We'll Always Have Casablanca: The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood's Most Beloved Movie

by Noah Isenberg

Overview

A Los Angeles Times bestseller
A New York Times Book Review “Editor’s Choice” Selection

“Even the die-hardest Casablanca fan will find in this delightful book new ways to love the movie they were certain they could never love more.” —Sam Wasson, best-selling author of Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.

Casablanca is “not one movie,” Umberto Eco once quipped; “it is ‘movies.’” Film historian Noah Isenberg’s We’ll Always Have Casablanca offers a rich account of the film’s origins, the myths and realities behind its production, and the reasons it remains so revered today, over seventy-five years after its premiere.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393243130
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	02/14/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	336
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Noah Isenberg is professor and chair of the department of radio-television-film at the University of Texas at Austin, the author of We'll Always Have Casablanca, Edgar G. Ulmer: A Filmmaker at the Margins, editor of Weimar Cinema, and the recipient of an NEH Public Scholar Award.

Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 Everybody Comes to Rick's 1

Chapter 2 Usual Suspects 43

Chapter 3 Stick My Neck Out for Nobody 85

Chapter 4 Such Much? 123

Chapter 5 We'll Always Have Paris 163

Chapter 6 Play it Again 201

Chapter 7 A beautiful friendship 241

Acknowledgments 271

Notes 281

Illustration Credits 311

Index 313

Editorial Reviews

…Isenberg gives us the soup-to-nuts on Casablanca, dutifully making his way through script, casting, production and reception, to the inevitable squabbling over credit, all the while trying to account for its enduring popularity…It's all in Isenberg's account, and Casablanca fans will find it to be a treasure trove of facts and anecdotes.

The New York Times Book Review - Peter Biskind

"Isenberg gives us . . . a rich miscellany of material that will delight fans of both the film and Hollywood’s golden era. His research is clearly second to none."

Times Literary Supplement - Lucy Scholes

"As Noah Isenberg details in his excellent new book We’ll Always Have Casablanca, the 1942 film is a case study of how history gets depicted for popular entertainment, but it is also a powerful example of how the Hollywood machine produced work that intersected with political commitment while still holding fast to its romantic conventions."

Chronicle of Higher Education - Michael S. Roth

"Fascinating, packed with fun trivia . . . but also profoundly relevant in [its exploration] of how our politics and creative industries not only hold a mirror to each other but also to the nation."

Los Angeles Times - Rebecca Prime

"Combining trenchant analysis of the film’s poetic and political power with a well-researched and playful account of its legacy, We’ll Always Have Casablanca is a necessary book and perhaps even an urgent one."

Los Angeles Review of Books - Noah Gittell

"We'll Always Have Casablanca is a hugely readable and entertaining look at how Casablanca came to be, and how it came to be such an indelible part of American pop culture."

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Chris Foran

"Four out of four stars. . . . A lively account of the making of the 1942 Warner Bros. classic and why it has endured as 'Hollywood's Most Beloved Movie.'"

USA Today - Bill Desowitz

"A treasure trove of information . . . but also everything else you could ask for: the fascinating process of coming up with the script, the cast's relation on the set,and the movie's long afterlife in popular culture, right down to the latest SNL parody. Noah Isenberg has produced a delightful page-turner of a book, perfect for every movie fan."

Tablet - David Mikics

"A treasure trove of facts and anecdotes."

Peter Biskind

"Whether you're a Casablanca devotee or just a film-history buff, the story of how the iconic movie got made and what the world made of it is downright fascinating, an absolute page-turner, even a kind of narrative nonfiction thriller." ---Booklist Starred Review

From the Publisher

11/15/2016
Born from the unproduced play Everybody Comes to Rick's, the 1942 film Casablanca quickly became one of the most quoted and beloved movies of all time. Although its plot of wartime refugees trapped in the north African city was most timely, it continues to speak to new generations of film buffs. This is an exhaustive look at the making of the film, its censorship battles, early pushback from isolationists, casting coups (contrary to legend, Ronald Reagan and George Raft were never considered for the role of saloon keeper Rick), later jockeying for credit after the film's success, and most particularly, real-life refugees from Hitler's Europe taking on several parts. Isenberg (culture & media, The New School; Edgar G. Ulmer) tracks down even the most insignificant detail on the creation of this film. He notes the many unsuccessful attempts to revive the work in remakes, reboots, sequels, television shows, even a musical. Finally, the book ponders why certain themes continue to be relevant today. VERDICT This highly recommended title thoroughly explores studio politics and the political realities, while giving new fans and critics a chance to weigh in on what Casablanca means to them. [See Prepub Alert, 8/26/16.]—Stephen Rees, formerly with Levittown Lib., PA

Library Journal

2016-10-31
A film scholar explores the legendary history and lasting appeal of Casablanca (1942).Casablanca remains one of the most memorable films ever produced. A star-making vehicle for its two lead actors, Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, it has served as a textbook example of how the studio system, in this case Warner Brothers, applied its best efforts and assets in producing a film of exceptional merit. As Isenberg (Screen Studies/The New School; Edgar G. Ulmer: A Filmmaker at the Margins, 2014, etc.) notes, the film required complex collaborations among several of Warner's most talented writers, composers, set decorators, and cinematographers, and it featured iconic performances by popular contract players such as Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet. The original source, an unproduced play titled Everyone Comes to Rick's, didn't appear destined for greatness when it sold to the studio in late 1941. Yet under the guidance of studio heads Jack Warner and Hal Wallis, and aligning with the timely events of a country about to enter the war, the prescient material would have an urgent appeal. "Thanks not only to the fortuitous timing of its release," writes the author, "but also to the sly intermingling of history, politics, and fiction, Casablanca gave viewers the chance to reflect on the current state of the world…while also feeding their appetite for entertainment at the movies—larger-than-life characters, exotic backdrops, heart-wrenching romance, and plenty of glimpses of universally identifiable, basic humanity." Isenberg has scrupulously researched the developmental details of the production, and he offers an interesting dissection of the legendary script contributions and in-depth background histories of the many bit players featured in the film. However, in focusing the latter portion of the book on the film's continuing impact, he tends to broadly overstate his message, expansively recounting every film revival, TV and theatrical offshoot, parody, and just about every example where there has been occasion for reference over the last several years. These exhaustive details are likely to interest only the most die-hard fans of the film. A thoroughly researched and frequently enlightening but somewhat ponderous tribute to a beloved classic.

Kirkus Reviews