K disc. The DTS mono
audio is solidly represented. Doing a direct comparison between the UE and 70th
reveals no discernible sonic differences and/or improvements. The 4K is bereft
of any special features, save Lauren Bacall’s intro (recorded all the way back
in 1995 for the DVD release) and a vintage audio commentary.
But some 11 hours of archival produced
featurettes have been culled on all things 'Casablanca' and
Warner Bros. First up is You Must Remember This – the making of Casablanca
– a definitive look created for the picture’s 50th anniversary home video
release back in the 1980’s and featuring Murray Burnett and Lauren Bacall among
others, affectionately waxing about the picture. This is followed by Bacall
on Bogart – a marvelous retrospective of Bogie – the man, the actor and his
career. Then there's Carrotblanca – the Bugs Bunny cartoon spoof, and,
of course, the original pilot for a 1950s television series that proved a
colossal flop. We also get As Time Goes By: The Children Remember; a
loving tribute from Stephen Bogart and Pia Linstrom (Ingrid Bergman’s daughter),
followed by audio and video outtakes, deleted scenes, interviews and expert
audio commentaries from the late Roger Ebert and Rudy Behlmer - all previously
made available as part of the UE. Regrettably, Warner continues to pay these
extras little mind in terms of image quality. All are in 480i and many are in
rough shape from a visual standpoint.
Casablanca: An Unlikely
Classic is a featurette produced for the 70th anniversary with
contemporary filmmakers weighing in about the film's enduring magic and appeal.
We also get the 1947 radio broadcast of the film and Max Steiner's scoring
sessions that provide some fascinating alternative takes of the songs and
tracks best remembered in the film. But perhaps the best new extra in this set
is Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You Never Heard Of : a very
entertaining, if somewhat brief, look at Curtiz' miraculous career at WB and
elsewhere. Fans will eat this one up. Inexplicably shorn from this 4K offering,
three feature-length documentaries, Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul, and The
Brothers Warner and You Must
Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story. Bottom line: this is Casablanca,
and, in 4K no less. Very highly recommended!
FILM RATING (out
of 5 - 5 being the best)
5+
VIDEO/AUDIO
5+
EXTRAS
4
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