The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Casablanca
FROMPAGE 1 Among the latter … “I wanted to see it because I’ve heard so many people talk about it,” said one 30-something as she settled into her seat in Auditorium 9 at AMC Plymouth Meeting Mall 12.
On the other hand, the 20-year-old who was manning a ticket window admitted she knew nothing about the movie.
“I never heard of it before, and I don’t know what it’s about,” she said. “I know it’s called ‘ Casablanca,’ but I have no idea what that means. It’s 75-years- old? I guess I’ll ask my grandma if she knows anything about it.”
Most of the local audience — judging from conversations overheard preand post- screening — seemed to fall somewhere between highbrowed and clueless.
“Wonderful, seeing it on a full- size movie screen,” one woman said. “You see all kinds of detail you don’t notice … or just can’t see otherwise. Like the embroidery on Ingrid Bergman’s jacket the night she goes to Rick’s to try to ask him for the transit papers. A great experience.”
“No matter how many times you’ve seen it, there’s nothing like seeing it on a big screen,” her companion added. “And … they just don’t make movies like this anymore.”
Lafayette Hill Realtor Jeff Loughridge has seen “Casablanca” several times — at Ambler Theater’s Summer Nights repertory series and on TV — and although nothing tops his favorite, “North by Northwest,” “Casablanca” is right up there.
“It’s a terrific film, and I think you see something new each time you see it … or any of the great ones … just like listening to a great piece of music,” Loughridge says. “I really love it. Why? First of all, it’s an exciting story … very emotional, the way Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman meet in France and have that wonderful time together. Then, he’s devastated when [spoiler alert] she doesn’t show up at the train station to leave Paris with him when the Nazis are about to march into the city. How can you not be moved by how sad he is … then, the way the story plays out when they meet again in Casablanca and how he goes from seeming like such a jerk to becoming the ultimate hero. The character development … with all the characters … is wonderful. As far as I’m concerned, the story has everything — excitement, suspense, romance … and that ending — it’s just terrific.”
Although Plymouth Meeting teacher and “Casablanca” fan Barb Curmaci confesses, “No matter how many times I watch it, I always hold out the impossible hope that [spoiler] this time Rick will get on the plane with Ilsa and they’ll live happily ever after.”
According to many film historians, the movie’s cachet was surprising, despite the timeliness of its storyline, the star power of its leads and the fact that much of the supporting cast consisted of men and women who were, in fact, immigrants and refugees. Its release was initially scheduled for mid-1943 but was reportedly fasttracked to take advantage of publicity surrounding the Allies’ successful invasion of North Africa in early November 1942 and the Casablanca Conference — attended by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill — the following January.
“Casablanca” went on to earn a trio of Academy Awards and perennial ranking as one of the greatest films ever. In addition, it spawned such now-iconic catch phrases as “Round up the usual suspects,” “Here’s looking at you, kid” and “Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship” (although some sources believe Bogart adlibbed Rick’s final line into cinematic posterity).
In 1989, it was inducted into the Library of Con- gress’s National Film Registry as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”
Over the years, “Casablanca” has also inspired books, academic seminars and scores of tribute eateries that borrow the Rick’s Café Americaine nomenclature.
In contemporary Casablanca, it inspired Kathy Kriger, a former diplomat in the city’s U.S. consulate, to recreate Rick’s Café in a 1930s townhouse near Casablanca’s bustling medina.
With its graceful arches, brass lamps and traditional tadelakt and tile finishes, this modern Rick’s — opened in 2004 after extensive renovations — mirrors the original to a near fault. That said, piano player Issam stands in for the movie’s Sam, and, thanks to a menu of Moroccan and continental dishes prepped with ingredients fresh from Casablanca’s Marche Central and Marche Jamia, Kriger’s stylish eatery is no mere “gin joint.”
Kriger’s no sul len, world- weary Rick, either. Warm, personable and gracious when this writer visited Casablanca and the latter day Rick’s Café about six years ago, the American expat made time to embellish the story behind the restaurant and sign a copy of her memoir, “Rick’s Café … Bringing the Film Legend to Life in Casablanca.”
“I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed my Casablanca story … so nice to meet you and all the other [people] who come to Rick’s after seeing the movie,” Kriger said.
Among those who haven’t?
At press time, “Casablanca” was scheduled to air on local TCM TV channels Dec. 8 at 11:45 a.m. and Dec. 16 at 4 p.m.