Critical Insights: Casablanca (Book review)

Edited by James Plath. Salem Press. April 2016. ISBN: 978-1-61925-876-1.

I stumbled upon the movie Casablanca one rainy winter afternoon in 1957. I was in seventh grade, my parents were away, so I decided to watch an old, 1942 movie on TV, a movie I had never heard of before, Casablanca. I didn’t know it had won an Oscar for Best Picture of the Year. I didn’t know who Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Peter Lorre, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, or any of the stars were. I didn’t know it was fast becoming the most-watched movie of all time on early TV. I only knew that when I finished it, I loved it. Then I came across it again a few years later in a college film class where I learned I wasn’t alone in my admiration for it. When I married in 1972, I took my wife to see it because she had never heard of it, and she, too, fell in love with the film. Since then I’ve owned it on Betamax tape, VHS, DVD, and now Blu-ray. My wife and I have probably watched it fifty times or more since.

I mention this because no matter how many times I watch the film or read about it, I learn something new. So it was a decided pleasure to see that Professor of English James Plath of Illinois Wesleyan University had edited a critical edition of essays on the subject of what had become my favorite movie of all time. Critical Insights: Casablanca is more than a reference book; it’s an insightful, erudite, thoughtful, and entirely delightful volume, coming at the movie from over a dozen different angles from over a dozen different scholars, film buffs, film teachers, and film historians. Lots of “Professors” in here. Each of the essays uses a slew of reliable source materials, each essay fully annotated at the end. For anyone who loves the film as I do, who wants to learn more about its origins, its production, its stars, its themes, its producer, its director, its writers, its music, and its place in film history, Critical Insights: Casablanca is the ideal companion for a few long, studious winter nights or a few short, pleasant summer evenings.

Here’s a rundown on the essays and authors included in the book:

“On Casablanca” by James Plath

“Michael Curtiz: One of Hollywood’s Most Versatile Directors” by James Plath

“Tips of the Hat: The Critical Response to Casablanca” by Brennan M. Thomas

“Such Much? Casablanca, Hitler’s Refugees, and the Hollywood Screen” by Noah Isenberg

“Casablanca and Pop Culture’s Embrace” by Kathy Merlock Jackson

“Bogie Noir: Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon” by Li Zeng

“I Stick My Neck Out for Nobody: Rick Blaine’s Anti-heroism” by Erik Esckilsen

“Ilsa’s Sacrifice: Gender, History, and Casablanca’s Conversion Narrative” by Linda Mokdad

“Classical Hollywood, Race, and Casablanca” by Delia Malia Konzett

“Defining Classical Hollywood Narration in Casablanca” by Eric S. Faden

“Adlibbing Greatness: Casablanca’s Screenplay” by Kirk Honeycutt

“Here’s Looking at You . . . and You: The Actors’ Contributions” by Christopher S. Long

“This Crazy World: Cinematic Space and the Casualties of Casablanca” by Larrie Dudenhoeffer

“Beyond Hollywood: Casablanca as World Cinema” by Björn Nordfjörd

“The Undercut Auteur: Michael Curtiz and Casablanca’s Iconic Imagery, Motifs, and Symbols” by Michael O’Conner

“The Music of Casablanca” by James Plath

“Casablanca and the Search for an Auteur” by Paul Morrison

James Plath

Of course, with so many different perspectives on the film, you’re bound to run into a variety of writing styles and viewpoints, some of which you may agree with, some not; some of which you may find exhilarating, some of it perhaps boring. It isn’t as though you’re reading a single outlook on things from a single writer that you know. Thus, there will be times when you just have to say, no, I don’t agree with that; hell, no, that’s not right; or such-and-such author was too scholarly in his or her approach; or, yes, I’ve always thought that myself. It’s fun to read the diverse, often disparate angles people take on things, whether you concur or not. Then, too, you will find some overlap among the essays. They are all writing about just one film, after all, so there is bound to be some degree of repetition in the subjects covered. No matter; if you read the essays attentively and judge each on its own merits, you’ll enjoy yourself and pick up a wealth of information.

It’s hard to pick favorite essays among so many enlightening ones, but I think my own favorites were “Bogie Noir” by Li Zeng; “Here’s Looking at You . . . and You: The Actors’ Contributions” by Christopher S. Long; and, because of my interest in music, “The Music of Casablanca” by Professor Plath.

Why were these chapters favorites among so many fascinating ones? First, growing up as I did in the 1950’s, I had never heard of film noir until college. Then one of my film studies professors introduced the subject but never mentioned Bogart. In the present book, the author argues that not only was Bogart’s The Maltese Falcon the first noir film but that Casablanca exhibits classic elements of noir as well, especially in its use of atmosphere and setting. I can buy that. In terms of the characters in Casablanca, I’ve always thought they were the heart of the film, and I enjoyed Mr. Long’s illuminating takes on their motivations; besides which, Long’s writing is among the most eloquent yet easy to understand in the book. Finally, who could forget the music in the film. Plath calls attention to Max Steiner’s score and the film’s many songs, making Casablanca not quite a musical in the generally accepted sense but a musical movie, nonetheless. Reminds me of when I told a friend I thought the Coens’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? was a good musical, and he said “What?” He’d never even noticed the continuous music and songs in the film until I brought it to his attention, and then said “Oh, yeah. I guess you’re right.” Plath is right about Casablanca.  

No, you don’t have to be a Casablanca fanatic as I am to appreciate the book, nor do you have to be a scholar to find new insights into a great film. Sure, you could find much material like this on-line for free, but, then, you wouldn’t have it all in one place, nor would you find it so well organized into a coherent whole. You just have to have an open and inquisitive mind to appreciate the breadth of knowledge on display here. That you may find yourself being entertained along the way is like icing on the cake.

JJP