Casa Blanca

Casa Blanca, directed by Michael Kurtiz, caught me by surprise in many ways. I had heard about the film and could easily quote several lines from it, but in all actuality had no idea what it was about. The most I had know about it was from playing "Scene It", a popular DVD game that shows clips from famous movies. When watching Casa Blanca there were several things that I noticed right away, obviously it was in black and white and the set that was used seemed very staged. The lighting that was used was very natural looking, and many times the light on the actors faces seemed very low key and controlled.

The acting styles differed greatly among the actors and actresses and each actor had a very specific style of performing that was captured beautifully on the film. Humphrey Bogart (Rick, owned a popular club) was very mysterious and was constantly trying to catch up with his love interest, Ilsa. Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa Lund, love interest) played a beautiful lady trying to get get out of Casa Blanca, she was somewhat of a damsel in distress and Rick was there to save her. Claude Rains (police chief) played a sneaky police chief that was willing to make a deal with Rick in exchange for something in return. Peter Lorre (Ugarte, Rick received the papers from him) was a black market merchant who found the papers needed for Rick and Ilsa's exit from Casa Blanca. Paul Henried (Victor Laszlo) played Ilsa's boyfriend/fiance and was in the middle of Rick's plan to run away with Ilsa, his long lost love.

Overall Casa Blanca surprised me in many ways. The film seemed to be gritty and immediately I was drawn to Rick and his tough-guy attitude that shone so brightly on film. The film could easily be updated for today's time and I think it would be incredibly popular and interesting to see such a project like that. My first real experience with historic Hollywood cinema was remarkably painless and positive. I am interested in seeing how other films from the 1940's relate to this one.