Casablanca

Rating: 5

Luke

I had forgotten why this is considered one of the best movies of all time. I remembered that it was a romance with a lot of famous lines ("Here's looking at you kid" or "We'll always have Paris" or "Play it again Sam", though the latter was never actually said) and I was anxious to introduce it to Carr. I was very pleased to be reminded that this is another one of those movies like Guys and Dolls that teaches a wonderful moral lesson in a very entertaining way.

Even though the love affair (and we learn from these older classics that "affair" doesn't always mean that someone has comitted adultery/fornication) was purely honest and in no way deceitful, Humphrey Bogart knows what his morals are and sticks to them. Even though Bogart's life has been torn apart by Ingrid Bergman's unexplained withdrawal from his life, Bergman's desire to return to him causes his love to be rekindled and we see that it is a pure love, one that permits him to act in the best interest of both her and him.

Carr

The hard part is that both guys are good guys. Nowadays the scenario would be that the husband is some evil guy and thus not only make it "ok" for something immoral, but have the audience rooting for it. It's so nice to see the good moral decisions being made and shown as the right choices. However, as in "Guys and Dolls," it is interesting that it is the man who has the courage to do what's right and the woman is shown as too weak to make such a decision on her own. It'd be nice to see the girl stand up on her own two feet for once!