Today's marks the 95th birthday of screen icon and three-time Oscar winner, Ingrid Bergman. Bergman was one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the silver screen and proved to be quite a capable dramatic actress as well. She won Oscars for "Gaslight", 1944; "Anastasia", 1956; and "Murder on the Orient Express", 1975, but is probably most famous for starring in the legendary film, "Casablanca" with Humphrey Bogart.
.
.
1942's "Casablanca" was the Oscar winner for Best Picture in 1944, and it became so popular and has endured so well over the years, that many lines and scenes from the movie have found their way into the national cultural identity. Lines like "Play it again, Sam", "Here's looking at you, kid", "This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", and "I'm shocked, shocked to find out gambling is going on here" have been referenced hundreds of times over the years in other movies, t.v. shows and as the foundation of thousands of jokes and stories told everywhere from the Broadway stage to water coolers in every office in America. "Casablanca" even managed to showcase not one, but two of the greatest musical movie moments of all time: Paul Dooley playing the piano and singing "As Time Goes By" and Madeleine Lebeau leading the French patriots in a rendition of "La Marseillaise".
.
The Turner Classic Movie Network has a regular program called "The Essentials" in which they promote the idea that there are some movies which are so important to the cultural heritage of America that everyone should be familiar with them, regardless of whether one is a fan of old movies or not. "Casablanca" is certainly one of those essential movies.
.
.
.
.
Oh, and today also marks the 52nd birthday of another great entertainer, someone named Michael Jackson. Have you heard of him? It's still shocking to realize that he's gone.
No comments:
Post a Comment