"We'll always have Paris."

"Major Strasser has been shot.  Round up the usual suspects." 

"Louie, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

   These and other lines contribute to Casablanca's reputation as having one of the most quotable scripts in movie history.   From script to cast to set design to photography to continuity and every other production factor of which I'm aware, this film either excelled or at least made no mistakes.  It had a rich collection of supporting characters, a believable setting in a port city and properly balanced wartime events with the personal choices of Rick, Ilsa and the others.   The bar works as a microcosm of a society in crisis, and references are made to the other bar of Mr. Ferrari (Sidney Greenstreet), creating the reinforcement of a metropolitan scene.  And political statements are often so subtle as to be beyond a modern audience, like the poster of Petain (the collaborator) at the beginning street scene, or the act of Louie (the Claude Rains character) of pouring out the Vichy water, signifying his break with the government.   Difficult to top.

6/11/2008