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| Humphrey
Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Peter
Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Paul Dooley |
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Anamorphic
widescreen |
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Dolby Digital
5.1 |
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DTS |
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Trailer(s) |
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Featurette(s) |
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Documentary |
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Audio commentary
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Deleted scenes
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Concept art
/ storyboards |
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Multi-angle
feature |
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Rick (Humphrey Bogart):
Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
An
American running a bar in Casablanca during WWII meets a former lover
and reluctantly becomes involved in the Resistance.
 Close
to sixty years after its first release, Casablanca is still the
movie that has it all. More engaging than Citizen Kane, fresher
than Gone with the Wind, more romantic than The Maltese Falcon,
it's the culmination of everything the studio system was good at. With
bad guys, good guys, colorful and eccentric locals, and a legendary
romantic couple, it's the kind of Hollywood machine that will continue
to run like clockwork for decades to come.
If I had to single out the characteristics that make it such an irresistible
picture, even after years of endlessly repeated viewings, I would say
that for me the magic is in the writing and pacing. The marvelous wit
of the screenplay, impeccably performed by a perfect cast, gets all
the right accents in the hands of action director Michael Curtiz, whose
breakneck speed and eloquent framing and cutting grab you by the lapels
every time and ensure that you will keep watching, as time goes by. |
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Identical single-disc
versions have been available for Region 1 and
Region 2 for some time. More recently, Warner has released
a two-disc Special
Edition for both regions as well. The
two-disc release served as the basis for this review.
The picture is presented
full-frame, closely approximating its original 1.37:1 aspect
ratio. The picture
was restored for the film's fiftieth anniversary just over ten years
ago, and that print was used for the previous single-disc
edition. Although it was a reasonable enough presentation
of an old picture, the new digital restoration by industry
standard-bearer Lowry Digital Images performed for this Special
Edition DVD is nothing short of miraculous. Every bit of
print damage and video noise has been painstakingly removed,
resulting in a presentation of a sixty-year-old movie that
truly looks as if it was shot last year. Contrast is pitch-perfect,
and blacks are deep and gorgeous, with terrific background
detail.
The monaural soundtrack is presented in Dolby Digital 1.0, and has
likewise been cleaned up impressively. There is a surprising degree
of depth, unhindered by background his or other defects, and the dialogues
sound crisp and clear, with excellent fidelity.
Having been rushed out among
Warner's early selection of catalogue titles on DVD, Casablanca is
finally given the well-deserved two-disc Special Edition
treatment with extras on a par with other recent Warner re-releases
like Singin' in the Rain and One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest.
The first disc already contains a good few extras besides
the main feature, starting with two full audio commentary
tracks. The first is provided by film critic Roger
Ebert, who explores the elements that make the film such
a popular classic even among viewers who generally don't
care for older movies. He does so by moving back and forth
from highly detailed scene-specific commentary to more general
background information, pointing out numerous illogicalities
and inconsistencies in the plot on the way. It's an outstanding
track that deepends and enhances one's appreciation for the
film even for those who know the film by heart. The other
commentary by film historian Rudy Behlmer, whose detailed
knowledge of Warner Bros. history makes his background information
on the film's production an excellent addition to Ebert's
more lively track. Disc one also houses a brief cast
and crew list and an awards overview,
along with the original theatrical trailer and
the 1992 re-release trailer.
The remainder of the extras is found on the second disc,
and though it's disappointing that hardly any new documentary
material was produced for this release, the recycled items
here do cover the bases, especially when combined with the
two commentary tracks, and are supplemented by a huge amount
of unique archival material. Most interestingly for Casablanca fans
are the two deleted scenes, presented in
handsomely restored video but sadly without any surviving
audio. Subtitles reproduce the lines from the original script.
A selection of outtakes is more oblique,
but gives some fleeing glimpses into the film's shoot, along
with some alternate takes of existing scenes. Other terrific
additions dug up from Warner's archives are the scoring
sessions: recordings of Dooley Wilson singing alternate
takes of verses from songs used in the film, as well as one
that wasn't included, and a few unused orchestral cues as
well. Most of these tidbits have surfaced before on the Casablanca soundtrack
CD, and they're a most welcome inclusion on this DVD. Rounding
out the ancient archives is a generous collection of production
research, which includes not only a wide variety
of memos, notes and letters concerning the film's production,
but also a wealth of promotional and behind-the-scenes photography.
As for the documentary material, what is oddly missing here
is the newly produced feature-length exhaustive look at the
film and its legacy that we expected. Instead, the 37-minute featurette from
the previous DVD release is recycled here. It's a nice introduction
to the film for people who don't know anything about the
movie's many anecdotes and myths, and it provides a solid
overview of the film's background, although it is over-reliant
on talking heads, and has a rather awkwardly scripted presentation
style for host Lauren Bacall. Bogey's former missus returns
in the hour-and-a-half documentary 'Bacall
on Bogart', produced in 1988 for PBS. It's an engaging feature
with mediocre image quality that doesn't dig very deep, but
includes extended clips from movies throughout Bogey's long
career, including some rare early appearances and some home
movies from late in his life.
But that's not all: there's a rather funny 19-minute excerpt
from the first episode of 1951 TV adaptation Who Holds
Tomorrow, woodenly acted and set in the Cold War. The
1943 Screen Guild Theater radio broadcast of Casablanca is
also included as an audio supplement, re-uniting the three
stars from the film in an effectively directed 30-minute
condensation of the entire film. Finally, the 9-minute cartoon
Carrotblanca features a near-complete cast of Looney
Tunes stars in a send-up of the film. Unfortunately, none
of the key talents involved with the classic Warner cartoons
were involved with this cartoon short, so it lacks the classics'
hilarious wit and spot-on voice characterizations. But it
still has its moments, especially where Tweety Bird appears
as Ugarte.  The
new animated menu screen improves on the single-disc DVD while
retaining its basic design pattern.
Dan Hassler-Forest
Reviewed: November
6, 2003
Click
here for IMDB info on Casablanca.
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