Casablanca

1. In class we discussed how Casablanca is listed as #3 on AFI's Top 100 Films of All Time. We also discussed how Michael Curtiz directed the film. Curtiz won the Oscar for Best Director for Casablanca. He was also nominated for several other of his movies such as Captain Blood, Angels with Dirty Faces, Four Daughters, and Yankee Doodle Dandy. Casablanca was written by Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch. We also discussed that the film was based on an unproduced play "Everybody Comes to Rick's" We also discussed the Oscars the film won such as Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and was nominated for several others. Humphrey Bogart is listed as AFI's #1 male actor. He also won an Oscar for African Queen in 1954. Ingrid Bergman is listed as AFI's #3 female actor. She also won three Oscars in her career. We also discussed some of the themes of the film such as lost love and romance within a chaotic world. Finally we discussed some of the famous quotes of the film such as "We'll always have Paris," "Here's looking at you, kid," and "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

2. http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/610/Casablanca/articles.html#00
I found an article written by Scoot McGee titled "Pop Culture 101-Casablanca." The article discussed how the film became very popular in American Culture about 20 years after it came out in 1942. It discussed how a few years after Humphrey Bogart's death in 1957 a movie theatre in Massachusetts starting showing Casablanca three weeks a year. People started wearing trench coats and snap-brim hats. The article also discussed many spoofs and rip-offs of Casablanca such as "Play it Again, Sam," "Caboblanco," "Barb Wire," and "Carrotblanca." The article also discussed Rob Reiner's loving tribute to Casablanca in his 1989 film, "When Harry Met Sally," where Casablanca is mentioned and talked bout several times in the film. The article also discussed the book sequel to Casablanca "As Time Goes By," which outraged fans.

3. After reading the article I was surprised how popular the film became after it had been released for many years. I was also surprised how mays spoofs there were of Casablanca. I think I have a better understanding about how popular the film was after reading the article since there are many spoofs of it and that it became very popular in American Culture in the '60s about 20 years after it was released.

4. In my opinion, I thought it was a fantastic film. I really enjoyed it and thought the ending was great. Casablanca is in fact a very important film in film history. It is listed #3 on AFI's Top 100 Best Films of All Time. The film won 3 Academy Awards such as Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing, Screenplay. The film was also nominated for 5 other Oscars such as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. The film was very popular in American Culture. Casablanca also has many famous quotes such as "We'll always have Paris," and "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."