Must-See Classic
This was the first movie I watched that got me hooked on classic movies. Many friends of mine recommended I watch it countless times and I finally sat down a few years back to see what all the hubbub was about. Since then, I have watched it dozens of times, never failing to become mesmerized by the plethora of one-liners Humphrey Bogart seems to be capable of pulling. If you have never watched an old film before, let me explain why you should make this on your first.
What impressed me most about this movie was that aside from the primitive opening credits and narration, the cinematography was quite good. That is, the flow of the movie incredibly smooth; my modern eyes were not distracted by any breaks in sequencing or character positioning. Bogart, as I mentioned, was incredible. Too bad James Bond had not yet been written, because I feel Bogart would make an ideal 007. Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid play their parts nicely, but I feel that my best supporting actor award would have to go to Claude Rains, who in reality did get nominated for the Oscar, but did not win. Ultimately, even 70 years after it was released, this movie is still considered one of the greatest of all time.
Why not give it a 10, you might ask? As impressive as the movie is for its time, the romantic dialogue is, well, corny. Don't get me wrong, because of the fact that it's an old movie, the corniness works. However, with corniness you sacrifice authentic feeling and emotion, which in this film was only evoked in a select few scenes thanks to a very heavy-sounding piano tune. Other than that, there isn't much else wrong with the film.
This movie is definitely rentable, especially if you haven't seen it already. Half of you, after watching it, will probably go out and buy it; it's that good.
Written September 12, 2013
What impressed me most about this movie was that aside from the primitive opening credits and narration, the cinematography was quite good. That is, the flow of the movie incredibly smooth; my modern eyes were not distracted by any breaks in sequencing or character positioning. Bogart, as I mentioned, was incredible. Too bad James Bond had not yet been written, because I feel Bogart would make an ideal 007. Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid play their parts nicely, but I feel that my best supporting actor award would have to go to Claude Rains, who in reality did get nominated for the Oscar, but did not win. Ultimately, even 70 years after it was released, this movie is still considered one of the greatest of all time.
Why not give it a 10, you might ask? As impressive as the movie is for its time, the romantic dialogue is, well, corny. Don't get me wrong, because of the fact that it's an old movie, the corniness works. However, with corniness you sacrifice authentic feeling and emotion, which in this film was only evoked in a select few scenes thanks to a very heavy-sounding piano tune. Other than that, there isn't much else wrong with the film.
This movie is definitely rentable, especially if you haven't seen it already. Half of you, after watching it, will probably go out and buy it; it's that good.
Written September 12, 2013