[Hardcore Legend]

I know it took me months to get back to this, but I am determined to complete it and compile it into one post as a final draft of sorts.

Casting/The Cast
Come on, can you think of anyone else as Rick or Ilsa? Humphrey Bogart makes every film he is in, and this has to be considered his brightest moment. Only he can bring the cynicism, toughness and vulnerability to this role. He delivers all of the lines as if they were born from his brain, and not for a moment do you not believe he could be in such a situation.

Ingrid Bergman portrays Ilsa very well. The first time I saw this film, I wasn't impressed with her acting in it. Sure I loved her, but I didn't really feel she did anything special. When I rewatched the film, I realized that the aloofness, the melancholy, the mystic that she presents creates the character of Ilsa. She isn't in your face, telling you what is happening like many of today's character actresses do. She delivers the character as it should be; a mysterious woman from the past without a clue about what to do in the situation she has found herself in.

While both the leads are outstanding, the supporting cast gives life to the world around these star crossed lovers. Peter Lorre's performance, while brief is basically a Peter Lorre performance. Anxious and blunt, he provides jump starts our story. Peter Lorre plays the role 'he created' and that so many actors today try to emmulate (whether they know it or not).

Claude Reins is the meat and potatos of this film. He brings a subtle charm to the corruptness of the character. His character balances everyone out. When one character or the other seems to be leaning too far towards one side, he doesn't hesitate to call them on it. Claude has that smile, like the cat who caught the canary that everytime you see it, you chuckle to yourself.

Paul Henreid does a good job of being believable as the patriotic, yet realistic freedom fighter. His appearence, along with his demeanor fits well for a man we are supposed to dislike for no reason at all. Because of the way he carries out the character, we feel as though we are doing him a diservice by rooting for Rick.

Sydney Greenstreet, like Peter Lorre, excutes a character he has played over and over again. That character is his. When people harken back to wanting someone of this nature, he is the reference point. Ask George Lucas. When he wanted Jabba the Hutt, he described it with two words: Sydney Greenstreet.

Dooley Wilson does his best 'Louie Armstrong' impersonation and pulls it off. While he disappears in the second half of the movie, he is the link between our two leads. He is the one they keep coming back to in order to get closer to one another.

S.Z. Sakall and Conrad Veidt do wonderful jobs of providing both comic relief and a seriousness that can not be forgotten. While Sakall bring the humanity back to this picture, Veidt excutes the 'Nazi persona' perfectly to remind us of what the 'triangle' is up against.

I know that I've left out other supporting cast members, but in a film like this, where every person on the screen automatically becomes recognizable to you, you have to draw the line somewhere.

Quotations
I'll continue this when I have more time.......