Home > Jay Bookman > Archives > 2008 > June > 18 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.US‘And now for something completely different….’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s the Thursday column…
We got there early, or so I thought. But no.
Some 4,000 people had gotten there ahead us, forcing us to take seats in the far upper reaches of the cavernous, historic Fox Theater in downtown Atlanta. We had all been drawn out of our air-conditioned homes on a warm summer evening, pulled away from our TVs and computers and video games, by the chance to watch a black-and-white movie churned out by the studio system more than 60 years ago, long before most of us in the audience had even been born.
We came to watch Humphrey Bogart lament that “of all the gin joints in all the world, she walks into mine.”
We came to giggle at Claude Rains claiming to be“shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on here.”
And we came to hear Bogie tell Ingrid Bergman one more time that “it doesn’t take much to see that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”
The enduring appeal of “Casablanca” would probably startle those who made the movie, because it’s such a product of a unique moment in our history. While actors were saying those now-famous lines on a Hollywood sound stage, hundreds of thousands of U.S. soldiers were being shipped overseas in the opening months of World War II. It wasn’t melodrama to say that the fate of the world hung in the balance, giving the screenplay a power that is sometimes lost on modern audiences.
Early in the movie, for example, Rick pinpoints the exact moment in time in which the events take place.
“Sam, if it’s December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?”
“Uh, my watch stopped,” Sam replies.
“I’ll bet they’re sleeping in New York. I bet they’re sleeping all over America.”
The original audience knew quite well what Rick did not, that on Dec. 7, 1941, a wakeup call was coming in the form of Pearl Harbor.
Casablanca is many things — a date movie, a chick flick, a war movie, a spy thriller. But it is also a profoundly political movie about the importance of surrendering individual desires for the greater common good, particularly when great things are at stake. We can’t all be Victor Laslo, the charismatic, virtuous hero, but as Rick finally learns, each of us must sacrifice to do our part. That too had a particular resonance for a WWII audience.
So why does the movie still fascinate us even now, in a very different time and place? The movie supplies its own answer: Because it’s still the same old story, the fight for love and glory. The fundamental things still apply.
There is also an undeniable magic to the familiar, like the old family stories that get retold every year at the holidays even though everybody already knows every line and detail. When Rick and Ilsa are first reunited, you anticipate the bitter sting of that line you know is coming: “I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.” And when it comes, it never disappoints.
At the end, after Rick walked off into the fog with Louie proclaiming “the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” the audience cheered and applauded. But later, as we made our way to the car, the youngest family member remarked that she hadn’t realized how silly the movie was.
Silly? One of the greatest movies of all time, silly?
Yes, she said. Silly because at the end, they made Ilsa out to be so stupid and helpless.
Oh, that. Yes, there is that.
“I ran away from you once,” Ilsa says, her head lolling on Rick’s shoulder. “I can’t do it again. Oh, I don’t know what’s right anymore. You’ll have to think for both of us, for all of us.”
Those are not the words of the noble, strong Ilsa we’ve come to know. They are the words of a screenwriter trying to wrap things up. If you look too closely, the plot creaks and groans in a lot of places, particularly in its reliance on magical “letters of transit” allowing anyone to flee the purgatory of Casablanca for the heaven of America.
But I guess you learn to overlook the imperfections of old friends as you get older — you know, as time goes by.
Comments
By Brian
June 18, 2008 4:05 PM | Link to this
Why is Bookman even writing for the AJC?
By reebok
June 18, 2008 4:35 PM | Link to this
really nice column. good job.
By Taxpayer
June 18, 2008 5:10 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bookman,
Are you by chance trying to clear the air a bit after that last blog? Anyway, I have found that life’s lessons offer little to learn until one has lived a little. Have I told you about the time…
By Haymaker
June 18, 2008 6:07 PM | Link to this
Jay, Dusty is stalking me. You must help me. Do something, Jay, hide me. Jay, do something….hide me!! Jay! Jay!!
By Customer
June 18, 2008 6:23 PM | Link to this
When Dusty comes to get me, Jay, I hope you’ll be more of a help.
By JAY BOOKMAN
June 18, 2008 6:33 PM | Link to this
“I stick my neck out for nobody.”
By Dusty
June 18, 2008 6:36 PM | Link to this
PoFo@5:07 & 6:23
If I wanted to stalk somebody it wouldn’t be you. I’d rather stalk celery.
Yeah, pretty bad. But you wanted some attention. There it is. Stalk on off and stuff it…. with cream cheese. Yikes!! That’s even worse…. It’s your fault!!!
By Craig
June 18, 2008 6:42 PM | Link to this
Brian did someone force you to read the column? If you don’t like it, don’t read it.
I thought it was great, for what it’s worth…
By James
June 18, 2008 6:49 PM | Link to this
Mr. Bookman - you’re a romantic ! I never knew …….. :o)
By Dusty
June 18, 2008 6:52 PM | Link to this
PoFo,
Ignore Bookman. He’s got his fedora on and playing tough guy Bogart (and yearning for dear Ingrid) in the casbah of Casablanca. I’d know that accent anywhere.
How’d it go? You must remember this, a kiss is just a kiss…lala la lala..la
They don’t make movies like that anymore… sniff…
By Abomi Nation
June 18, 2008 6:55 PM | Link to this
Haven’t you people been paying attention to Jay’s blog today? Scientists have discovered different sprays to prevent various irritants.
Your Dusty problem was solved years ago with a spray Haymaker. Go by yourself a can of Pledge. In fact Dusty’s 6:36 post was such a total flop “celery stalk?” you better make that Lemon Pledge.
Its all about the spray.
By Dusty
June 18, 2008 9:19 PM | Link to this
ooolalala la la… a kiss is just a kiss la la
This is all Bookman’s fault. He had to go to a movie….la la la
Lemon spray..make my day..la la laaaaaaa….
By hillbilly ragger
June 18, 2008 9:21 PM | Link to this
Among the “creaks” you decided not to mention, is Ilsa asking who that “boy” is playing the piano.
But that startling bit of racism is almost compensated for by Rick’s obvious love for and friendship with Sam which, I’ve read, was somewhat unusual to see between white and black folks in the movies in those days.
Anyway, nice column. Makes me want to see it again, for the umpteenth time.
By Hillbilly Deluxe
June 18, 2008 10:18 PM | Link to this
I tried to watch Casablanca once but it put me to sleep. Oh well to each his/her own.
By Fred
June 19, 2008 8:20 AM | Link to this
Jay,
I never thought of Ilsa as being stupid and helpless. I always thought of her as being scared for her husband and willing to sacrifice her own happiness to save his life. Rick recognizes this and realizes that even if she goes away with him, she will never be his. If you want your hair blown back by another classic, watch Flesh and the Devil with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. I saw this silent classic a few years ago at the Alliance with live orchestra accompaniment. WOW. They don’t make them like that anymore…
By ron
June 19, 2008 8:21 AM | Link to this
I have a library of old movies that I dig out about once a year and watch over again.Casablanca is among them.100 years from now,Casablanca will still be listed as one of the greatest movies ever made.Time surely does go by.
By Shawny
June 19, 2008 8:37 AM | Link to this
part of the appeal of that movie can be explained by what it is not, and by that I mean not like most movies of today….young untalented actors, poorly written scripts, foul language that the movie can do without, a ridiculous amount of unreal special affects and CG graphics, etc. Movies in that day, especially the well done ones, had class, unlike most movies of today. You could watch them by yourself, with your spouse, and even have the kids watch.
By Customer
June 19, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this
Casablanca. Bogart was something special. My aunt said it was that he defined cool in the 30’s and 40’s. Back then, everyone wished they could sing like Bing, and hold a cigarette and wince like Bogie. That wince. That delivery. If you watch, he’s just speaking the lines. He was born with it. He taught Lauren Bacall how to deliver lines. She used the same cadence, rhythms and inflections that Bogie used. You can practically hear Bogie in her voice (saying them to her over and over till she got it).
Bogie became a legend to the point where “Dont bogart that that joint, my friend” soon turned into “dont Hepburn that joint” in the moronic lexicon of pot smokers in the seventies, like “far out” became “farm out”. gad I hated the seventies. But I almost made it through the seventies till a dance craze called “the bump” came along, and then it was over for me. Oh, I drifted through disco, the nasty, the thang, the dirty, the rub, the wipe, the lick, the hammer, the macarena and even the 79th comeback of the twist. But I was the walking wounded, a zombie, looking for love in a the wrong places, wishing that the one dance I was good at would come back. But it never happened, so here I am, danced out, with no hope of being able to reign on the dance floor again with the dance I was born to do, the dance I have a chance to find true love with, the dance that makes me an instant Sanjaya…the hokie pokie with hula hoops (and you have to be naked).
Anyway, The other bogart movie that wont go away is The Maltese Falcon, with it’s unbelievable scene stealing by Peter Lorre.
By lees
June 19, 2008 9:56 AM | Link to this
Brian and the Hillbilly will never understand movies like Casablanca. They are the main reason why American Idol is so successful. You don’t have to think when you watch American Idol.
By Willie
June 19, 2008 10:18 AM | Link to this
Jay: I am sorry but because of the liberal congress refusing to solve out gas problem, I am working two jobs and cannot afford to go to movies. I could give up my dial up for a month and go to a movie. I am sorry Jay but my mind is really on surving this liberal congress and not going to movies.
By George Washington
June 19, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this
Well, as an immortal, all I can say is “Time is on my side…..”
By Hillbilly Deluxe
June 19, 2008 1:33 PM | Link to this
to Lees @ 9:56 AM
It might come as a surprise to you that I hate American Idol in particular and all “reality shows” in general. I watch very little TV and spend most of my time reading non-fiction books, playing music and building furniture. Perhaps you shouldn’t make assumptions about people you don’t know.
By Eric1
June 19, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this
Jay Bookman, one of the reasons I even bother to read the AJC. Excellent column, Jay. Thanks again.