directed by Michael Curitz (1942)
As I continue my resolution to finally watch movies I’ve always meant to, I rented the stunning bluray of Casablanca. Yes,I had yet to see it til now to my embarrassment.
Even knowing most of the iconic lines, most of the plot, and the ending, I found this stands up as a masterpiece. I am left, though with very little to say that hasn’t already been said about this classic romance.
I mean, you’ve probably seen it, right? It’s great. Bogart is tough Nazi Killer with a heart of gold and the courage of a lion, Bergman is gorgeous, brave and well dressed, and who isn’t moved by As Time Goes By?
However, I really wish there had been more Peter Lorre. I love that guy and when his character was killed I even asked Jim, like a seven year old watching Bambi “He’s not really dead, right – He comes back?”
But what do you think?
1 Comment
Obviously Lorre made a whole bunch of movies, but one great place to get more of him is in the Mr. Moto series. While his usual MO in his Hollywood films (unlike his earlier German ones) was to pop up in some delicious character part, the great thing about the Motos is that he’s actually the star! And on top of that, there’s like eight of them or something! (Not sure the exact number off the top of my head, but enough to fill two DVD box sets from Fox.) Never mind whatever the racial implications might be in that Peter Lorre was cast as a Japanese protagonist; we all know how things were in 30s and 40s America. Lorres’s awesome in them, and it’s just as awesome that he got to star in a whole series of B action movies! (And he does kung fu! Or some sort of martial art, anyway.)
Weirdly, Henry Silva played Mr. Moto in a strange attempt to resurrect the series in the 1960s.