An Oldie but a Goodie

I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to write about a movie that was made almost 75 years ago. I'm one of those weird people that will gladly take a scratchy black and white movie or an old school movie musical over most movies of today. So, to just add a new layer to this blog and hopefully a little variety, I'm going to write about the classic movie Casablanca.
Casablanca starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and tells the story of Rick and Ilsa. At the height of World War II, many different kinds of people find themselves in Casablanca, but they all share one goal: to get OUT of Casablanca. Rick owns a nightclub in the city and is at least cordial with the Nazi's that inhabit the in between stop to safety. Ilsa travels with her husband and stumbles upon Rick's nightclub one night--her former lover. Her husband is an escapee of a Nazi concentration camp who she previously thought was dead. All this to say, Ilsa and Rick do not meet again on good terms. She left Rick when they were about to flee to, instead, go find her husband. The famous, wonderful, heartbreaking line at this point in the movie is: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine".
Rick has, in his possession, travel papers that would make it possible for Ilsa and her escaped husband to get safely out of Casablanca. In typical Humphrey Bogart fashion, he refuses with a snappy remark that cuts right to the heart. She reveals that she never even knew that her husband was still alive and would have gladly stayed with Rick if she could have. She gets the papers from Rick to give to her husband, but Rick must also throw off the Nazi officer who trails him most of the movie. He discovers that the officer is becoming an ally of his and he helps Ilsa and her husband get away to safety. The end, sadly closes with no wonderful declaration of love between Rick and Ilsa. He forces her to leave with her husband instead of staying with him, and he continues his life in Casablanca. Of course, it also ends with more wonderful quotes like "If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life." and "We'll always have Paris".
This movie is well known as one of the greatest of all time. With a sometimes slow plot, no happy ending, and lots of tension, some wonder how it has stood the test of time. However, with two of the biggest stars of the time and the heartbreakingly beautiful story--it's hard for it to NOT be a classic. There's a reason that so many wonderful movies come out of this time period: the plots were more complex and thought out, the acting was flawless, and the raw emotions that these films created are unparalleled by any of today.