DVD Review: Casablanca Ultimate Collection
Warner Home Video Film Stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman
Jan 2, 2009
In yet another case of studio double-dippage, Warner Home Video has repackaged the classic Casablanca in a lavish 2-disc box set. This Ultimate Collectors' Edition DVD really piles on the extras, but is it really worth the price?
What's Casablanca About?
It's 1942, and France has fallen under the Nazi boot-heel. In the Moroccan city of Casablanca, countless refugees struggle to obtain precious exit visas so they can flee war-torn Europe. At Rick's Café Américain, bitter saloonkeeper Rick Blaine contends with . . . oh, come on! It's effing Casablanca! If you don't know what it's about, you need to watch this movie immediately. Yes, get up and get going, right now.
(You there, in the striped shirt: get moving. I don't have all day.)
There are so many things right with this film that it would take another article to compile them all. However, a short list would have to include Michael Curtiz's simple-but-effective direction, the stellar script (name another film with so many quotable lines of dialogue), and the top-notch performances.
Casablanca catapulted both Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart into the A-list, but the standout was Claude Rains as a cheerfully corrupt police captain (It didn't hurt that he got many of the best lines). On the other hand, Paul Henreid's performance as resistance leader Viktor Lazlo was stiff and lacking in warmth. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, since it made viewers root for Bogart that much more.
The restored print of the film is absolutely wonderful: possibly the cleanest restoration out there right now. The mono English soundtrack is also great, but the French dub is weak.
DVD Extras
Take a deep breath: Warner Home Video packed a LOT into this box set.
There are two audio commentaries on Disc One: one by film historian Rudy Behlmer, the other by film critic Roger Ebert. Though both know their stuff, Ebert's is the more entertaining. He mixes extensive trivia with honest criticism (he points out the film's many errors), and debunks several major myths that have sprung up around the flick. He smartly shuts up for the film's many classic lines.
Also on Disc One is an intro by Bogart's widow Lauren Bacall, and "A Great Cast is Worth Repeating" that shows the other films that members of the Casablanca cast appeared in (Peter Lorre and Bogart were best pals, and made many movies together). There are also a few theatrical trailers for various classic Warner Bros. films, including Casablanca.
The second disc features two of Bogart and Bergman's children (Pia Lindstrom and Stephen Bogart) talking about the movie. This is a waste of time, since they perpetuate many myths that Ebert debunked (for instance: that Bergman didn't know the ending to the film).
More interesting is a documentary about Humphrey Bogart, narrated by Lauren Bacall. Sure, there's a lot of her in here, but that's not a bad thing (classic line from To Have and Have Not: "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and blow."). Bacall also narrates another great 30-minute featurette, "You Must Remember This: A Tribute to Casablanca" in which various crew members discuss the making of the film.
What really makes this set stand out is the various outtakes and deleted scenes offered, a rarity for a film of this vintage. Even though the audio was lost in the intervening years, these sequences are still an incredible find.
Disc 2 also features several spin-offs Warner produced over the years to capitalize on the Casablanca magic. The most successful is the 1995 short "Carrotblanca," where the Looney Tunes gang send up the flick.
The third disc is devoted to Jack L. Warner: The Last Mogul, filmed by his grandson Gregory Orr. It tries to make him into a goofy-but-lovable mogul, but offers little insight and can't hide the fact that the youngest Warner brother was a real sh*t in his personal life.
Finally, there's a photo book, a series of Casablanca postcards, plus a faux-leather passport holder and luggage tag, stamped with the film's logo.
Final Analysis
Given that it's considered to be the 2nd greatest American film of the Twentieth Century, it's a no-brainer that Casablanca should be on any film lover's shelf. To quote Roger Ebert, "If you asked me what the greatest film of all time is, I'd say Citizen Kane. If you asked me my favourite, I'd have to say Casablanca."
But is the Ultimate Collector's Edition worth the extra cash? If you can get a hold of the 2003 2-disc DVD set, do so: it has the same restored print and commentaries, at a fraction of the cost.
However, if you are – or know – a hard-core Casablanca fan, this would make a great gift. 9/10.
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