A couple days ago three friends and I went to see the classic movie “Casablanca” on the big screen, courtesy of our local cinema that airs a different old-time movie each week.
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen “Casablanca” on the big screen, even though it is my favorite all-time movie. It was released in 1942, and I wasn’t born yet. By the time I visited movie theaters, it was on its way to the archives. Still, somewhere I caught up with the film and have loved it ever since.
The big screen is wonderful, even more than sixty years after the original release. There are close-ups of Bogart, Bergman, Henreid, and others. There are crowd shots that relay the tension of the time: Paris just before the fall, the train station where Ilse deserts Rick, Rick’s Café during the dueling anthems scene, and Casablanca’s market place.
I don’t know how many films have been made since 1942, and I don’t really care. Each time I see “Casablanca”I learn something new, which makes me believe the film is in a class by itself.
Casablanca is one of my grandson, Eddie’s, favorites… he is 22. It is definitely a classic