...very enjoyable to watch, but for some reason the wartime propaganda aspect really hit me in the face on this re-viewing (it's been many years since I've seen it).
Bogart had several, better roles: Maltese Falcon and Treasure of the Sierra Madre spring immediately to mind.
I feel like I'm whispering heresy (and not in a good, punk iconoclastic way: in a bad, treading on a generation's beloved memories way), but I've never liked it. Mannered & claustrophobic; and Bogart is acting in a different movie to the rest of the cast.
"We all have flaws, and mine is being wicked." James Thurber, The Thirteen Clocks 1951
One of Bogart's classic roles and the film...I love it. The shoe-horned-in nobility of Rick's actions towards Lisa (and basically the entire story) do jar whenever they're mentioned, but to be honest I'm watching Bogart and Bergman and Lorre and Greenstreet and yes, I do well-up when the Marseilles is sung, and when Sam sings 'As Time Goes By'. So, yep. Love it.
And yes, Bogart had better roles.
Been having a bit of film over-indulgence recently. Just bought the Mosfilm/Criterion blu ray version of Stalker. Astonished by how much better it is than the (now it seems) shockingly crap double DVD which is all I'd seen before.
never trust a man in a blue trench coat, never drive a car when you're dead
I saw Stalker on cinematic release and as a passionate fan of Roadside Picnic was hugely disappointed. Happy to try a revised version, though I suspect the pictures will never be as good as the book.
"We all have flaws, and mine is being wicked." James Thurber, The Thirteen Clocks 1951
On reflection, I think the main flaws undermining the entire project are the editing, and script contrivances (in that order). Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet were given short shrift, considering both shone as pivotal characters in Maltese Falcon, before Casablanca. And Bogart definitely overplayed the sad bastard persona (that's a polite way of saying he hammed it up). Other than those few, minor issues...
:><
Oh whoops. Forgot the meh cinematography. Oh well, forgettable so...
Many people consider it great, and I can understand that an emotional connection to a flawed movie eclipses all analysis of it. I re-watch, and re-assess movies fairly regularly and am often amazed at how poorly informed, or poorly observed my original take on a movie can be (usually for ones I saw >10-15 years ago) -- for better or worse. For one example, my impression of viewing the Twin Peaks movie at its original, theatrical release ~25-years ago was of its bizarrely comic exaggeration and surrealism. From re-viewing it a few months ago (on dvd), I realized it also has a profoundly tragic dimension.
“restaurant sues TV chef Gordon Ramsay, claims ‘Kitchen Nightmares’ scenes ‘fabricated’”