Aljean Harmetz

The Making of Casablanca: Bogart, Bergman, and World War II by Aljean Harmetz, published to mark the 60th anniversary of the film with a new foreword as well as a new title having been previously published as Round Up the Usual Suspects, is a deeply researched examination of how Casablanca came to be both the ultimate product of the studio system and a timeless classic. Harmetz is greatly helped in her efforts by Warner Brothers studio practice of requiring memos for all communications which was reinforced by the note 'Verbal Messages Cause Misunderstanding and Delays' printed on every sheet and that those memos are preserved along with contracts, letters, scripts, and other studio materials in the Jack Warner Collection at the University of Southern California. The first chapter is called Just Another Movie which is important to understand as at the time a studio like Warner Brothers was producing 50 films each year, so everyone involved looking at it as a job of work. As Harmetz shows many of the participants were assigned to the production because they were available having finished their previous production and years later many have hazy memories because Casablanca was just another day of work at the studio. Harmetz does seem to want it both ways at times as she goes out of her way to highlight the contributions of Hal Wallis as a creative producer while downgrading the contributions of director Michael Curtiz when in fact both men were at the top of their creative talents in their respective roles on many productions at the Warner Brothers studio. Harmetz does a much better job of exposing some long time myths around the film. First, she tackles the claims that the script's Oscar winning writers Howard Koch and the Epstein Brothers created all of the story and characters by highlighting the contributions of many uncredited screenwriters and by showing how many of the characters and events in Casablanca were already present in the play it was based on "Everybody Comes to Ricks" by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. Another myth was that no one knew the ending of Casablanca while the film was being made, actually as Harmetz illustrates they knew the ending and it was more matter of solving how they would get to that ending where Rick gets Ilsa onto the plane with her husband. According to Julius Epstein the ending came to them when he and his brother were driving in a car and they simultaneously looked at each other and said "Round up the usual suspects"! Then there was the dust up at the Academy Awards where both Jack Warner and Hal Wallis got up to accept Casablanca's surprise win for Best Picture with Jack Warner charging the stage to claim the Oscar. Wallis was so irritated that he broke with studio policy and got a story published about his claim on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. This move ruptured his relationship with Warner and lead to Wallis' departure from the studio. Harmetz shows that at the time there was no formal rule as to who accepted Best Picture and that by tradition it was generally awarded the the head of the studio or their representative. In the 50s as the studios declined and independent production grew the rules changed to have the Oscar go to the producer of the Best Picture winner. Casablanca's production benefited from a confluence of creative talents and its good fortune continued as it was rushed to premiere when Allied forces landed in North Africa and took Casablanca and then again its wider release a few months later coincided with the meeting between FDR and Churchill in Casablanca. The film's evolution from timely box office critical success to an all time classic was mirrored and propelled by its leading man Humphrey Bogart's own journey from contract player to movie star to immortal icon. Both took that step in 1957 when Bogart died from cancer and the owners of the Brattle Theatre near Harvard University decided to revive Casablanca and started a tradition of playing the film every spring during finals and host festivals that showed all of Bogart's films each year. This book is a fine memorial to the careers and contributions of all of Casablanca's creators.… (more)