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The Making of Casablanca
- Bogart, Bergman, and World War II
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 49 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Critically acclaimed when published in 1992 as Round Up the Usual Suspects, The Making of Casablanca offers the ultimate insider's look at the politics and personalities behind the most celebrated movie of all time - Casablanca.
Updated and timed for the 60th anniversary (Thanksgiving Day, 1942) of this movie, this critically acclaimed book draws upon years of research, including access to Ingrid Bergman's personal acting diaries and the vast Warner Brothers archives, as well as interviews with many of those close to the film, including the late Paul Henreid, Lauren Bacall, and scriptwriters Howard Koch and Julius Epstein.
Richly detailed and full of surprises, The Making of Casablanca debunks many cherished myths about the casting, script, story, and stars, to reveal the realities of the highly pressured Hollywood studio system during World War II.
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Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Buretto
- 01-25-21
European St. Bernards make the book worthwhile
A lot of this book is well-trodden ground, personalities of the stars, and the conflicts between one another. It's necessary and a book claiming to comprehensively cover the film absolutely needs such information. But it does run a bit thin after a while, The petty prissiness of Paul Henreid, the vanity and aloofness of Ingrid Bergman, the marital battles of Bogart. Where the book really shines however is the coverage of the various European cast and crew on the production, and more widely in Hollywood at the time. The reference in the headline being that of the story of European dachsunds meeting up in Hollywood and claiming that in Europe they were St. Bernards. Some of them were, but some of them were just creating a false image of themselves. But those chapters, along with the background work of the OWI (Office of War Information) both positive and negative, are easily the most entertaining and enlightening of the book.
Personally, I love the film and have for as long as I can remember. I disagree with the author about the perfection of the cast however. Among the indispensable elements are, of course, Bogart, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Conrad Veidt, Dooley Wilson and the likes of Leonid Kinskey and S.Z. Sakall, as Sascha and Carl, respectively. But if I'm being honest, I never felt that the role of Ilsa was undeniably Bergman's. In part, perhaps due to the inferiority of the writing afforded to female characters, it's not a thoroughly engaging role. A more dynamic actress could very well have ruined the delicate balance set up by the Koch, the Epsteins and Curtiz, but I don't doubt that several others could have played the role of Ilsa in the understated manner equally as well. The same with Laszlo. He, along with Bergman, are ingrained in our memory of the film, but a stiff is a stiff. And a stiff that can't adequately bandage his own wound, at that.
The other part that is a bit problematic is that, while the author acknowledges the film as a classic, there is almost an apologetic quality to the praise, as if to mitigate the claims of the film as melodrama or romantic propaganda. I think to dismiss Casablanca as mere melodrama, or romance, or propaganda, does the film an enormous disservice. Underneath the surface, it is has a deeply conflicted core. While I wouldn’t classify it as pure film noir (though many a film noir discussion group has grappled with this issue), in its heart there are classically noir-ish features, embodied primarily in Claude Raines’ portrayal of Renaud, and of course, the initial cynicism of Bogart’s Rick Blaine. In a way, it's even more noir than standard noir. For a start, why isn’t Rick in America? The subject is just touched on, giving vague reasons for comic effect, and proceed to recount Rick’s anti-fascist, though mercenary, leanings in the past. Could it be that Richard Blaine sees through the fog and can recognize the truth, that this cotton candy dream of “America” is a false promise? I don’t think it’s a coincidence that references to going to America are occasionally rebuffed or marginalized, as in Blaine’s advice the young woman, “Go back to Bulgaria”, or Karl’s remark that “You’ll get along beautiful in America”, to the elderly couple and their butchered English. It may seem trivial, but the nature and censorship of the time would not have allowed an honest appraisal of the American dream, so only slight moments can be glimpsed. The book recognizes this and notes the pressures brought to bear on the filmmakers. The recent film "Curtiz" also shows how this battle played out. I don’t see this as anti-American, but merely a recognition that while America offers a life better than what the Nazi party has created, the world is broken in a way that a naive concept like that of the America dream cannot fix. Regardless of political leanings, as detailed in the book, filmmakers, particularly the European emigres, would recognize the hardship, inequities, misogyny and racism to be found in their new country. The film surely conveys the picture postcard dream of America, but it also hints at its shortcomings, most notably through Rick.
Finally, a few notes on the text. The book was written in the 90s apparently, but this is still enough time to recognize that Woody Allen *didn't* misunderstand the line in the film when he wrote the play and film "Play It Again, Sam". It's the nature of his film, that Allen's character is emulating Bogart's Rick Blaine, in essence, doing it "again". And "Conflict" was not a second rate picture, regardless of what the author or, if true, Bogart himself, thought. It's a superior variation of the film "Gaslight". Sorry to pick in Ingrid again. And, sorry no, Clint Eastwood was not carrying on the aura of Bogie, nor Mel Gibson, or anyone else. Or if they were, they were pale imitations.
5 people found this helpful
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- Tim Simpson
- 05-19-22
Almost a good book
The first part about the making is top notch then for some idiotic reason like most books that deal with this time period it delves into segregation, women roles in the forties as if this is unknown and I had to stop it with three hours to go so boring it’s been told so so many times
1 person found this helpful
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- P. Roth
- 07-19-21
Loved Every Minute of It
I wish this book went on for hours more. It’s fascinating to get a glimpse of all that went into making Casablanca.
1 person found this helpful
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- Roger Park
- 07-13-22
Misleading title
It should be called “A history of Warner Bros., with occasional mention of the film Casablanca.”
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- M M
- 04-08-22
Will listen again
Great background, great performance. Everything you ever wanted to know about the subject matter without becoming boring or repetitive.
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Academy Award-winning director Michael Curtiz—whose best-known films include Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mildred Pierce, and White Christmas—was in many ways the anti-auteur. During his 27-year tenure at Warner Bros., he directed swashbuckling adventures, Westerns, musicals, war epics, romances, historical dramas, horror films, tearjerkers, melodramas, comedies, and film noir masterpieces. In the first biography of this colorful, instinctual artist, Alan K. Rode illuminates the life and work of one of the film industry's most complex figures.
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Comprehensive
- By MikeEC on 04-28-22
By: Alan K. Rode
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Close-Up on Sunset Boulevard
- Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream
- By: Sam Staggs
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 14 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard, a classic film noir and also a damning dissection of the Hollywood dream factory, evokes the glamour and ruin of the stars who subsist on that dream. It’s also one long in-joke about the movie industry and those who made it great - and who were, in turn, destroyed by it. One of the most critically admired films of the 20th century, Sunset Boulevard is also famous as silent-star Gloria Swanson’s comeback picture.
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ABRIDGED VERSION BADLY NEEDED!
- By The Louligan on 01-18-22
By: Sam Staggs
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We'll Always Have Casablanca
- The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood's Most Beloved Movie
- By: Noah Isenberg
- Narrated by: Tom Perkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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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, and the effect of the war's progress on the movie's reception.
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Good for fans, would've liked more insider info
- By Buretto on 07-30-17
By: Noah Isenberg
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20th Century-Fox
- Darryl F. Zanuck and the Creation of the Modern Film Studio
- By: Scott Eyman
- Narrated by: Suehyla El-Attar
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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March 20, 2019 marked the end of an era - Disney took ownership of the movie empire that was Fox. For almost a century before that historic date, Twentieth Century-Fox was one of the preeminent producers of films, stars, and filmmakers. Its unique identity in the industry and place in movie history is unparalleled - and one of the greatest stories to come out of Hollywood.
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Our media world is unlike anything we’ve ever known
- By Amy Evans on 12-04-21
By: Scott Eyman
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Pictures at a Revolution
- Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood
- By: Mark Harris
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Here is the epic human drama behind the making of the five movies nominated for Best Picture in 1967 - Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, The Graduate, In the Heat of the Night, Doctor Dolittle, and Bonnie and Clyde - and through them, the larger story of the cultural revolution that transformed Hollywood and America forever.
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Would It Be Too Much To Ask?
- By Casey Keller on 12-31-08
By: Mark Harris
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City of Nets
- A Portrait of Hollywood in the 1940's
- By: Otto Friedrich, Glen David Gold - foreword
- Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 25 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1939, 50 million Americans went to the movies every week, Louis B. Mayer was the highest-paid man in the country, and Hollywood produced 530 feature films a year. One decade and five thousand movies later, the studios were faltering....
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Disjointed and flawed
- By A. N. Onymous on 01-18-22
By: Otto Friedrich, and others
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Michael Curtiz
- A Life in Film
- By: Alan K. Rode
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 25 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall
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Performance
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Academy Award-winning director Michael Curtiz—whose best-known films include Casablanca, Yankee Doodle Dandy, Mildred Pierce, and White Christmas—was in many ways the anti-auteur. During his 27-year tenure at Warner Bros., he directed swashbuckling adventures, Westerns, musicals, war epics, romances, historical dramas, horror films, tearjerkers, melodramas, comedies, and film noir masterpieces. In the first biography of this colorful, instinctual artist, Alan K. Rode illuminates the life and work of one of the film industry's most complex figures.
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Comprehensive
- By MikeEC on 04-28-22
By: Alan K. Rode
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Anything You Can Imagine
- Peter Jackson and the Making of Middle-earth
- By: Ian Nathan, Andy Serkis - foreword
- Narrated by: Tristram Wymark
- Length: 22 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The definitive history of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth saga, Anything You Can Imagine takes us on a cinematic journey across all six films, featuring brand-new interviews with Peter, his cast and his crew. From the early days of daring to dream it could be done, through the highs and lows of making the films, to fan adoration and, finally, Oscar glory.
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A journey to Middle Earth and Back Again
- By John Bridges on 01-27-19
By: Ian Nathan, and others
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Blood, Sweat & Chrome
- The Wild and True Story of Mad Max: Fury Road
- By: Kyle Buchanan
- Narrated by: Fred Berman, Aspen Vincent, Dan Bittner, and others
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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It won six Oscars and has been hailed as the greatest action film ever, but it is a miracle Mad Max: Fury Road ever made it to the screen…or that anybody survived the production. The story of this modern classic spanned nearly two decades of wild obstacles as visionary director George Miller tried to mount one of the most difficult shoots in Hollywood history.
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Incredible
- By J-Mike on 05-10-22
By: Kyle Buchanan
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Camera Man
- Buster Keaton, the Dawn of Cinema, and the Invention of the Twentieth Century
- By: Dana Stevens
- Narrated by: Dana Stevens
- Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Born the same year as the film industry in 1895, Buster Keaton began his career as the child star of a family slapstick act reputed to be the most violent in vaudeville. Beginning in his early 20s, he enjoyed a decade-long stretch as the director, star, stuntman, editor, and all-around mastermind of some of the greatest silent comedies ever made, including Sherlock Jr., The General, and The Cameraman.
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Worth a listen, but only as a postscript to Curtis
- By Vikon on 05-05-22
By: Dana Stevens
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Tinseltown
- Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 15 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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By 1920, the movies had suddenly become America's new favorite pastime and one of the nation's largest industries. Never before had a medium possessed such power to influence; yet Hollywood's glittering ascendancy was threatened by a string of headline-grabbing tragedies - including the murder of William Desmond Taylor, the popular president of the Motion Picture Directors Association, a legendary crime that has remained unsolved until now.
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Everybody's a dreamer...
- By Steven on 01-08-15
By: William J. Mann
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This Was Hollywood: Forgotten Stars and Stories
- Turner Classic Movies
- By: Carla Valderrama
- Narrated by: Carla Valderrama
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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From former screen legends who have faded into obscurity to new revelations about the biggest movie stars, Valderrama unearths the most fascinating little-known tales from the birth of Hollywood through its Golden Age. The shocking fate of the world's first movie star. Clark Gable's secret love child. The film that nearly ended Paul Newman's career. A former child star who, at 93, reveals her #metoo story for the first time. Valderrama unfolds these stories, and many more, in a volume that is by turns riveting, maddening, hilarious, and shocking.
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Hollywood Fun
- By Ernie D. Casciato on 01-06-21
By: Carla Valderrama
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Hollywood: The Oral History
- By: Jeanine Basinger, Sam Wasson
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon, Marni Penning
- Length: 28 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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From the archives of the American Film Institute comes a unique picture of what it was like to work in Hollywood from its beginnings to its present day. Gleaned from nearly 3,000 interviews, involving 400 voices from the industry, Hollywood: The Oral History lets a listener “listen in” on candid remarks from the biggest names in front of the camera—Bette Davis, Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Harold Lloyd—to the biggest behind it—Frank Capra, Steven Spielberg, Alfred Hitchcock, as well as the lesser known individuals that shaped what was heard and seen on screen.
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Picky, Picky!
- By Patrick on 12-22-22
By: Jeanine Basinger, and others
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Alfred Hitchcock
- A Brief Life
- By: Peter Ackroyd
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 10 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Alfred Hitchcock was a strange child. Fat, lonely, burning with fear and ambition, his childhood was an isolated one, scented with fish from his father's shop. Afraid to leave his bedroom, he would plan great voyages, using railway timetables to plot an exact imaginary route across Europe. So how did this fearful figure become one of the most respected film directors of the 20th century?
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Excellent intro to a great film director's legacy
- By An Alexandria music lover on 11-13-16
By: Peter Ackroyd
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Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli
- The Epic Story of the Making of The Godfather
- By: Mark Seal
- Narrated by: Phil Thron
- Length: 15 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
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The story of how The Godfather was made is as dramatic, operatic, and entertaining as the film itself. Over the years, many versions of various aspects of the movie’s fiery creation have been told - sometimes conflicting, but always compelling. Mark Seal sifts through the evidence, has extensive new conversations with director Francis Ford Coppola and several heretofore silent sources, and complements them with colorful interviews with key players including actors Al Pacino, James Caan, Talia Shire, and others.
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A great book that draws from many, many sources
- By DARBY KERN on 04-11-22
By: Mark Seal
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Dark City (Revised and Expanded Edition)
- The Lost World of Film Noir
- By: Eddie Muller
- Narrated by: Eddie Muller, Erin Bennett
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Dark City expands with new chapters and a fresh collection of restored photos that illustrate the mythic landscape of the imagination. It's a place where the men and women who created film noir often find themselves dangling from the same sinister heights as the silver-screen avatars to whom they gave life.
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Good overview, summary of the genre
- By Buretto on 03-31-22
By: Eddie Muller