Casablanca--the Greatest Motion Picture of All-Time

How do you describe the best movie ever made? Sure it's easy to explain what makes the worst movie bad or the saddest film sad, but how can a person tell another person the sheer power of the ultimate film.
The answer is simple: you can't.
But I'll try.
Made in 1942 from Warner Bros. Pictures and director Michael Curtiz, Casablanca taking it's place among the elite films of Hollywood(or anything) was an accident. For the odds were against them in numerous ways. The cast couldn't be assembled, the sets were short of spectacular, and the film was shot with a script being finished as they went; but despite all of the meant-to-be textbook failings, the power of Casablanca still could not be dulled.
The casting was perfect: leading man Humphrey Bogart in the prime of his career, Ingrid Bergman perfect as always in every way, Claud Rains still everpresent in almost every timeless classic film, and Paul Henried sealing the deal. Their collective delivery of the most quotable ( directly from the film, from pop-culture and just adopted everyday phrases) script ever written could not have been more flawless if the film was retouched by airbrushers. But the true heart of what makes Casablanca what it is, is the story.
It takes place in the town of Casablanca where people trying to escape the horrors of the Nazis during the Second World War, wait as if in limbo, to see if they can earn an exit visa or any other means to somehow travel to Lisbon and then the United States. Amidst all of this is Rick Blaine, played by Humphrey Bogart, a man who owns the most popular cafe in Casablanca, and the shaking up of his life quite symbollically reflected by the consequent state of the world, when the love of his life, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) returns with her husband, a freedom fighter Victor Lazlo (Paul Henried) who is the target of every pair of German eyes in Casablanca. The story of war, love, loss and friendship is not only immortalized by the Nazi-era surroundings but by just that: it's a story of war, love, loss and friendship-human emotion that will never grow obsolete.
Sixty-seven years after it's release Casablanca is still as fresh as it was post-release and continues to be that way upon every viewing.
Despite efforts to explain and convince it is impossible to make one understand why Casablanca is the masterpiece of all masterpieces, without viewing it yourself. Still, in all honesty never has there been another film that moves you, in every way, the way that it does. Watching it you are back in the War, in times of extreme peril and chaos, and never will there be another beautiful friendship like that between Casablanca and film history because it will forever be perfect--no matter how much time goes by.

The Swashbuckling Technicolor Wonder

Is it a coincidence that the greatest adventure film of all time has the word "adventure" in the title? Probably not, and it is, without any question the best ever in the swashbuckling genre. Out of Warner-Bros. from 1938 The Adventures of Robin Hood is the classic Robin Hood tale about the evil Prince John, played brilliantly, as always by the incomparable Claude Rains, unrightfully capturing the throne in place of his kidnapped brother, the beloved King Richard "The Lion-Heart"(Ian Hunter). But when Prince John and all of his Norman Lords start oppressing the Saxon people of England beyond counteraction, Robin Hood, played classically by Errol Flynn, steps up into the spotlight to fight the tyranny. The Maid Marian to Errol's Robin is Olivia de Havialland, and though of course their chemistry on(and speculatory off-) screen is luminescent, not just one aspect of this film makes it the masterpiece that it is.
The choice to use Technicolor for The Adventures of Robin Hood, is maybe, next to Gone With The Wind(1936), the most inspired and fitting way to showcase such a picture. In accordance with the look of the film, thanks to cinematographers Tony Gaudio and Sol Polito, the music is among the finest ever composed. From the first frame and the joyous eruption of the trumpets, Erich Wolfgang Kornhold's score is simple in it's composition but, more importantly, the most seamless combination ever in the history of cinema. The stunt work which was lightyears ahead of it's time is magnified 1000x by the lighting (most apparent in the classic swordfights with the projected shadows on the castle walls) and directing of William Keighley, and predominately, Michael Curtiz(Casablanca 1942).
But if one had to pick the true shining star of this picture, it would be the illustriast cast that deliver still one of the best esemble Hollywood performances after all of these years. The stars, of course, Errol Flynn (in his prime), Olivia de Havilland and Claude Rains. And the supporting cast: Sir Basil Rathbone as Sir Guy of Gisbourne, Alan Hale as Little John, Patrick Knowles as Will Scarlett, Eugene Pallette as Friar Tuck, Una O'Connor as Bess, and Melville Cooper as the High Sheriff of Nottingham.
The true test of any adventure film is it's ability to engage the audience from start to finish. To get your blood pumping, your heart beating, make you laugh, make you cry, make you angry, make you sad, hold your breath in moments of uncertainty, sigh after every kiss of true love and smile until the very last frame. I do not know many pictures who can boast every aspect of the aformentioned but one I do know, The Adventures of Robin Hood, is not only the greatest swashbuckling-adventure of all time, but rightfully takes it's place among the best films ever made--and we are so lucky to have it.

Fan-o of Brando

It is impossible-simply impossible-to discuss the Hollywood Golden Age of cinema and not mention the man labeled as the greatest actor of all-time. Marlon Brando, an American Icon, is known as the Godfather to most, but his earlier work, circa the late 1940's throughout the 1950's, is what those attributions garner life from.
If one was forced to pin-point the power of Marlon stemming from a single picture, the task of choosing would be no easy one at that. His filmography, although not an extensive one, boast more than 30 feature films, ten during the 40's and 50's. Performances from A Streetcar Named Desire(1951), Julius Caesar(1953), Guys and Dolls(1955) and Sayonara(1957) marked his brilliance throughout his early career. But his genius is never clearer than when he's on screen in Elia Kazan's 1954 crime-drama masterpiece On the Waterfront.
Marlon plays Terry Malloy a former heavyweight prize-fighter who is unwillingly involved-through family and friendship-in a crime ring that controls everything and, to an extent, everyone, on the waterfront. When young Joey Doyle is murdered because of his courage to testify against Johnny Friendly, played by Lee J. Cobb, a series of reactions led by Joey's sister Edie's(Eva Marie Saint in her Oscar winning film debut) inability to give up looking for answers to what happened to her brother, forces Terry to make his own choices regarding morality, loyalty and love.
Describing Marlon's performance in On the Waterfront is unimaginably trying. All that is required is too watch his emotion and his feeling, but when it comes to analyzing and seperating the phenomena of his acting, it grows increasingly difficult. Marlon paints arguably the most genuine portrait of any character ever on film. But simultaneously when one is watching Terry, it is never forgotten that one is watching Marlon Brando. He throws himself completely into the role but never loses his persona nor his presence. In my opinion, a feat never matched; and that is what makes it incomprable.
The beautiful and talented Marlon Brando may have been rivaled by Lawrence Olivier for the title of greatest classic actor, and by Robert De Niro and Al Pacino for modern, but no matter who he's compared to he surpasses them unabashedly without contest-and will continue to unless we're blessed with someone greater who has yet to come along.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Burt!

When it comes to brute physicality in classic films the normal names that come to mind are Errol Flynn, Douglas Fairbanks and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., but it seems the only man who found the perfect balance between sensitivity, masculinity and power was Burt Lancaster.
Originally a trapeze artist in the traveling circus, Burt got his first crack at Hollywood in the 1946 drama The Killers, one film out of the only two successful adaptations of the works of Hemingway, and cinema was never the same again.
What sets Burt aside from most actors working at that time, was the intensity he brought to every role. It was not only his sex appeal, of which was probably what drew most to his features, but it was his passion that illuminated the screen.
When talking about Burt Lancaster it is impossible not to mention Fred Zinnemann's 1953 masterpiece From Here To Eternity, for it is this film that showcases Burt's talents at their highest point.
Set in the first few days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor at a Hawaiiann military base, From Here to Eternity is a character study that delves into the minds of the men and women who live there. Burt plays 1st Sgt. Milton Warden, a man overqualified for his low ranking position, who has a contempt for authority and who is in love with his superior's wife. Despite the refusal of technicolor, everything is far from black & white on the island. But despite the sea of stars, among them Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed, Burt shines the brightest--especially in the scene on the beach.
In portraying Warden Burt had to employ almost every human emotion: anger, jealousy, love, happiness, pride, shame and....drunkenness. Yet in every scene he never once let's his emotions run away with him, and this restraint is what makes his performance as masterful as it is.

Mr. Capra Goes to Hollywood

A director's aesthetic is established throughout their career. Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense and innovative camera angles, Billy Wilder truly understood all human emotion, David Lean was the king of epic pictures and John Ford knew how much a setting can impact a picture in every way. But unlike every other mainstream director, it is only necessary to watch one picture to comprehend the themes that drive Frank Capra--it's all about the American Dream.
Capra directed over 50 major motion pictures over the course of his 39 year long career and most of them focused on simple American ideals. Working hard, never forgetting the necessity of humor in life, and putting family first were major themes found in all of his films. What may sound redundant--the same themes over and over again is anything but in the Capra filmography.
Both tales of growth in popularity and the importance of never forgetting one's true self, Mr. Deeds Goes To Town(1936) and Meet John Doe(1941) but in true Capra fashion have very different means of getting to their happy endings. You Can't Take It With You(1938) and It's A Wonderful Life(1940), considered two of Capra's greatest films boast the importance of family and yet, again, do this in opposing ways. Yet when it comes to choosing the primary example of Capra's work one mustn't look further than 1939.
Mr. Smith Goes To Washington in addition to being Capra's best film is the epicenter of every theme Capra projected throughout his career. Jimmy Stewart plays Jefferson Smith, an idealistic young Senator who is picked to serve as proxy but thwarts those plans of the political machine. Abundant in Mr. Smith, is the importance of truth, family, honesty, hard work, love, justice and patriotism--everything that exemplifies the American Dream.
Although one film cannot define a director's career it does not take more than one viewing of Mr. Smith Goes To Washington to understand the purpose of Capra--to make good movies and entertain the American people.

He Made Hollywood So Glamorous!

Perhaps the biggest portion that defined the Hollywood Golden Age of film that has lost almost every bit of momentum as the years of cinema pass by is the popularity of the movie musical. During World War II, dramas were rare and though the few that were made were exceptional, audiences wanted folly and comedy and the studios obliged. Actors from Danny Kaye to Fred Astaire, and actresses from Audrey Hepburn to Doris Day defined what a classic musical should be, but the man who defined above all what it meant to smile through song and dance was the incomparable Gene Kelly.
Gene danced like no one else. He had a power, a masculinity that one could not even begin to describe without the accompaniment of his moves. Choreographing everything he appeared in, Gene just had a natural talent for understanding the body and what made it look beautiful on the silver screen. If it was possible to only look at one work that exemplifies Gene's talent it has to be An American In Paris from MGM in 1951.
Is it the best film Gene is in? Decidedly not. Nor is it the best musical that Gene did work for (that title goes to Singin' In the Rain(1952)). But what makes this the film to watch to understand fully the talent of Gene Kelly, comes in the last 17 minutes of the film--the infamous An American in Paris ballet.
Gene choreographed, directed, staged and danced every aspect of the ballet. It took $500,000 to shoot and one month to complete it-yet without it, the film is incomplete and simply, it is the best example of what dedication and art to the craft of tap, jazz and ballet the brilliant Kelly brought to every frame.
An American In Paris won six Academy Awards including Best Picture but the lack of a Best Choreography statuette did not hold back the recognition of the power that Gene brought to the screen throughout the film, and especially the last 17 minutes. The Academy awarded Gene Kelly with a special honorary Oscar for his work and sheer appreciation for what he did for movie musicals.
In my opinion: the most deserved award; and upon viewing An American In Paris, s'wonderful when Oscar gets it right.

Brunettes Have More Fun

Alfred Hitchcock's affinity for women with blonde hair was reinforced almost everytime his heroine would be on screen. Kim Novak in Vertigo--blonde, Eva Marie Saint in North by Northwest--blonde, Doris Day in The Man Who Knew Too Much--blonde, and of course, the luminescent Grace Kelly. But even among all of these beautiful fair-headed ladies, Hitch's favorite actress to ever bring enigma to espionage or sex appeal to suspicion was a brunette--the beautiful Ingrid Bergman.
Ingrid worked in three films for Hitchcock throughout her career, Notorious(1946), Spellbound(1945), and the lesser known Under Capricorn from 1949. In each Ingrid plays a strong beautiful woman with either a horrible past, a plagueing future or an inability to cope with and aliviate the present. She is a wonder to watch in Under Capricorn and alongside a young Gregory Peck in Spellbound but undoubtedly her best performance of the three is as Alicia Huberman in Notorious.
Now this being the second time spotlighting a performance from Alfred Hitchcock's near perfect suspense masterpiece is no coincidence. Rains and Bergman paint perhaps two of the most genuine portraits of any pair of characters ever on screen. Ingrid as Alicia, however, is the greatest example of her work as an actress. Her humanity, grace and comedy can be seen in any film but this role required what usually brought out the best in her and that is the demand for sex appeal.
It is funny that usually when Ingrid is mentioned she is considered one of the sexiest women of the Hollywood Golden Age, but rarely--very rarely is she portraying an overtly sexual woman. Her trademark is her subtly and what makes the roles Hitch cast her in so memorable was his ability to gage flawlessly, not only the overall compatibility between her and her characters but what she could bring to it with just a simple flick of her eyes.
It is not hard to describe other actresses from the same era in a few words, and with the accompaniment of a head shot understand the origin of such a description. Rita Hayworth can be described as vivacious, Grace Kelly as poised, Barbara Stanwyck as elegant and Katherine Hepburn as strong. Yet looking upon Ingrid Bergman it is almost impossible to comprehend her power in every area of femininity and grace, for the only solution is to watch her move and speak on screen, and then, like a waterfall, her talent rushes over you; for they just do not make them like her anymore.