Bogart rules.

So, this weekend I revisited "Casablanca", one of my fave old movies. I forgot how cool, modern, and smooth it is for a black and white over 50 years old. I also fell in love, again, with the very cool, modern, and smooth Humphrey Bogart. As the leading man, Bogey was never a beautiful preening metro-sexual of today's cinema stars... he looked older than he was, had a receding hairline, had big sad dog eyes, and when he smiled it was like a painful effort. However, the way in which he spoke, the way he always leaned against the shiny wood of a bar downing a martini or scotch, the way he had sudden outbursts of rage and emotion- well....that's what a bad boy does well, doesn't he? And under it all.. he was always the hero that sacrificied his own happiness for his leading love (as in Casablanca.) so....to be cliched... here's looking at you kid...
Some of the best quotes from "Casablanca"...

"Play it again Sam" - Rick to Sam the piano player in Rick's Cafe (The song.. "A kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh...")

"The Germans wore gray, you wore blue." Rick to Ilsa, remembering their love affair in Paris when the Nazis marched in.
"Yes, well I put that dress away a long time ago." Ilsa responding.

" Louis, I think this is a the beginning of a beautiful friendship." After Renault helps cover up Rick's crime.

"We'll always have Paris." Rick to Ilsa before she leaves in the plane with Laszlow for America.

" We read five time that you were killed, in five different places" Berger to Victor Laszlow
"As you can see, it was true every time" Laszlow responds.

"Monsieur, what kind of man is Capt. Renault?" Annina
"Oh he's just like every other man, only more so." Rick responds.

"You give him crdit for too much cleverness. My impression was that he was just another blundering American" Major Strasser (Nazi)
"We mustn't underestimate 'American blundering.' I was with them when they 'blundered' into Berlin in 1918." Capt. Renault in response

"You depise me, don't you?" Ugarte, who sells black market visas for those trying to flee ahead of the Nazis.
"If I gave you any thought, I probably would." Rick responds.

"Here's looking at you, kid." Rick to Ilsa after she pleads with him to help her have the courage to leave him for Laszlow...and safety.

"What's your nationality?" Major Strasser to Rick
"I"m a drunkard" Rick
"That makes him a citizen of the world." Renault

"Who are you, really, and what were you before? What did you do, and what did you think, huh?" Rick to Ilsa during the early days of their Paris affair.

"I'm on their blacklist! Their roll of honor!" Rick about the Nazi presence in Casablanca.

"I must be frank with you sir. It would take you a miracle to get you out of Casablanca, and the Germans have outlawed miracles." Senor Farrari

"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine." Rick while getting drunk after the shock of seeing Ilsa again. (My favorite line)

"Ive often speculated why you didn't return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with the senator's wife? I like to think you killed a man. It's the Romantic in me" Renault to Rick.
"It was a combination of all three." Rick responds.

That is only a taste of the wonderful writing that makes "Casablanca" so special to watch. The plot, exciting and exotic, is almost overtaken by the gritty, efficient, and at times funny lines the main characters get to chew on. It's the best un-romantic "romance" drama in this genre...and well worth watching. I wish there were more Bogeys in the world today taking care of business...