2. Casablanca (1942) Warner Brothers (Jack L Warner, Executive
Producer) Produced by Hal B. Wallis Directed by Michael Curtiz
Screenplay by Julius and Philip Epstein, Howard Koch From a play by
Murray Burnett and Joan Alison Music Score by Max Steiner Starring
Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid , Claude Rains,
Conrad Veidt, Dooley Wilson, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z.
Sakall, Marcel Dalio Est. Cost - $1,039,000; Est. Initial Gross -
$3,700,000
3. Casablanca (1942) Thus Casablanca is not just one film. It
is many films, an anthology. [...] When all the archetypes burst in
shamelessly, we reach Homeric depths. Two clichs make us laugh. A
hundred clichs move us. For we sense dimly that the clichs are
talking among themselves, and celebrating a reunion. Umberto Eco
http://www.themodernword.com/eco/eco_casablanca.html
4. The Technical Dimension Produced by Warner Bros. at the
height of the Hollywood studio system, Casablanca embraced what is
now known as "invisible style." Rather than dazzling the eye with
eye-catching visuals and histrionic acting, it seduces the viewer
by creating a seamless, lush universe that gradually envelops the
audience. Hardly an effortless accomplishment, "invisible style"
required an absolute mastery of the various cinematic elements by
its collaborators, including Hungarian director Michael Curtiz
(Mildred Pierce, 1945), director of photography Arthur Edeson (The
Maltese Falcon, 1941), Art Director Carl Jules Weyl (The Big Sleep,
1946), composer Max Steiner (Gone With the Wind) and
soon-to-be-director Don Siegel (Dirty Harry, 1972), whose dynamic
opening montage invests the film with a sense of political urgency.
Turner Classic Movies Website
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/316%7C0/Casablanca.html
http://www.film-daily.com/2011/05/warner-brothers.html
5. The Technical Dimension Casablanca is a prime example of the
Invisible Technique of the Hollywood Studio System, in which
camerawork and lighting and editing are meant to subtly support the
story rather than being abrasive or even noticed. So unlike Soviet
Montage (The Battleship Potemkin), the edits and transitions are
meant to be smooth and seamless. Unlike German Expressionism (The
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Sunrise), the design and lighting are
meant to reflect reality, be it a stylized reality, rather than be
an expression of an artists view of the world.
http://youtu.be/3bNlSYc-ZJU
6. The Technical Dimension Casablanca is a prime example of the
Invisible Technique of the Hollywood Studio System, in which
camerawork and lighting and editing are meant to subtly support the
story rather than being abrasive or even noticed. So unlike Soviet
Montage (The Battleship Potemkin), the edits and transitions are
meant to be smooth and seamless. Unlike German Expressionism (The
Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Sunrise), the design and lighting are
meant to reflect reality, be it a stylized reality, rather than be
an expression of an artists view of the world.
http://youtu.be/KDxLyS9H47U
7. The Technical Dimension The Studio System - Stock Actors and
Contract Players
8. The Technical Dimension The production design of Casablanca
has come to represent the aesthetics of romantic longing. Its smoky
casino, fog-shrouded runway, trench coats, potted palms and
gruff-voiced pianist repeatedly surface in contemporary films,
commercials, television programs and even restaurant decor as
respects are paid to this quintessential Hollywood classic. Turner
Classic Movies Website
9. The Technical Dimension Colorized
10. The Technical Dimension The Hollywood Montage as Exposition
http://youtu.be/CiWnFqW5akw
11. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective
http://youtu.be/70NVg_neYSM
12. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective
Sunrise (1927) F.W. Murnau http://youtu.be/G_zhCx7C4qs
13. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective
Sunrise (1927) F.W. Murnau http://youtu.be/LGPnUPE-mfY
14. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) Mel Stuart
http://youtu.be/bkPBCKPqC5A (7:40 in)
15. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1993) Christopher Guest
http://youtu.be/htWY43bEYA4
16. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001) Peter
Jackson http://youtu.be/RMJj1ZmgxQE
17. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings (2001) Peter
Jackson http://youtu.be/jDlxpnRxDJs
18. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) Michel Gondry
http://youtu.be/II0er7TmkS8
19. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective -
The Ames Room http://youtu.be/vhoSqSHMIAc
20. The Technical Dimension Miniatures and Forced Perspective
The Magic of the Movies http://youtu.be/htWY43bEYA4
21. The Dramatic Dimension Melodrama A dramatic work that
exaggerates plot, crises, and characters in order to appeal to or
manipulate the emotions, and often depends on stock characters or
stereotypes for effect, as opposed to realistic conflict and
emotions. A drama involves primarily a conflict of values within a
man (as expressed in action); a melodrama involves only a conflict
of man with other men. Ayn Rand http://tinyurl.com/7gd6pjk
22. The Dramatic Dimension Exposition Setting the Stage
http://youtu.be/ActId7BvIcw
23. The Dramatic Dimension Exposition Introductions
http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/video/475526/Casablanca-Movie-Clip-Letters-Of-Transit.html
24. The Dramatic Dimension The Flashback
http://youtu.be/xB_jKu6qWM8
25. The Dramatic Dimension The Flashback
http://youtu.be/iq7vZTO81Ro
26. The Dramatic Dimension The Flashback The Pawnbroker (1964)
Sidney Lumet http://youtu.be/OLtnOGTdLO4
27. The Dramatic Dimension The Flashback Jaws (1975) Stephen
Spielberg
28. The Dramatic Dimension The Flashback Tinker Tailor Soldier
Spy (1979) John Irvin http://youtu.be/ezLTOK6dYPM
29. The Dramatic Dimension The Flashback Tinker Tailor Soldier
Spy (2011) Tomas Alfredson http://youtu.be/KfU7M3RU63I
30. The Dramatic Dimension The Flashback Tinker Tailor Soldier
Spy (2011) Tomas Alfredson http://youtu.be/bjoifOdIn_M
31. The Dramatic Dimension The Hollywood Montage as Exposition
http://youtu.be/CiWnFqW5akw
32. The Dramatic Dimension The Reluctant Hero The hero may
refuse the adventure or deny the ability to move beyond the status
quo. The heralded event may even be ignored All of these constitute
the Refusal of the Call. The use of magical intervention is then
needed to plunge the hero into the unknown. The reluctant hero
requires supernatural forces to urge him on, while the willing
adventurer gathers amulets (magical items) and advice from the
protector as aid for the journey The reluctant hero loses all
desire to abandon his bliss, he does not want to take on the
burdens of the world. Someone or thing may facilitate his
miraculous return from apparent death. An overriding reason is
necessary to bring the hero back to the world to save it. Joseph
Campbell, The Hero With A Thousand Faces
33. The Dramatic Dimension Fortuitous Circumstance and
Coincidence
34. The Dramatic Dimension Dramatic Ellipses
http://youtu.be/diGOGZ2PYNE
35. The Dramatic Dimension A May 21, 1942 letter from Joseph I.
Breen, director of the Production Code Administration, to Warner
Bros. executive Jack Warner objects to the portrayal of "Renault's"
practice of seducing women in exchange for exit visas. The PCA also
objected to the "suggestion that Ilsa was married all the time she
was having her love affair with Rick in Paris." Later, Breen warned
that the script should not imply that "Ilsa" slept with "Rick" when
she comes to beg for the letters of transit.
36. The Socio/Historical Dimension Sam Classified X (1998) Mark
Daniels, with Melvin Van Peebles http://youtu.be/IXLKwXq6G98
37. The Historical Dimension Vichy Germany occupied France from
1940 to 1944. The spa and resort town of Vichy, famous for its
water, was the de facto capital of the collaborationist government.
The audience of 1943 knew the man pictured here. He was Marshal
Henri Petain, the pro-German dictator of France, and Capt.
Renauld's ultimate boss.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/casablanca/bmp_report_casablanca.cfm
http://www.riebel-roque.com/cas.html
38. The Historical Dimension Vichy Morocco was a protectorate
(colony) of France. The Nazi regime never occupied Morocco, but
rather controlled the Vichy French who did.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/casablanca/bmp_report_casablanca.cfm
http://www.riebel-roque.com/cas.html
39. The Historical Dimension Propaganda Irene Lee, Warner
Brothers West Coast Story Editor, submitted the script to producer
Hal Wallis four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Warner
Brothers ordered a hasty rewrite of "Across the Pacific" which
involved a Japanese plot to blow up Pearl Harbor, changing the
setting to the Panama Canal. Hollywood had a history of supporting
and being supported by Roosevelt and his administration. The Warner
Brothers had bucked the other studios, hesitant to alienate foreign
markets, by releasing Confessions of a Nazi Spy in 1939. In
September of 1941, isolationist members of the U.S. Senate, calling
Hollywood a raging volcano of war fever, launched an investigation
into whether studio executives, many of whom were Jewish, were
inserting interventionist messages into popular movies.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/casablanca/bmp_report_casablanca.cfm
http://www.riebel-roque.com/cas.html
40. The Historical Dimension Propaganda How does Casablanca act
as propaganda during the U.S. involvement during World War II? Is
Rick Blaine, at first hesitant to get involved, eventually pushed
to take action, a metaphor for the U.S. and its hesitation at the
outset of World War !!? Made in 1942 and released not long after
the United States had seriously committed itself to fighting in
World War II, the classic film Casablanca provides insight into
popular attitudes early in the war. In addition, it lays out some
of the arguments for U.S. involvement, tracing the transformation
of U.S. policy from neutrality to non-belligerency to involvement.
The character of Richard "Rick" Blaine, played by Humphrey Bogart,
provided a heroic analogy for the historical process of U.S.
involvement in the war
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/learning_history/casablanca/bmp_report_casablanca.cfm
http://www.riebel-roque.com/cas.html
41. The Historical Dimension The film premiered in New York
City in November 1942, in what was called a pre-release engagement.
This showing was rushed to theaters to capitalize on the recent
events in North Africa, specifically the invasion of American
troops into the real Casablanca. It opened on Thanksgiving Day,
following a parade up Fifth Avenue of Free French leaders, when the
Free French flag was unfurled for the first time in the United
States since the fall of Vichy. Because this kind of free publicity
happens only once in a blue moon, Warner Bros. rushed Casablanca to
just one theater in New York. But it was not seen by the rest of
the country until early 1943, including Los Angeles. As luck would
have it, the national release coincided with another Casablanca
event, a summit meeting between President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin.
42. The Historical Dimension Perhaps the greatest praise came
from London, where General Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free
French forces, requested a print of Casablanca for a special
showing to his staff.
43. Carrotblanca (1995) Douglas McCarthy
http://youtu.be/CgsS-PKENM8
44. Caboblanco (1980) J. Lee Thompson
http://youtu.be/9yjRgXGLCxU
45. Barb Wire (1996) David Hogan
http://youtu.be/eFs_YLy3Ld8
46. The Good German (2006) Steven Soderbergh
http://youtu.be/0O6YPAv1Hx8
47. Casablanca With Bunnies Angry Alien Productions
http://youtu.be/r2V-byGJV78