Casablanca

Starring: Ingrid Bergman, Joy Page Director: Michael Curtiz Original UK Premiere: 1942 Dvd Release: 13th March, 2000 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Black & White, Full Screen, PAL, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish Dubbed In: French, Italian

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Casablanca is a 1942 movie set during World War II in the Vichy -controlled Moroccan city of Casablanca. The film was directed by Michael Curtiz & stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick & Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa. he must choose between his love for Ilsa & his need to do the right thing by helping her husband to escape from Casablanca & continue his fight against the Nazis. The film was an immediate hit & it has remained consistently popular ever since. Critics have praised the charismatic performances of Bogart & Bergman, the chemistry between the two leads, the depth of characterisation, the taut direction, the witty screenplay & the emotional impact of the work as a whole. Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Blaine, the owner of an upscale cafe/bar/gambling den in the Morocco city of Casablanca which attracts a mixed clientele of Vichy French & Nazi officials, refugees & thieves. Rick is a bitter & cynical man, but he still displays a clear dislike for the fascist part of his clientele. The plot begins when a petty crook, Ugarte, arrives in Ricks club with letters of transit. Posters Of Casablanca

A truly perfect movie, the 1942 Casablanca still wows viewers today, & for good reason. Its unique story of a love triangle set against terribly high stakes in the war against a monster is sophisticated instead of outlandish, intriguing instead of garish. Humphrey Bogart plays the allegedly apolitical club owner in unoccupied French territory that is nevertheless crawling with Nazis; Ingrid Bergman is the lover who mysteriously deserted him in Paris; & Paul Heinreid is her heroic, slightly bewildered husband. Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, & Conrad Veidt are among what may be the best supporting cast in the history of Hollywood films. This is certainly among the most spirited & ennobling movies ever made.

Ingrid Bergman was an Academy Award -winning Swedish actress. When still very young, she lost both of her parents & was raised by some relatives; she studied at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm & had a small role in Munkbrogreven, her first movie. After a dozen films in Sweden, Bergman was signed by MGM to star in the remake of Intermezzo. The film was an enormous success & Swedens illustrious gift to Hollywood had arrived. After completing a few pictures in Sweden & appearing in three successful films in the United States, Bergman joined Humphrey Bogart in the 1942 classic film Casablanca. Two years later she received her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for the film, For Whom the Bell Tolls. The follow year she won Best Actress for Gaslight. She received a third consecutive nomination for Best Actress with her performance in The Bells of St. Marys. She would receive another Best Actress nomination for Joan of Arc. In 1949 Bergman met director Roberto Rossellini. She fell in love with him while performing in his film Stromboli. Posters Of Ingrid Bergman

Editors Choice: Autumn Sonata, Cactus Flower, Anastasia, Indiscreet, Inn Of The Sixth Happiness, Journey To Italy, Casablanca, Gaslight, View DVDology

Joy Page is an American actress best known for her role as the Bulgarian bride Annina Brandel in the movie Casablanca. Of the fourteen billed actors in that film, she is the only one still alive. Page is the daughter of silent film star Don Alvarado & Ann Alvarado. Her mother later married Jack Warner, then head of Warner Bros. studios. Warner, however, did not encourage his stepdaughters interest in acting. Page, who initially thought the script to Casablanca was old fashioned & cliched, landed the role on her own & Warner reluctantly approved. Page was only 17 & fresh out of high school. Warner, however, refused to sign Page to a contract & she never starred in another Warner Bros. film. She went onto appear in a number of films for other studios & made some television appearances. Page married actor William Orr & he became a Warner Bros. executive, leading to accusations of nepotism. She retired from acting after appearing in the first season of the TV show Swamp Fox in 1959. She & Orr divorced in 1970. Their son Gregory Orr is a writer & producer. Posters Of Casablanca

Editors Choice: Casablanca, View DVDology

Michael Curtiz was a film director, whose films include The Adventures of Robin Hood, Casablanca & White Christmas. Born Manó Kertesz Kaminer in Budapest, Hungary,, he ran away from home at age 17 to join a circus, then trained for an acting career at the Royal Academy for Theater & Art. In 1912 he began his acting & directing career as Mihály Kertész in Hungary and, after World War I, continued his work first in Vienna, Austria & then in Germany. In 1926 Curtiz emigrated to the United States. The interesting thing about his Hollywood career is that he did not specialize in any one genre. David Niven, for example, took the title of his memoir Bring on the Empty Horses from a Curtizism for bring on the horses without riders. After dying, Michael Curtiz was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California. Posters Of White Christmas

Editors Choice: White Christmas, King Creole, Santa Fe Trail, Casablanca, Dive Bomber, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, This Is The Army, Humphrey Bogart, View DVDology

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