Casablanca (1942) [PG] *****

A film review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net.

It's probably no stretch to say that Casablanca, arguably America's best-loved movie, has had more words written about it than any other motion picture. Over the years since its January, 1943 release, the legends and rumors surrounding the making of the film have generated almost as much attention as the finished product. Some of the best-known and most often repeated anecdotes include producer Hal B. Wallis' near-casting of Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan as Rick and Ilsa, the existence of two scripts for the last day of shooting (one version had the ending as filmed; the other, unproduced version kept Rick and Ilsa together), and the reported backstage tension between several of the principal actors.

Ultimately, however, while it's fascinating to examine and dissect all that went into the making of Casablanca, the greatest pleasure anyone can derive from this movie comes through simply watching it. Aside from some basic knowledge of recent world history, little background is needed to appreciate the strength and power of the film. Casablanca accomplishes that which only a truly great film can: enveloping the viewer in the story, forging an unbreakable link with the characters, and only letting go with the end credits.

Unlike many films that later became classics, Casablanca was popular in its day, although a cadre of officials at Warner Brothers were convinced that it would be a box-office failure. The movie earned 8 Academy Award nominations, leading to three Oscars (Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture). The picture went on to have a long, healthy life in re-releases, television, and eventually video. It contains a slew of recognizable lines (Here's looking at you, kid, Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine, Round up the usual suspects, Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, We'll always have Paris, The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world). Ironically, however, the best-known bit of dialogue from Casablanca, Play it again, Sam, isn't even in the movie. Like Captain Kirk's Beam me up, Scotty, it's an apocryphal line. The closest the movie gets is either Play it or Play 'As Time Goes By.'

The first time I saw Casablanca, I remember remarking how modern it seemed. While many movies from the '30s and '40s appear horribly dated when viewed today, Casablanca stands up markedly well. The themes of valor, sacrifice, and heroism still ring true. The dialogue has lost none of its wit or cleverness. The atmosphere (enhanced by the sterling black-and-white cinematography), that of encroaching gloom, is as palpable as ever. And the characters are still as perfectly-acted and three-dimensional as they were seventy-five years ago (in 2017).

Just about everyone knows the story, which takes place about a year after the Germans invaded France. Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband, Czech freedom fighter Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), wander into Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. The two are on the run from the Nazis, and have come to the American-owned nightspot to lie low. But the German-controlled local government, headed by French Police Prefect Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), is on the move, and Laszlo has to act quickly to get the letters of transit he came for, then escape. Little does Ilsa know that the cafe is run by Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), the one true love of her life. When the two see each other, sparks fly, and memories of an enchanted time in Paris come flooding back.

Bogart and Bergman. When anyone mentions Casablanca, these are the two names that come to mind. The actors are both so perfectly cast, and create such a palpable level of romantic tension, that it's impossible to envision anyone else in their parts (and inconceivable to consider that they possibly weren't the producer's first choices). Bogart is at his best here as the tough cynic who hides a broken heart beneath a fractured layer of sarcasm. Ilsa's arrival in Casablanca rips open the fissures in Rick's shield, revealing a complex personality that demands Bogart's full range of acting. As Ilsa, Bergman lights up the screen. What man in the audience wouldn't give up everything to run away with her.

Less known is Paul Henreid, a romantic lead who was on loan to Warner Brothers for this project. Most viewers know Henreid as the other guy in the romantic triangle, and, while his performance isn't on the same level as that of his better-known co-stars, Henreid nevertheless does a respectable job. Casablanca features some other well-known faces. Conrad Veidt plays the German Major Heinrich Strasser on Laszlo's trail, Peter Lorre is Ugarte, the man who steals the letters of transit, and Sydney Greenstreet is Signor Ferrari, the city's black market overlord. But the best performance in the film belongs to Claude Rains (Police Captain Renault), who is magnificent. Bogart and Bergman are great, but Rains is better. This is the top role in an impressive career, and it's a shame that the actor didn't win the Best Supporting Oscar for which he was deservedly nominated. Rains is a standout in nearly his every scene, but, like the consummate professional, he constantly cedes the spotlight to the higher-profile star.

Another curious thing about Casablanca is that hardly anyone ever talks about the director. It isn't as if Michael Curtiz is a journeyman hack who got lucky here. From the '20s to the '50s, Curtiz was one of the hardest working directors in Hollywood, helming over 100 films including White Christmas, Mildred Pierce, and Yankee Doodle Dandy. (Before that, he made nearly 50 movies in Europe, where he began his career in 1912.) Curtiz was a well-respected film maker and his work on Casablanca was first rate, but, for some reason, few non-cineastes associate his name with this picture.

It's not much of a stretch to say that Hollywood doesn't make movies like this anymore, because the bittersweet ending has gone the way of black-and-white cinematography. If Casablanca was made in today's climate, Rick and Ilsa would escape on the plane after avoiding a hail of gunfire (Rick would probably be doing the two-fisted gun thing that John Woo loves). There would be no beautiful friendship between Louis and Rick. Who knows what would have happened to Victor Laszlo, but he wouldn't have gotten the girl. One of the things that makes Casablanca unique is that it stays true to itself without giving in to commonly held perceptions of crowd-pleasing tactics. And because of this, not despite it, Casablanca has become known as one of the greatest movies ever made. Maybe the modern generation of screenwriters should consider this before they tack on the obligatory happily ever after ending.

From time-to-time, someone tries to remake the film, but even the best re-tread has been less than a pale shadow of the original. The most recent serious attempt was Havana, Sydney Pollack's ill-advised misfire (incidentally, the word serious rules out Barb Wire). Despite a good cast (Robert Redford, Lena Olin, and Raul Julia) and a change in venue, this is clearly an updated Casablanca, and Casablanca isn't Casablanca without Bogart and Bergman. So, although just about everyone involved with this legendary motion picture has departed this life, the film itself has withstood the test of three-quarters of a century to rise, like cream, to the top. One can only imagine that, in another fifty years, its position in the hierarchy of all-time greats will be even higher. [Berardinelli’s rating: **** out of 4 stars]

Labels: drama, Ingrid Bergman, reunion, romance, rom-drama-faves, thriller, WWII

Internet Movie Database 8.5/10
MetaScore (critics=100, viewers=89)
RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=93, viewers=82)

Blu-ray 

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941) [NR] ***

A film review by Tyler Foster for DVDTalk.com on Oct. 7, 2009.

The 1941 version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is 30 minutes of a great movie, followed by an hour of disappointment and capped by 20 minutes of pure agony and a slightly-less-painful end. I really enjoyed Spencer Tracy's Dr. Jekyll, who's all charm and a light sense of humor. I also liked the rough-edged charm of Ingrid Bergman as a popular barmaid named Ivy, who practically falls all over herself trying to romance Dr. Jekyll. Unfortunately, Tracy also portrays Mr. Hyde, a horrible miscalculation of makeup, wigs and performance that kills the movie's momentum. By most accounts, the 1931 version with Frederic March is better because the actor gives a more terrifying performance as Hyde; it's too bad the films couldn't magically be merged, given how likable Tracy's Dr. Jekyll is.

Tracy's transformation also ruins Bergman's character, who changes wildly from a fighter to a helpless victim, sometimes within the same scene, not to mention the fact that it's just depressing to watch her spirit break whenever Hyde appears. I appreciated the occasional directorial or cinematographic flourish (like Hyde bounding across a room to grab Ivy and the subsequent shot of her backing away) and some of the foggy street scenes, but I was bored to death having to watch the laborious fade-in transformation of Jekyll to Hyde, which actually insists upon happening twice within five minutes at the very end. Still, the worst crime the film commits is that middle hour; the movie refuses to let the viewer give up, allowing just enough hope that the film might right itself at any minute.

Labels: horror, Ingrid Bergman, sci-fi

Internet Movie Database 6.9/10 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=67, viewers=68) 

Rage in Heaven (1941) [NR] ***

A film review by Bosley Crowther for the NY Times, March 21, 1941.

At a time when the world is already sufficiently concerned with paranoiacs, MGM has oddly seen fit to create yet another - and a thoroughly unsympathetic one - in its new film, Rage in Heaven, which opened at the Capitol yesterday. True, the depredations of this wholly fictitious marplot (a person who mars or defeats a plot, design, or project by meddling) are comfortably confined to the screen - and that is a blessing, at least. But why he should ever have been invented, why he should have been so clumsily conceived and why Robert Montgomery should have been chosen to play him is hard to understand.

Certainly, the picture itself fails to offer any adequate justification. For the story which is told is that of a wealthy young Englishman named Philip Monrell who, for reasons never clearly explained, is a hopeless manic depressive. He has spells when the moon is full; he wishes to take his own life. And then, for another reason which is never sufficiently based, he marries his mother's young secretary Stella (Ingrid Bergman) and presumably intends to reform. But always in the back of his brain gnaws the canker of disease. He suspects his wife and his best friend Ward Andrews (George Sanders) of being in love and against him; he bullies his business associates; things go from bad to worse. Finally he takes his own life in a manner which appears to be murder at the hand of his old friend, and the end of the story is devoted to the freeing of the latter and the wife.

The basic fault, of course, is that the emphasis of the drama is confused. At first the intention seems to throw sympathy to the sick man, to solve his pathetic case. But nothing of the sort is accomplished; he grows progressively worse. Suddenly he's tossed overboard and attention is directed to his victims. The whole thing becomes a futile mix-up without dramatic point. The screenwriters, Christopher Isherwood and Robert Thoeren, who adapted the film from a novel by James Hilton were apparently quite as confused as the miserable, neurotic hero (or hero that should have been). As the wife, Ingrid Bergman plays with a warm and sincere intensity which is deeply affecting, and George Sanders takes the friend in his usual self-assured stride. But Mr. Montgomery in the focal role is inclined toward a deadpan deliberateness which grows monotonous. Obviously it isn't altogether his fault, but he never really suggests a mental crack-up. He is just a fellow with a mean disposition - a pointlessly diabolic wretch.

It has been reported from Hollywood that Mr. Montgomery was compelled to play this role as discipline for some things he said in public about motion pictures. That may be an explanation for the general obtuseness of the film, but it seems like a desperate device. There is such a thing, you know, as cutting off one's nose to spite's one's face. And, in turning out Rage in Heaven, MGM hasn't done itself any favors.

Labels: drama, Ingrid Bergman, thriller

Internet Movie Database 6.4/10 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=NA, viewers=NA) 

June Night (1940) [TV-PG] ****

June Night was the last film Ingrid Bergman made in her native Sweden before moving permanently to Hollywood. This 1940 Per Lindberg picture is pretty straight soap opera, with Bergman playing a girl named Kerstin Norbäck who, in the movie's first scene, is shot by her sailor boyfriend Nils Asklund (Gunnar Sjöberg) when she tries to walk out on him. A trial and small-town scandal follows, so Kerstin changes her name to Sara Nordana and moves to Stockholm to start over. She swears off her wanton ways, but her resolve will be tested when she catches the eye of a handsome doctor Stefan von Bremen (Olof Widgren) and also runs across the nosy reporter Willy Wilson (Hasse Ekman) who sensationalized her story and dubbed her the wounded swan. Both men become obsessed with her, and both are dating female friends of Sara's. Stefan is dating the nurse Åsa (Marianne Löfgren) who helped Sara when she arrived in Stockholm, and Willy is dating Nickan (Marianne Aminoff), one of Sara’s roommates. All these affairs come to a climax the night Nils Asklund finds Kerstin/Sara working at the Swan Pharmacy, pays her a visit, and the several romantic plotlines intersect.

June Night is a little slow. The script, written by Ragnar Hyltén-Cavallius from a novel by Tora Nordström-Bonnier, relies heavily on suspension-of-disbelief coincidences and never delves very deeply into its characters. Unfortunately, this is especially true for Kerstin/Sara, who gets less introspection and development than the supporting characters; Bergman's charisma and screen presence are all that fuel her portrayal, and the actress brings a gravitas to the role that wouldn't otherwise be there. I suppose Lindberg and Hyltén-Cavallius could be striving to make Kerstin/Sara an unknowable and mysterious figure, which might lend some explanation to why everyone is so fascinated by her (and why she does so much damage without even trying), but if so, it doesn't really work.

Labels: drama, Ingrid Bergman

Internet Movie Database 6.1/10 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=NA, viewers=74) 

Criterion Collection: Eclipse Series 46: Ingrid Bergman’s Swedish Years

Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939) [UR] ****

While I’ve always appreciated Casablanca (1942), I was not a huge fan of Ingrid Bergman until recently and, admittedly, did not fully appreciate her incredible talent. Then, after reading her autobiography, My Story, and watching a number of her films, I’ve begun to realize how amazing she was.

Intermezzo (1939) is the remake of her 1936 Swedish-language film by the same name. Produced by David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind, 1939) this is Bergman’s English-speaking film debut and she's wonderful in it. Even at the age of 24, there's something about her that's mesmerizing. The fact that she manages to make this melodrama watchable is a tribute to her range and depth as an actress, and, honestly, she's the only reason to sit through this romantic drama. She's radiant, intelligent and funny, and she makes you believe that Leslie Howard (Gone with the Wind, 1939) is charismatic, sexy and interesting, something that’s not easily done. Yes, his character is a world-famous violinist, and she’s admired his talent from a distance, but still, the fact that a gorgeous young woman with her abilities would actually fall in love with someone like him is pretty hard to believe. That’s is not to say that Leslie Howard is unattractive or untalented; he's just lacks the sex appeal of a Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Cary Grant or Gregory Peck, all 1940s co-stars of Bergman.

There's not much to the story of Intermezzo. Leslie Howard plays Holger Brandt, a famous violinist with a wife Margit (Edna Best) and family who stay at home while he tours the world. Upon his most recent return, his 6-year-old daughter (Ann Marie, played by Ann Todd) introduces Holger to her piano teacher, Anita Hoffman, played by Bergman. He’s oblivious to her until she plays at his daughter's birthday party, and her talent and beauty take him by surprise. He falls for her completely after they accidently meet at a symphony concert.

After some champagne and a long walk, it's obvious there's more between them then mere friendship. They soon begin a secret love affair, and when Holger invites Anita to be his accompanist on his upcoming tour, Margit begins to suspect something. Anita doesn't want to give up her studies, but her heart won't allow her to say no. They try to keep their affair quiet, but when she resigns as Ann Marie’s piano teacher and attempts to leave town, Margit knows all too well why. Holger separates from Margit and the two leave on tour together, despite leaving the wreckage of his family behind. Their European tour is a great success, and after it ends in Switzerland, they remain there on holiday.

However, Holger is torn by his feelings for his wife and family, particularly his daughter, and by his passion for Anita. She is his mid-life crisis, and every man should be so lucky. Eventually, it’s apparent to both of them that their stolen love can't last forever. Their happiness cannot be built on the unhappiness of others, and Holger’s past and Anita’s future cannot be joined forever.

Intermezzo is not an Oscar-winning movie, but it's not terrible either. It's typical of the films of its day, and the thing that makes it watchable today is Bergman's performance; the film drags whenever she's not onscreen. Her character goes through the full range of romantic/dramatic emotions, and she’s perfect every time. No one does joyfully exuberant or tortured by guilt better than Ingrid Bergman.

The violin and piano music is something of a minor character in the film and gives it additional dimension and class. If you’re interested in romantic dramas from the Golden Age of Hollywood and you’d like to see the film that launched Ingrid Bergman’s film career, watch Intermezzo (1939).

Labels: Cinderella-story, drama, Ingrid Bergman, music, romance, rom-drama-faves

Internet Movie Database 6.8/10

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=74, viewers=68) 

Wikipedia Intermezzo (1939) 

Amazon "MyStory" 

MetaScore (critics=74)

A Woman’s Face (1938) [NR] ****

A film review by Jamie S. Rich for CriterionConfessions.com on April 14, 2018.

Ingrid Bergman teamed with director Gustaf Molander for the 1938 film A Woman's Face. Written by Gösta Stevens, adapted from a play by Francis De Croisset, A Woman's Face is a melodrama with a touch of noir. Bergman plays the villain of the piece - or at least, half a villain. At the start of the picture, she is the femme fatale of a blackmail ring, though her role tends to be more on the planning side than seduction. A childhood fire that killed both her parents has left half of her face burned, and also left her bitter against the world.

Bergman plays Anna Holm with a surprising anger, and also a pronounced vulnerability. She regularly reaches her hand up to her face, protectively shielding her scars. She projects her rage outwardly, pushing her crew to be tougher on their victims, and ends up taking one of the cases over herself. While visiting the victim Vera Wegert (Karin Carlson-Kavli) Anna is caught by Vera’s husband Dr. Allan Wegert (Anders Henrikson), who by no small coincidence is a doctor who fixed similar scarring for soldiers after World War I. He offers to operate on Anna's face, hoping it will warm her heart and inspire her to turn her life around. At first, she ignores the opportunity the healed visage offers, joining a previous scheme to cheat six-year-old Lars-Erik Barring (Göran Bernhard) out of his inheritance, but posing as his governess using the name Anna Paulsson helps Anna embrace love -particularly when she finds it with one of his uncles Harald Berg (Gunnar Sjöberg).

Anna's transformation from hard-bitten criminal to tenderhearted softie is a predictable one, but it's made believable by Ingrid Bergman's performance. She instinctively understands the various stages of Anna's metamorphosis and her work actually stands apart from the script, which I think expected the switch to be more automatic. Despite the fairly standard plotting, A Woman's Face avoids the treacle, never quite giving in to more conventional urges, instead settling on an ending that is more bittersweet than one might expect.

Blogger’s comment: After the childhood fire that severely disfigured Anna Holm, she became a sociopath. Bitter at having lost her parents, her childhood and her beauty she became the leader of a ring of thieves specializing in extortion. Only interested in control and winning, she was willing to lie cheat and steal while feeling no guilt pain or remorse, having no conscience and only a hole where her heart should be. The problem with A Woman’s Face is that it makes the assumption that after Dr. Wegert had restored her beauty, Anna was able to transform her personality. Sadly the real world does not work that way, and it is more likely that Anna would have continued her criminal life, enjoying more success now that her disfigurement had been replaced by physical beauty. This film confirms that society in general is woefully uneducated where sociopaths and psychopaths are concerned.

Labels: drama, Ingrid Bergman

Internet Movie Database 7.0/10 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=NA, viewers=78) 

Criterion Collection Eclipse Series 46: Ingrid Bergman’s Swedish Years 

Intermezzo (1936) [UR] ****

Ingrid Bergman is a genuine Hollywood icon, and one of the top-ranked actresses of all time, thanks to her starring roles in Casablanca (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Gaslight (1944), Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946), Anastasia (1956) and Autumn Sonata (1978). However, not as much attention is paid to her pre-Hollywood career. Ingrid Bergman began her stage and screen career in Sweden, and Intermezzo is one of her most accomplished films from her home country. It gives many of us our first chance to see a screen legend developing her craft in the earliest stages of her career.

Though Bergman had already appeared in six features, including one uncredited role, one could argue that the 1936 version of Intermezzo was really what got her career started. Directed by Gustaf Molander, who co-wrote the screenplay with Gösta Stevens, Intermezzo was the movie that brought Bergman to the attention of famed Hollywood producer David O. Selznick (Gone with the Wind, 1939). Selznick brought her to Hollywood and cast her in the 1939 English-language remake of Intermezzo, with Gone with the Wind star Leslie Howard. Intermezzo became her breakout role.

In the movie, Bergman plays Anita Hoffman, a promising young pianist who ignores better advice and pairs up with concert violinist Holger Brandt (Gösta Ekman), joining the married man as both his musical accompanist and his lover. Brandt sacrifices his home life, leaving behind his wife and two children, to take Anita on a European tour with him; Anita also gives up the tutelage of Brandt's former partner (Hugo Björne). The two are relatively happy, but they practically live in exile, with Anita in a subordinate role as Brandt's accompanist, rather than blossoming into her own as an artist. When Anita is awarded the 1936 Jenny Lind scholarship to study piano in Paris, the two lovers must ask themselves what is really important: their love for each other, or their love of music. Brandt must also face what he's already left behind. As he puts it, they are stuck with the irony that his past and her future can never be joined together.

For a movie about two passionate artists locked in a scandalous affair, Intermezzo is relatively restrained. Though solidly written, it’s rather melodramatic, and drifts toward its foregone conclusion, communicating the sense that their fates are driving Anita and Holger. Thankfully, it's a film that is very well performed, especially by Bergman. While some critics have faulted Ekman for overacting his role, Bergman is absolutely radiant, elevating the quality and tone of the film whenever she is on screen. The two actors strike a fine balance, with Ekman's needy ego fitting in perfectly with Bergman's desire to please. The actress displays a sweet innocence at the start of the movie that is vastly different than some of her later, better-known roles. Intermezzo is also a pretty film to look at, with elaborate sets and a gorgeous wardrobe, presumably reflecting the style of 1930s Sweden.

If you watch the 1936 Intermezzo and then the 1939 version, you’ll appreciate that the screenplay for the later film was slightly rewritten to give Ingrid Bergman a larger role.

Labels: Cinderella-story, drama, Ingrid Bergman, music, romance, rom-drama-faves

Internet Movie Database 6.8/10 

RottenTomatoes Averages (critics=NA, viewers=70) 

Wikipedia: Ingrid Bergman

Bergman, who was born on August 29, 1915, was twenty-one when she filmed the Swedish-language Intermezzo, in 1936. Less than a year later, on July 10, 1937 she married her first husband, dentist Petter Lindstrom, and two years later she filmed the English-language remake of Intermezzo in Hollywood.

Ingrid and Petter Lindstrom in June, 1937, just before their wedding. 

A series of screen-captures from Intermezzo (1936):