“Play it again” and again, and again........ (Casablanca (DVD))

Member Name: merv

Product:	Casablanca (DVD)
Date:	02/11/02 (170 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent movie, Very good quality DVD, A must for any collection

Disadvantages: None

I am now the proud owner of a Panasonic XV10 DVD player which I recently picked up from Martin Dawes for absolutely zilch.

We’ve rented our TV and Video for the last few years from Martin Dawes. £30 a month provides a high spec digital combination and the ability to upgrade at regular intervals without any hassle.

I called into their shop in Shrewsbury the other week on the off chance that there may be some offers on, but was told by the very helpful assistant that the Panasonic TV/Video package we were renting was the equal of anything that they currently had in stock and to change would mean either a higher rental or a lower specification albeit on a newer model.

He asked me why I wanted to change and I told him that I quite fancied a DVD player and had noticed that the current packages had one included. “No problem sir, I’ll add one to your existing contract.” “Hold on a minute I said, how much is that going to cost me?”

“Nothing” he said “as long as you sign up with us for another twelve months”.

Five minutes later I’d signed the documents and was busy trying to explain to my wife why I was carrying this box full of expensive looking electrical equipment when I’d supposedly gone off to buy a pair of shoes.

Ten minutes later I was adding to my meagre collection of DVD’s with yet another bargain, this time from Woolworths. £7.99 for the DVD version of Casablanca, possibly the best film ever made.

For those dooyooers who have never had the pleasure of seeing this wonderful film, Casablanca is set in the Morrocan town during the Second World War, a place filled with desperate people trying to flee to Lisbon and escape the invading Nazis. For those lucky enough to get transit papers, freedom awaits, whilst the rest just wait in the hope that something will turn up.

At the centre of all this activity is Rick's Amer
ican Café, a local nightspot owned by Rick Blaine, a cynical, disillusioned and embittered American, who is an exiled loner with a very shady background played by Humphrey Bogart. One night, the Czech Resistance leader Victor Laszlo, played by Paul Henreid, drops into Rick's with his wife Ilsa played by the fantastic Ingrid Bergman. Unknown to Laszlo, Ilsa was the woman who had previously broken Rick's heart. Understandably, when Laszlo asks for Rick's help in obtaining some stolen Letters of Transit, the initial reply is lukewarm, however, as the situation develops, Rick finds he has to choose between love and his own happiness or the countless lives hanging in the balance

The film is both timeless and magical and the acting is a real class, absolutely superb. Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman are awesome as the couple desperately in love but separated by circumstances. The oceans of emotion rolling across Humphrey Bogart's craggy face in the split second when he sees his one true love again, is worth the price of the DVD alone – acting at its very best. Ingrid Bergman is surely one of the most beautiful women ever to appear on screen and one of the best actresses too.

Casablanca is filled with colorful supporting characters who make it humorous, melodramatic, intriguing and exciting. The supporting cast is superb and includes many major Hollywood stars of the era - Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson as Rick's piano playing confidant, Sam. The film’s settings are excellent and the fact that it is in black and white fits in perfectly and adds to the wonderful cinematography.

And of course, the script is fantastic - Casablanca has more lines that have become classic quotations than any other movie I can think of . "Here's looking at you, kid", “Play it, Sam”, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" are some of many quotes whic
h have passed into legend.

The film also has some great music. The song "As Time Goes By" is probably the most famous and many of you will remember it as the theme of a the sitcom starring Judi Dench, however to me it will always be from Casablanca and its effect is only matched by the amazing scene where the locals, led by Victor Laszlo, sing the Marseillaise to drown out the Nazi's own singing, a true reflection of the time the film was made. At the height of World War II, it looked as though the Nazis were going to take over the world. Casablanca symbolises an act of defiance against their tyranny that threatened to bring oppression to the free world.

Whereas today the best films usually depend on the amount of expensive special effects and marketting, Casablanca is a masterpiece that was never trying to be anything but a low budget product of that wonderful Hollywood era.

The DVD is a must for anyone’s collection, the picture quality is sharp and director Michael Curtiz's extensive use of shadows and moody lighting are incredibly evocative and dramatic. Chapter 13 is a bit ropy and slightly grainy but doesn’t really detract from the excellent overall quality of the DVD.

The accompanying documentary is as usual slightly over the top but the interviewees, which include co-scriptwriter Julius Epstein and Murray Burnett who wrote the play the film is based on, talk about the film with real affection. One of the most interesting revelations is that the airfield at the end is actually a studio shot with a cut-out plane and midget mechanics to keep the perspective right.

The main plus is the excellent chaptering on the DVD that means you can select from a choice of 36 classic scenes at a touch of a button like "Play it, Sam", "Of all the gin joints", "Here's looking at you", "We'll always have Paris", and many more.

So, there you
are – excellent value for money, three ops in one. A big thumbs up for Martin Dawes, Panasonic Videos and particularly ‘Casablanca’, a DVD which has absolutely everything - adventure, an exotic location, memorable songs, cinema's most beautiful heroine, a truly masculine hero who remains a Hollywood Icon, an evil villain and a truly memorable romance.

Buy it and play it - over and over again.

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