Casablanca Again On The Silver Screen: 70th Anniversary

Thank you, Tom Baker for posting this and I’m stealing borrowing your pictures you used. Tom posted this on his blog, Morning Erection — Casablanca Again On The Silver Screen: 70th Anniversary.

Casablanca (1942)

I was interested in this post because this Casablanca is on my “Movie Bucket List” of movies to see.

NCM Fathom, TCM Turner Classic Movies, and Warner Bros are coming together again to present Turner Classic Movies Presents Casablanca 70th Anniversary Event in select movie theaters nationwide on Wednesday, March 21st at 7:00PM (local time).  The event will begin with Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne taking audiences behind the scenes of this epic love story in a special original production showcasing stories from those who were on set and those who simply admire this timeless classic. Once again, audiences will see this beautiful and timeless classic on the silver screen.

Casablanca is a classic tale of unrequited love and is a project that defined the “golden age” of Hollywood and allowed audiences to fall in love with cinema all over again. Turner Classic Movies Presents Casablanca 70th Anniversary Event is the only opportunity to see this stunning digital presentation grace the silver screen on Wednesday, March 21st at 7:00PM (local time) with additional matinee showings at select movie theater locations. Check your local listings for more information.

Don’t miss the most romantic film of all time. More beautiful than it’s ever been!

I was wishy-washy on going to see this movie. There was a show at 2:00 pm and another one at 7:00 pm. By the time I knew it, it was past 2:00 pm, so I missed that show. I did some stuff on the computer and ate dinner and I still wasn’t 100% sure if I was going to go to see the movie or not.

So finally, at 6:00 pm, I decided that I was going to go see the movie. I got to the theater around 6:45 pm and to my surprise the theater was almost filled up. I found my seat at the very top row (I like that row) and I posted on Facebook that I was excited about seeing Casablanca for the first time in a theater.

The movies opened up with Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne talking about the movie. It was interesting and I learned a lot about the movie that way. Then the movie started.

It was strange, even though I was there with a couple of hundred people, I felt like I was in my living room watching the movie. I was totally into watching the movie, which is a big thing for me. Usually I am looking around and the slightest noise from the people around me gets on my nerves. But not this time. The parts of the movie that were funny, everyone laughed. It was cool.

Even though this was my first time watching the movie, I was surprised on how many of the songs and quotes I have heard and used. Here is a list of the memorable quotes from the movie:

… memorable line in cinema in AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes by the American Film Institute.

Six lines from Casablanca appeared in the AFI list, the most of any film (Gone with the Wind and The Wizard of Oz tied for second with three apiece).

• “Here’s looking at you, kid” — 5th
• “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” – 20th
• “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By'” – 28th
• “Round up the usual suspects” – 32nd
• “We’ll always have Paris” – 43rd
• “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine” – 67th

And then there is the songs in the movie:

• “As Time Goes By” by Herman Hupfeld
• “It Had to Be You” from 1924 (music by Isham Jones, lyrics by Gus Kahn)
• “Shine” from 1910 (music by Ford Dabney, lyrics by Cecil Mack and Lew Brown)
• “Avalon” from 1920 (music and lyrics by Al Jolson, Buddy DeSylva and Vincent Rose)
• “Perfidia” by Alberto Dominguez (One of my favorite big band songs)

 

 

When I got home, I Googled “Casablanca” to learn more about it. I read that the movie was part of the colorization controversy of the 1980’s. I saw some still pictures of the colorization version of the movie… I did not like it and I would have hated to seen the movie for the first time like that. I read and learned more about Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (since I really didn’t know anything about them or the movies that they were in.)

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman (1942)

I really think people should watch some of the movies that are on the AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies List. They are some of the classics and should not be missed. Now I want to go rent the movie and watch it again to catch what I missed the first time around.

So , thanks again Tom for posting it and I can’t wait till the next classic movie comes to a theater near me.

And, “Here’s looking at you, kid“!