Casablanca (1942)

Why it's here:
Few classic films are better known or better made. Cassablanca represents a perfect moment in cinema that should be experienced.

Specs:
About 2 hours, black and white.

Our family's average rating (on a scale of 1-10):
8.0

More about the movie and our reaction to it:
If there is anything more beautiful than Ingrid Bergman's face, I certainly have not seen it. All I need to know about the world of romantic love and tension can be read in it. Her relationship and chemistry with Humphrey Bogart are so strong that they steal my heart without effort; in fact, I imagine they could get to the heart of pretty much anyone who watches -- kids included. There is no question that the power of this movie is the underlying romance.

But the even cooler thing, is that Casablanca goes far beyond romance to pull in its audience. Full of intrigue that will grab your family from the beginning, its an exciting picture about war and politics, with fabulous uniforms, nationalities, threads of international politics and patriotism. The characters are nuanced enough that you can't always tell who to root for. Thus, its an accessible plot that makes you feel adult when you watch it.

My kids love Peter Lorre (who we also enjoyed in the Maltese Falcon) as a strangely exciting and eccentric character and were thrilled to also see Sydney Greenstreet again. Among the film's stellar performances is that of Claude Rains as a kinda funny, cool, unknown entity. And once again, Bogart plays an extremely cool main man -- someone you can't tear your eyes from and whose every move seems important. He is fabulous.

As with pretty much all old movies, there's lots of drinking and smoking -- and plenty of seedier topics. The nice thing with old movies, is that the seedier aspects of life are glossed over and nothing is too explicit; although a great deal may be implied. And also, as with many old films, the one-liners are awesome. The kids laughed aloud at lines like "round up the usual suspects" and "'this gun is pointing at your heart' 'that's my least vulnerable spot.

Iconic shot:

Maltese Falcon (1941)

Why it's here:
Suggested by a friend as a must see for our festival. Boy was she right.

Specs:
1 hr 40 minutes, black and white. Available on dvd

Our family's average rating on a 1-10 scale:
8.5

More about the film and our reaction to it:
There's something about star power. Regardless of the era, regardless of the genre, regardless of color, black & white, sound or silence, and regardless of whether you are 10 or 40, you know it when you see it. And Humphrey Bogart had it. The man just controlled the screen. His voice, his smile, his cool demeanor and great hats...all adds up to one sweet gumshoe.

This film was mesmerizing and compelling, even though we didn't always follow the clever plot,; we were spellbound by the drama. Its enough to say this is your basic detective story. Murder, intrigue, twists and turns, satisfying conclusion and, by the end, a wish that this were a series rather than a single movie. Because you just can't get enough of lines like "he's so full of holes he couldn't have gone far," "when I slap you you'll take it and like it," "keep on riding me and they're gonna be picking iron out of your liver," or the classic "I couldn't be fonder of you if you were my own son. But if you lose a son its possible to get another. There's only one Maltese Falcon."

Talented actors fill the cast - Mary Astor gives an incredibly interesting and believable performance as the apparently distraught sister who hands Bogart's Sam Spade the case and then turns out to be much much more. Fabulous Sydney Greenstreet is the big man sitting back and pulling all the strings. But most of all, the boys loved Peter Lorre as the wheezy-voiced, tightly-wound, nevertheless polite gangster Joel Cairo, with whom Spade has some tremendous interactions.

Iconic shot: