Song: “As Time Goes By”

 

In the American Film Institute's list of 100 Years...100 Songs, "As Time Goes By" ranked number 2, behind "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Not sure I agree. Uploaded by gonemovies.com.

It’s the bane of a songwriter’s existence that the songs they write that become hits are forever associated with the recording artist, not them. In the case of “As Time Goes By,” even the singer’s identity is often forgotten. (It was Dooley Wilson.) We’ll always associate this song with Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart and that wonderfully romantic movie Casablanca (Great American Things, February 14, 2010).

You remember the scene:

Ilsa: Play it once, Sam, for old times’ sake.
Sam: I don’t know what you mean, Miss Ilsa.
Ilsa: (whispered) Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’
Sam: Why, I can’t remember it, Miss Ilsa. I’m a little rusty on it.
Ilsa: I’ll hum it for you. (Ilsa hums two bars. Sam starts to play – without singing the lyrics. She presses him to sing.) Sing it, Sam.

Uploaded by factoidz.com.

We can’t leave without acknowledging the songwriter, Herman Hupfield. Hupfield was a bit unusual in that he wrote both the music and lyrics for his songs. He penned “As Time Goes By” in 1931 for a Broadway musical, Everybody’s Welcome. It was later picked up and used in the play Everybody Comes to Rick’s, which was the basis for Casablanca. Fortunately for movie fans through the generations, the producers insisted the song be used in the movie as well. According to the American Film Institute’s list of 100 Years…100 Songs, it’s the number two movie song of all time. (Number one is “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”)

Film: Movies of 1954

 

Sabrina, starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn, and William Holden, didn't win any of the year's major awards, but it's one of the most-beloved - largely because of Hepburn. Uploaded by dailyfill.com.

Most of us think of the 1950s as a bland, forgettable decade. The calm before the storm. On the movie front, however, it was a decade of spectacle and style. One of its best years was 1954, which featured these movies:

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Shared the prize as the year’s box office champ. Starring Kirk Douglas and James Mason. The first sci-fi film from Disney.

The Barefoot Contessa – Perhaps Ava Gardner’s finest role. Humphrey Bogart co-starred.

The Caine Mutiny – Humphrey Bogart and those little steel balls. (Great American Things, July 15, 2010)

The Country Girl – Grace Kelly won the Academy Award for Best Actress in this film that co-starred Bing Crosby and William Holden.

Dial M for Murder. Uploaded by imdb.com.

Dial M for Murder – Hitchcock’s second-most-successful film of the year. Starred Ray Milland and Grace Kelly.

On the Waterfront – The critical hit of the year, winning eight Oscars, including Best Picture. Elia Kazan directed Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint and Rod Steiger.

Rear Window – Big at the box office, and one of Hitchcock’s best. With Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly. (Great American Things, September 6, 2010)

Sabrina – Billy Wilder’s comedy-drama starring Audrey Hepburn, William Holden, and Humphrey Bogart.

A Star Is Born – Maybe Judy Garland’s most famous (adult) performance. With James Mason.

White Christmas – The other co-leader at the box office. No snow in Vermont. Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney. (Great American Things, December 24, 2009)

Film: The Caine Mutiny

Humphrey Bogart is much better known for such movies as Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon. But he may have done his finest acting in The Caine Mutiny. Uploaded by images.artnet.com.

I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who was clinically paranoid. But if I ever meet someone with that mental illness, I do know that he’ll be rolling two steel balls in his hand. I know that because that’s what Humphrey Bogart (Great American Things, August 11, 2009) did as Captain Queeg in The Caine Mutiny.

As the minesweeper destroyer USS Caine performed its duties during World War II, the sailors on board noticed increasingly strange behavior from their Captain. Eventually, a lieutenant played by Fred MacMurray tells the rest of the crew that Queeg is crazy, and they have a duty to remove him from command. The second-in-command, another great Van Johnson role, eventually agrees. During a typhoon, the Captain’s erratic decisions threaten to capsize the Caine, so Johnson steps in and relieves Bogart of his duties. When they return to port, Johnson and MacMurray face a court-martial for mutiny.

Uploaded by i36.tinypic.com.

I don’t want to spoil the ending in case you haven’t seen the film. José Ferrer is the defense counsel, and is the conscience of the film. And Bogart’s testimony is one of the most fascinating scenes ever shot on film, and perhaps his greatest ever on-screen moment.

Although the movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards, it didn’t win any. The Caine Mutiny was the second-highest-grossing film of 1954, coming in behind only White Christmas. (Great American Things, December 24, 2009)

Writer: Raymond Chandler

Because of his definite performance in The Big Sleep, we'll always picture Humphrey Bogart as the character of Philip Marlowe. Uploaded by images2.fanpop.com.

I’m a little bit sheepish to admit this, but it must have something to do with the two-syllable names. I sometimes can’t remember if Raymond Chandler is the writer and Philip Marlowe is the detective, or the other way around. Maybe after writing this post, I won’t get them confused anymore. Maybe.

Uploaded by vos.lavoz.com.ar.

Chandler was over 50 when his first novel was published. He only completed seven books, but four of them are among the best detective fiction ever published: The Big Sleep (1939), Farewell My Lovely (1940), The Lady in the Lake (1943), and The Long Goodbye (1954).

Along with Dashiell Hammett, Chandler helped create what’s known as “hardboiled” crime fiction. Philip Marlowe was a tough, sarcastic, hard-drinking private eye, but one who also showed a more thoughtful, philosophical side. The movies made from Chandler’s novels helped create a cinematic style as well, film noir.

Speaking of film, an underappreciated aspect of Chandler’s literary legacy is his screenplays. He co-wrote (with Billy Wilder) the noir classic Double Indemnity, and also collaborated on Alfred Hitchcock’s Strangers on a Train.

It’s hard to picture the Philip Marlowe character and not think of Humphrey Bogart (Great American Things, August 11, 2009), the actor who brought him to life in The Big Sleep. Or did Bogart portray Raymond Chandler? See, I’m still confused…

Film: Casablanca

Rick: If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. Uploaded by img272.imageshack.us.

“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”

It’s the movie that made Humphrey Bogart (Great American Things, August 11, 2009) a major star. It won three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. And it’s one of the most romantic movies of all time. Not happy romantic, like Sleepless in Seattle, but unrequited romantic.

“We’ll always have Paris.”

Uploaded to Flickr by movies&movies.

Ingrid Bergman was at the height of her beauty in this film, and her inability to commit to Bogart broke our hearts. Casablanca was released just a few weeks after war broke out in North Africa, as Churchill and Roosevelt were meeting in the city, making the setting all the more relevant to its audiences.

“Round up the usual suspects.”

As with most great movies, Casablanca had a terrific cast. Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson as Sam. Although the movie didn’t do overwhelming business at the box office, it was quickly recognized as the classic film that it has become.

“The fundamental things apply as time goes by.”

Casablanca was named #1 in the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Passions category, and #2 in “100 Years…100 Movies.” “As Time Goes By” was #2 in “100 Years…100 Songs”. Also, the movie had more entries in the “100 Years…100 Movie Quotes” countdown than any other film, topped by #5:

“Here’s looking at you, kid.”