About this item
For the 75th anniversary of its premiere -- the incredible story of how Casablanca was made and why it remains the most beloved of Hollywood films.Casablanca was first released in 1942, just two weeks after the city of Casablanca itself surrendered to American troops led by General Patton. Featuring a pitch-perfect screenplay, a classic soundtrack, and unforgettable performances by Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and a deep supporting cast, Casablanca was hailed in the New York Times as "a picture that makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap." The film won Oscars for best picture, best director, and best screenplay, and would go on to enjoy more revival screenings than any other movie in history. It became so firmly ensconced in the cultural imagination that, as Umberto Eco once said, Casablanca is "not one movie; it is 'movies.' "We'll Always Have Casablanca is celebrated film historian Noah Isenberg's rich account of this most beloved movie's origins. Through extensive research and interviews with filmmakers, film critics, family members of the cast and crew, and diehard fans, Isenberg reveals the myths and realities behind Casablanca's production, exploring the transformation of the unproduced stage play into the classic screenplay, the controversial casting decisions, the battles with Production Code censors, and the effect of the war's progress on the movie's reception. Isenberg particularly focuses on the central role refugees from Hitler's Europe played in the production (nearly all of the actors and actresses cast in Casablanca were immigrants) .Finally, Isenberg turns to Casablanca's long afterlife and the reasons it remains so revered. From the Marx Brothers' 1946 spoof hit, A Night in Casablanca, to loving parodies in New Yorker cartoons, Saturday Night Live skits, and Simpsons episodes, Isenberg delves into the ways the movie has lodged itself in the American psyche.Filled with fresh insights into Casablanca's creation, production, and legacy, We'll Always Have Casablanca is a magnificent account of what made the movie so popular and why it continues to dazzle audiences seventy-five years after its release. 24 illustrations
About the Author
Noah Isenberg is the George Christian Centennial Professor and Chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at the University of Texas at Austin. The recipient of various grants, fellowships, and awards from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Austrian Fulbright Commission, the International Research Center for Cultural Studies (IFK) in Vienna, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, he was made an NEH Public Scholar for 2015-2016 and is also a standing fellow at the New York Institute for the Humanities. He has published his work in such diverse venues as Bookforum, The Nation, The Daily Beast, Salon, Paris Review Daily, NYR Daily, Film Comment, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Criterion Collection, Film Quarterly, the Times Literary Supplement, The Threepenny Review, the Wall Street Journal, the New Republic and the New York Times. More info can be found at: www.noahisenberg.com
