Casablanca

More of the Best Movies We Have Ever Seen

Forrest Hartman and Tara Taghizadeh

If you have never seen The Graduate, you can’t really call yourself a film buff. This astounding 1967 movie, directed by the late, great Mike Nichols, co-written by Buck Henry, and starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, took the world by storm when it was first released. The bizarre love triangle – boy has affair with married woman, then falls in love with her daughter – is riveting, and under Nichols’s direction, the blend of comedy and drama are interwoven perfectly.

The Best Movies We Have Ever Seen

Ulises Duenas, Ben Friedman, and Garrett Hartman

What is there left to say about Casablanca? It is a testament to performances mixed with a daring screenplay that resonates with audiences both during World War II and 80 years later. The love story between Rick and Ilsa is iconic in large part due to Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman’s on-screen chemistry.  It is a story about love and loss, but to label it romantic would be a mischaracterization.

Top 10 Films Every Highbrow Should Own

Forrest Hartman

As with “Citizen Kane,” “Casablanca” – set in Morocco during the early days of World War II – requires some knowledge of history. The reason it made the list, however, is its infinite quote-ability. The film probably has more famous lines than any in history. They include: “Play it, Sam” (often misquoted as “Play it again, Sam”); “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”; and “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”

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