It was imperative that I go the whole nine yards and wear a really nice outfit that night. I was very inspired by the Ginger Rogers outfit Kate Gabrielle put together in her fabulous A Classic Movie Halloween post on her blog Silents and Talkies. I really liked the coat she listed and I had bought it a while ago from Forever 21. I dug into my closet for the rest of the pieces. I wore my Target cloche hat and gloves, my black skirt from TJ Maxx, my seamed nylons from Victoria's Secret, a pair of fabulous pumps from DSW and a white short-sleved collared shirt from H&M. This was the result:
I also wore my Robert Mitchum trenchcoat but unfortunately I don't have any pictures of that. If you want to see what the trenchcoat looks like, check out my Retro-Ware post.
We all met the Brattle got our tickets and headed to Casablanca. This restaurant has fabulous cocktails and good, albeit expensive food. I did a review about them on my food blog and it's funny to read back on it because I had said:
"It is very possible to watch the film Casablanca (1942) and then head downstairs to Casablanca to discuss the movie over drinks. I still dream of doing just that one of these days."We did this but in reverse. It was Black Friday and with Carlos working at retail and not getting out until late, we had to go to the 9:30 pm showing of Casablanca. So we ate dinner before watching the movie.
Casablanca has these wonderful murals with different scenes from the movie. This one happens to be my favorite and I wanted to make sure we sat in front of it for our meal. I highly suggest taking a moment to stop by the restaurant's website and reading about the history of it came about.
My wonderful friends Gina, Lisa and Kevin came along. They all dressed up and looked fabulous. Check out Kevin with his fedora and his Humphrey Bogart-esque trenchcoat! This happened to be Gina's first time seeing Casablanca and I was excited to hear her reaction to the film. Lisa is my partner-in-crime and is always coming with me to various classic film showings and for that reason, and many others, she is awesome.
Carlos works with men's clothing so it is very easy for him to dress up and he always looks impeccable. Maybe I'm looking at him through girlfriend eyes, but he seemed to exude a Clark Gable quality that night. Casablanca (1942) happens to be Carlos' top-favorite film. It even beats out The Hustler (1961). He was really looking forward to sharing this film with me and I was excited to give the film the second chance I truly believe it deserved.
After our meal and our drinks, we headed to the Brattle. We sat way up in the balcony which happens to be my favorite spot in the theatre. It had been a good 7 years or so since I had seen Casablanca and back then I wasn't impressed. I've grown as a person and as a classic film buff since then so I came with an open-mind and lots of enthusiasm.
The film was wonderful. I loved watching Carlos mouth several lines of dialogue that he knew by heart. He also pointed out some of the fun goofs and squeezed my hand at various romantic moments during the film. I was very moved by the ending and got a little emotional. But who doesn't? The love story of Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) and Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is one of the most moving in cinematic history. I thought it was interesting how both Bergman and Bogart expressed emotion. Bogart doesn't emote in his face at all and he has a veriratble stone face with only his lips in motion and the occasional brow lift. But you never once, not even for a single solitary moment question the love Rick feels for Ilsa. He expresses his emotions in his words, his actions and his gestures and in those beautiful sad eyes. Bergman has a more expressive face but she concentrated so much of her expression in those wonderful glossy eyes of hers. Her eyes spoke volumes.
I really enjoyed the cast which many have said is one of the great elements of this movie. Humphrey Bogart is just so cool and Ingrid Bergman's beauty takes your breath away. Claude Rains' ambiguity makes you have wonderfully mixed feelings about his character. Paul Henreid's gentle expression makes you sympathize for him when really you want to hate him for keeping Rick and Ilsa apart (something Gina pointed out to me). Dooley Wilson's Sam is the epitome of loyalty and he's such an iconic figure in the movie. I have a special place in my heart for both Sydney Greenstreet and S.Z. Sakall both of whom are in my favorite Christmas classic A Christmas in Connecticut (1945). And Peter Lorre makes any film better! At one moment during the film, I heard a very familiar French voice. It dawned on me! That guy was in Pillow Talk. Marcel Dalio plays Croupier in Casablanca and the distraught Interior decorator Pierrot in Pillow Talk (1959). Ha!
This was a wonderful night and I'm really happy that it worked out so well. Thank yous go out to several folks. Thanks to Gina, Lisa, Kevin and Carlos for enthusiastically joining me to Casablanca Squared. Thank you to Mercurie at A Shroud of Thoughts for your encouragement. Thanks to Caitlin at Fire and Music for your wonderful post on the film. Be sure you take a look at Alexi's blog Ingrid Bergman Life and Films for her post on the Casablanca.
