Starring – Bette Davis (Sara Muller), Paul Lukas (Kurt Muller), Geraldine Fitzgerald (Marthe de Brancovis), Lucile Watson (Fanny Farrelly), Beulah Bondi (Anise).
Description – After 18 years in Europe, Sara and Kurt Muller and their three children are returning to her mother’s home in Washington, D. C. While living in Europe, and although German-born, Kurt Muller was very outspoken against the spread of Nazism.
Their return home is an attempt to live on the peaceful sanctuary of American soil. However, this will not prove easy. Another houseguest, Tek de Brancovis, is an untrustworthy Romanian count who has been conspiring with the Germans.
While descreetly searching the Mullers’ room, Tek finds a suitcase with a gun and a great deal of money that is intended to be used to help finance underground operations in Germany.
In Germany, resistance worker Max Freidech, who once saved Kurt from the Gestapo, has been arrested. Kurt is determined to return to Germany and try to help Tek and the others who were arrested with him.
Tek learns of this and attempts to blackmail Kurt demanding $10,000 to keep quiet. Kurt kills him and continues with his mission.
A long period of time passes without any word from Kurt and the family grows increasingly fearful. Kurt and Sara’s oldest son Joshua, who will be turning eighteen soon and free from the families efforts to keep him home, is determined to go to Germany and search for his father.
Sara is griefstricken over the possibility of losing both her husband and son to the Nazi’s.
NOTABLE: Watch on the Rhine was nominated for four Academy Awards; winning for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Paul Lukas), with additional nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Lucile Watson), and Best Writing, Screenplay.
Starring- Gary Cooper (Robert Jordan), Ingrid Bergman (Maria), Akim Tamiroff (Pablo), Arturo de Cordova (Agustin), Katina Paxinou (Pilar).
Description- It’s 1937 and Spain is in the middle of the Spanish Civil War. American teacher turned mercenary Robert Jordan has taken sides with the Spanish Republic and has been given an assignment by Republican General Golz to blow up a strategic bridge.
Robert heads for the mountain location where he take refuge with a band of guerrilla soldiers and Gypsy refugees led by a man named Pablo. Here he meets Maria, a young refugee whose parents were murdered by the Nationals.
Pablo’s wife Pilar has become suspicious of her husband’s loyalty and along with Maria warn Robert that he may be a traitor. As a precaution, in order to insure the success of the mission, Robert, Maria, and Pilar hike deeper into the mountains to meet with the rebel El Sordo who has promised to provide horses necessary for their escape after the bombing of the bridge.
The National’s have learned of the attack on the bridge, Robert and Maria have fallen in love, and Pablo has turned into a blood-thirsty killer. Can the mission be salvaged, and who will live and who will die?
NOTABLE:This film was nominated for nine Academy Awards winning for Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Katina Paxinou). Other nominations were for Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Cooper), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Akim Tamiroff), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Ingrid Bergman), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Color, Best Cinematography, Color, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
For Whom the Bell Tolls grossed $11 million making it the top box-office hit of 1943.
This motion picture is based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway who greatly disliked the movie due to much of the films political content having been removed.
Starring – Gary Cooper (Henry Louis “Lou” Gehrig), Teresa Wright (Eleanor Twitchell), Babe Ruth, Walter Brennan (Sam Blake), Dan Duryea (Hank Hanneman).
Description – A biographical film about New York Yankee Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig. The film begins with Lou, a young student at Columbia University, being encouraged by his mother to study hard and become an engineer.
There is one complication for the mother’s wish for her son…he has a gift for playing baseball.
Sportswriter Sam Blake has seen Gehrig play and invites a baseball scout to take a look at the kid. After seeing Lou play it isn’t long before the young future star has a contract with the best team in baseball…the New York Yankees.
Gehrig is not immediately accepted by his famous teammates that include the “Sultan of Swat” Babe Ruth. However, with his excellent play, both at bat and at first base, he wins the respect of both teammates and fans alike.
Tripping over his own feet during one play at first base, Gehrig is heckled by a fan who refers to him as “Tanglefoot.” This was the unlikely beginning to a relationship with Eleanor Twitchell that would lead to their marriage.
Gehrig’s career would include six World Series Championships as a Yankee along with personal accomplishments that would include him in Baseball’s Hall of Fame. One suck accomplishment earned him the nickname of the “Iron Horse” while appearing in 2130 consecutive games.
Sadly, his career and life were cut short when it was discovered that he had contacted Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) a fatal disease. This disease would later be more commonly known as Lou Gehrig Disease.
NOTABLE: This motion picture was nominated for 11 Academy Awards winning for Best Film Editing. The other nominations included; Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Cooper), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Teresa Wright), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, Best Effects, Special Effects, Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, Best Sound Recording, Best Writing, Original Story, and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.
The Pride of the Yankees was released one year after the death of Lou Gehrig.
Actor Gary Cooper was not that athletic and was a right-handed hitter while Gehrig was left-handed. As a result, Cooper’s close-up scenes while batting were filmed by reversing the prints.
In 2008 the American Film Institute voted Pride of the Yankees as the third greatest film in the Sports genre.
Lou Gehrig’s historic farewell speech at Yankee Stadium included the famous line “Today, I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.” Gehrig made this statement in the beginning of his speech, but the line was moved to the end of the speech for the film.
Starring – Humphrey Bogrart (Rick Blaine), Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa Lund), Paul Henreid (Victor Laszlo), Claude Rains (Captain Renault), Conrad Veidt (Major Strasser), Sydney Greenstreet (Signor Ferrari), Peter Lorre (Ugarte).
Description – Cynical expatriate Rick Blaine owns and runs “Rick’s Cafe Americain” in Casablanca. Petty criminal Ugarte, as a result of the murder of two German couriers, has acquired wartime “letters of transit.”
He hopes to make his fortune selling these letters to the highest bidder who will be arriving later that evening. The letters allow for free travel through German controlled Europe to neutral Portugal and then on to America.
Before the deal can be made, Ugarte is arrested by corrupt local police commander Captain Renault and will end up dying in custody. Unknown to the police, the papers have been given to Rick for safe keeping prior to his Ugarte’s arrest.
Now arriving in Casablanca is fugitive Czech Resistance leader Victor Laszlo and his wife Ilsa Lund who are there for the letters. There is one additional complication…Ilsa is Rick’s ex-lover; someone who ran out on him in Paris, but he has never been able to forget.
Laszlo meets with, Rick’s friendly business rival and major underworld figure, Signor Ferrari who discloses to Laszlo that Rick may be in possesion of the transit papers. Laszlo meets in private with Rick who refuses to turn over the papers suggesting that Laszlo ask his wife for the reason why.
Ilso confronts Rick who still refuses to give up the papers. She threatens him with a gun, but is unable to shoot, confessing that she is still in love with him.
With the police slowly closing in on Laszlo and the reconciliation of the two former lovers, character, loyalty, and moral issues begin to get a little sticky.
NOTABLE: Casablanca was nominated for eight Academy Awards winning three. Best Picture, Best Director (Michael Curtiz), and Best Writing, Screenplay. Other nominations included Best Actor in a Leading Role (Humphrey Bogart), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Claude Rains), Best Cinematography, Black and White, Best Film Editing, and Best Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture.
In 1989, this film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
This was Humphrey Bogart’s first attempt at a romantic lead role and it turned out historic earning him an Academy Award nomination.
The song “As Time Goes By” by Herman Hupfeld has become instantly associated with this motion picture.
Rick’s Cafe was modeled after Hotel El Minzah in Tangiers.
Actor Conrad Veidt was well known in the German theatrical community as someone who hated the Nazi’s. So much so that he had to hurriedly leave the country after learning that the SS had a death squad looking for him as a result of his anti-Nazi activities.
Humphrey Bogart was always quoted as using the line “Play it again Sam,” however, he never said it that way. What he said was: “You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play it!”
The famous film line “Here’s looking at you kid” was voted AFI’s #5 most famous movie quote.
In 2007, the American Film Institute voted Casablanca #3 on the Greatest Movie’s of All Time list.
In reality, the “letters of transit,” central to the storyline, never really existed during the war. They were a plot devise thought up by the screenwriters.
Upon winning the nomination for Best Picture, Jack L. Warner was the first on the stage to accept the award. This infuriated producer Hal B. Wallis who never forgave him.
Production costs for the film were close to $950,000, about $100,000 over budget.
In 2006, the Writers Guild of America deemed Casablanca’s screenplay to be the best ever.
Personal Note: Ask me on any given moment and I will say that Casablanca is the best film I have ever seen. There is not a credible 10 Best Films of All Time list in existence that does not contain Casablanca.
While it is hard for me to imagine any film fan that has not seen Casablanca, if for any reason you have not….see it!
Starring – Ronald Colman (Smithy), Greer Garson (Paula), Philip Dorn (Dr. Jonathan Benet), Susan Peters (Kitty), Henry Travers (Dr. Sims), Reginald Owen (Biffer).
Description – A touching story of a World War I veteran who, as a result of being shell-shocked, is an amnesiac seemingly destined to a life in a mental institution.
After wandering from the institution into town he meets and is befriended by Paula a music-hall entertainer. With no memory of his previous life, Paula gives him the name Smithy and, even after learning of his stay in the institution, decides that he is a gentle, harmless man to whom she is attracted.
Paula arranges for Smithy to join her traveling entertainment troupe, but learns that the authorities consider him to be an escapee and are looking for him. Paula decides to take Smithy to a secluded village where they marry, have a son, and appear to have found true happiness.
It is here that Smithy displays a literary talent and decides to go to London to apply for a writing job with a newspaper. While in London, Smithy is involved in an accident.
It is here where fate takes a cruel turn. As a result of the accident, Smithy now has regained the memories of his life before the war and forgotten everything about his life with Paula.
One man has now disappeared, and another long missing has returned.
NOTABLE: This motion picture was nominated for seven Academy Awards; Best Picture, Best Director (Mervyn LeRoy), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Ronald Colman), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Susan Peters), Best Art Direction-Interior Decoration, Black-and-White, Best Music,Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture, and Best Writing, Screenplay.
Greer Garson, who gave an excellent performance, was unable to receive a Best Actress in a Leading Role nomination due to the fact that she was already nominated in that category for Mrs. Miniver.
The role of Paula was reported to be the favorite of actress Greer Garson.
