# "Casablanca" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2007, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881 "2007-05-13T00:31:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/161 "2013-01-12T01:32:37Z")
> [@flight](#): > > Rick: So Yvonne’s gone over to the enemy. > Renault: Who knows? In her own way, she may constitute an entire second front. Yvonne’s front was, indeed, quite nice. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/162 "2013-01-12T03:11:53Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I beg to differ. She was neither an expatriate nor, as it turned out, an ex-patriot. And thank God, too! I’d hate to see that gorgeous head of hair chopped off because she was a _collaboratrice._ ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/163 "2013-01-15T00:14:34Z")
_Casablanca_, _It’s a Wonderful Life_, _Gone with the Wind_, _The Wizard of Oz_ - classic films. Never seen any of them. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/164 "2013-01-15T01:13:02Z")
> [@denquixote](#): > > I disagree about Tracy. He is head and shoulders above Bogart. > > One example, The Big Sleep, the scene in which Bogart pretends to be looking for a rare book in the phoney rare book store. Bogart is completely over the top. The dialogue is clever but the scene is ruined by Bogart’s homophobic excess. I can’t think of any scene in Tracy’s career where the scenery was chewed to such a degree. Are you seriously faulting Marlowe for being a bad actor? Of course he was over-the-top; he’s a private dick, not a thespian. As for Tracy: _The Old Man and the Sea_. Heck, he’s even a ham in _Captains Courageous_ (though the film is terrific) ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/165 "2013-01-15T01:50:13Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > … > > As for Tracy: _The Old Man and the Sea_. Heck, he’s even a ham in _Captains Courageous_ (though the film is terrific) +1 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/166 "2013-01-15T02:29:46Z")
> [@MovieMogul](#): > > As for Tracy: _The Old Man and the Sea_. Heck, he’s even a ham in _Captains Courageous_ (though the film is terrific) Let us not forget that house sized computer film with Katherine Hepburn. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/167 "2013-01-15T04:26:11Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > TonySinclair, I disagree. My point (in so far as I remember it from almost six years ago) was that in 1940 Humphrey Bogart was not an immensely popular actor. He was not even as popular as any of the five I listed: > > 1. Mickey Rooney > 2. Spencer Tracy > 3. Clark Gable > 4. Gene Autry > 5. Tyrone Power > > I don’t think any of them today would be considered in the same league as Bogart, not even Tracy. Not to nitpick but in 1940 Bogart was still doing supporting roles in A-movies (often as the heavy) and leads in B-movies. His breakout role as an A-list leading man didn’t happen until 1941’s **High Sierra**. The later success of **The Maltese Falcon** cemented his status as a box office draw. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/168 "2013-01-15T04:28:13Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > _Casablanca_, _It’s a Wonderful Life_, _Gone with the Wind_, _The Wizard of Oz_ - classic films. Never seen any of them. Any particular reason? I urge you to see all four, but pace yourself. You really won’t regret it. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/169 "2013-01-15T06:20:06Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Let us not forget that house sized computer film with Katherine Hepburn. Desk Set. It’s my favorite, so don’t say anything bad about it. Re: the signs in Casablanca being in English - isn’t there a seen early on with a street sign in Arabic, or French or something, and it melts into English? I think from then on the audience is supposed to accept signs in English as part of the background, just not as exotic. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/170 "2013-01-15T06:56:02Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Casablanca is probably my all-time favorite film, and yet I still cannot exactly say why… IMO, it’s Claude Raines who put this movie over the top. He is a _male_ “hooker with a heart of gold”. I’m working on making an argument that _Pretty Woman_ is a remake of _Casablanca_. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/171 "2013-01-15T10:44:14Z")
I don’t think there’s any modern film like _Casablanca_. I just tried to find any statements online about the similarity of a modern film to _Casablanca_. I’ll ignore _Play It Again, Sam_, which is actually one of my favorite films, because it’s meant as a deliberate homage to _Casablanca_. I’ll ignore several other films which were deliberate semi-remakes of it but which aren’t particularly good. One suggestion I found is that the 2000 movie _In the Mood for Love_ is similar to _Casablanca_. Like _Pretty Woman_, it’s got a few elements of _Casablanca_, but it’s not really that similar. There’s also apparently some elements of _Casablanca_ in the 1997 film _Chinese Box_, although I haven’t seen that film. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/172 "2013-01-15T12:25:08Z")
The Cheap Detective. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/173 "2013-01-15T13:57:46Z")
I remember my classmates in jr high school (middle school for you youngins) decades ago, raving about this film. I had a chance to see it on a flight to London, and was awestruck. Romance. Honor. Love. Gambling. Nazis. Fights. Music. Seriously, what more could you ask for? Perhaps Sean Connery in Bogey’s role? Naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/174 "2013-01-15T14:06:29Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > …Re: the signs in Casablanca being in English - isn’t there a [scene] early on with a street sign in Arabic, or French or something, and it melts into English?.. No, not that we saw. There are _some_ signs in French, but more in English. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/175 "2013-01-17T03:27:36Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > _Casablanca_, _It’s a Wonderful Life_, _Gone with the Wind_, _The Wizard of Oz_ - classic films. Never seen any of them. > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Any particular reason? I urge you to see all four, but pace yourself. You really won’t regret it. Mainly because I don’t watch TV. My monthly average is well under half an hour… ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/176 "2013-01-17T04:01:50Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Casablanca, It’s a Wonderful Life, Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz - classic films. Never seen any of them. FWIW, my list of “must-see classics” would be quite different. I’d almost rather watch _Casablanca_ four times than watch all four that you mention. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/177 "2013-01-17T04:13:25Z")
> [@SCAdian](#): > > Mainly because I don’t watch TV. My monthly average is well under half an hour… Well that’s great, because now that we’re in the 1980s you don’t need to rely on TV for your classic movies! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/178 "2013-01-21T05:35:34Z")
There are these newfangled things called DVDs, some of which have entire movies on them… and you can watch them for as long as you want! ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/179 "2013-01-21T12:45:02Z")
I’ve heard tell that if you have one of those home computers, you may be able to have movies “downloaded” to you. I bet you need a whole stack of floppies for that. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2013, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881/180 "2013-01-21T17:26:07Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > I’ve heard tell that if you have one of those home computers, you may be able to have movies “downloaded” to you. > I bet you need a whole stack of floppies for that. Would that work with my IBM punchcards? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/casablanca/403881.md?page=10)