The 1942 American romantic drama film, Casablanca, was directed by Michael Curtiz based on Murray Burnett and Joan Alison’s unproduced stage play Everybody Comes to Rick’s. Casablanca was an A-list film with established stars and first-rate writers. Casablanca won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Curtiz was selected as Best Director. The budget for this film was originally $878,000 and actual $1,039,000. The box office was $3.7 million. Casablanca was distributed by Warner Bros.-First National Pictures. It had its world premiere on November 26 in New York City and was released nationally in the United States in January. “The film was a solid if unspectacular success in its initial run”. This film’s reputation been gradually improving to the point that the lead characters memorable lines, and theme songs have all became famous and it consistently ranks near the top of lists of the greatest films in history.
Casablanca was about a cynical nightclub owner who tried to protect an old flame and her husband from Nazis in Morocco. Despite the pressure he was on from the local authorities, Rick’s cafe became a kind of haven for refugees seeking to obtain illicit letters that will help them escape to America. But when Ilsa, a former lover of Rick’s, and her husband, show up to his cafe one day, Rick faces a tough challenge which brought up unforeseen complications, heartbreak and ultimately an excruciating decision to make.
From the book an introduction to World cinema, chapter 10 speaks about the Hollywood Golden years 1930 to 1945. “The emergence of the sound era in Hollywood at the end of the 1920s and the consolidation of the major studios was instrumental in shaping American cultural life during the Depression and the Second World War.” This was also an era of great movie stars. When sound came around, it brought excitement to motion pictures. Not only through spoken words but also as actual sound effects of violence to scare people watching these films.
From chapter 12, it speaks about Hollywood at War and Postwar Paranoia: 1940-1954. At the time of the war, variety of genre films were produced by Hollywood directors to support the war effort for the government. Hollywood was also changed into a powerful propaganda agency, by the major studios, that made new combat films to wage a psychological war against the known enemies of the United States. After the war, a huge number of films were made finding a new awareness of the social and political conditions within the U.S.
In class, we watched portions of a film called Film Noir, Bringing Darkness to Light. Film Noir is a term used to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Film noir is French for “black film” or dark film”. Film noir has a variety of plots.From one source, it states that “Hollywood’s classical film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1920s to the late 1950s.”
Sources:
An introduction to World Cinema by aristides Gazetas
History of the Motion Picture 
There was a lot of propaganda throughout the entire film. It makes sense why they would use propaganda in disguise as entertainment to get everyone to put their support into the war. Hollywood took on that opportunity to produce pro-war service comedies and propaganda films.
LikeLike