Decided to revisit the classics last night, starting with Casablanca.
*Sigh* I really have to say this: Good dialog has gone the way of the panda. And unless there’s some serious screwing going on, the species might just vanish.
Consider the exchange:
Captain Renault: This is the end of the chase.
Rick: Twenty thousand francs says it isn't.
Captain Renault: Is that a serious offer?
Rick: I just paid out twenty. I'd like to get it back.
Captain Renault: Make it ten. I'm only a poor corrupt official.
Said with the just the right kind of Bogart crispness, with Claude Rains (as Captain Renault) giving a self-aware sneer as he delivered the last line, it was a dialogue that gives us a peek into the souls of the characters.
And then there’s another:
Ugarte: Too bad about those two German couriers, wasn't it?
Rick: They got a lucky break. Yesterday they were just two German clerks. Today they're the "Honored Dead".
Ugarte: You are a very cynical person, Rick, if you'll forgive me for saying so.
Rick: [shortly] I forgive you.
Call it whatever you want. The dryness of the delivery, the right amount of zing, the unforced humor. One of the best scripts celebrated now is Juno, but the one-liners seemed so contrived, much of the movie felt like one night in the Vegas Comic Circuit.
I’m keeping a promise to myself now: I will be watching one classic movie per night, if the schedule allows me. Who knows, it might be a beginning of a beautiful friendship.
*Sigh* I really have to say this: Good dialog has gone the way of the panda. And unless there’s some serious screwing going on, the species might just vanish.
Consider the exchange:
Captain Renault: This is the end of the chase.
Rick: Twenty thousand francs says it isn't.
Captain Renault: Is that a serious offer?
Rick: I just paid out twenty. I'd like to get it back.
Captain Renault: Make it ten. I'm only a poor corrupt official.
Said with the just the right kind of Bogart crispness, with Claude Rains (as Captain Renault) giving a self-aware sneer as he delivered the last line, it was a dialogue that gives us a peek into the souls of the characters.
And then there’s another:
Ugarte: Too bad about those two German couriers, wasn't it?
Rick: They got a lucky break. Yesterday they were just two German clerks. Today they're the "Honored Dead".
Ugarte: You are a very cynical person, Rick, if you'll forgive me for saying so.
Rick: [shortly] I forgive you.
Call it whatever you want. The dryness of the delivery, the right amount of zing, the unforced humor. One of the best scripts celebrated now is Juno, but the one-liners seemed so contrived, much of the movie felt like one night in the Vegas Comic Circuit.
I’m keeping a promise to myself now: I will be watching one classic movie per night, if the schedule allows me. Who knows, it might be a beginning of a beautiful friendship.
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