AE115
King & Country
Not yet Released - expected in late November.
Rick or Richard Blaine, if you prefer, is a man who has led a ‘chequered’ and ‘colourful’ life. He left America for reasons unknown, and also at one time, ran guns into Ethiopia and fought for the losing side in the Spanish Civil War. He now, by his own admission, is running a saloon in Casablanca.
By contrast his friend, Capt. Louis Renault, describes himself as a pragmatic realist. He blows with the prevailing wind, which in this case, is the Vichy French government which collaborated with the Germans following France’s defeat in 1940. In addition to collaborating, Capt. Renault is also an opportunist, an extortionist, a gambler and a ‘hedonist’ always ready to take advantage of any attractive female that crosses his path. Expertly played in the film by noted British character actor, Claude Raines, he is the perfect foil to Rick Blaine.
‘Casablanca’ (1942) is widely considered one of the greatest American movies in cinema history. Filmed almost entirely at Warner Brothers studio in Burbank, California it was directed by Michael Curtiz, produced by Hal B. Wallis and starred Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
Set during the early years of World War II in Vichy-controlled French Morocco, the film follows Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), a cynical, detached American expat who runs an upscale nightclub / casino called ‘Rick’s Café Americain’.
Rick’s carefully maintained neutrality is completely upended when his former lover Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) arrives unexpectedly into his life again… complete with her husband!
The husband, Victor Laszlo is a famous Czech resistance leader fleeing from the Nazis. With the Germans closing in, Ilsa turns to Rick to help Laszlo flee to America.
Rick is faced with an agonizing dilemma: pathing a future with the woman he loves, or sacrificing his personal desires to do what is right in the global fight against fascism.
Over the years, the reputation of this relatively small movie has grown and grown in popularity to become a great Hollywood classic together with the characters portrayed in it.