Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart ( ; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American actor. His performances in classic Hollywood cinema made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Bogart ...
film ''
Casablanca
Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...
'' by Hungarian director
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silen ...
.
That year,
America
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
had just entered
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Michael Curtiz filmed his iconic multi-Oscar-winning film ''Casablanca'' under most unusual circumstances. During the shoot, he had to battle almost daily with political censors who wanted to change the film's script. In addition, Curtiz's troubled relationship with his daughter made this period more difficult for him.
The 2018 film's producers were Tamás Yvan Topolánszky, Claudia Sümeghy, and Barnabas Hutlassa. The Executive Producer was Orian Williams, and the screenwriter was Zsuzsanna Bak.
Plot
The film tells the story of the first Hungarian Academy Award winner, Michael Curtiz (originally known as Mihály Kertész), who won the Best Director Oscar for ''Casablanca'', a romantic film that film critics consider to be one of the best in film history. Curtiz, who is credited with nearly 200 films, was a highly controversial, aggressive, womanizing, selfish, violent and crude personality.
The film about him (the original full Hungarian title is ''Curtiz – A magyar, aki felforgatta Hollywoodot'') was originally made as a TV movie. Its story takes place in 1942, during the filming of ''Casablanca'', when the
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese had destroyed
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
, the
Germans
Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
had already started bombing the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
, and
the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
had just entered World War II. Curtiz, meanwhile, could not decide how to finish ''Casablanca'', rewriting the script over and over again as the shooting neared. To make matters worse, to promote
war propaganda
Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
as much as possible, the state authorities appoint a political official to supervise the film in progress, who tries to pressure Curtiz into making changes to the storyline. In defiance of these political interventions, Curtiz is determined to make his film a success, but he also faces serious family tensions during the shoot. The endangerment of his sister, who has stayed in
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, and his troubled relationship with his daughter, who has emerged after a long period of absence, take unexpected turns during the filming of the movie.
The story of the film is based on real events, with dramatized elements. The filmmakers have created the film with the help of a wealth of anecdotes and memoirs. Screenwriter Zsuzsanna Bak said that the story of the film covers 85 percent of the original events.
Cast
*Ferenc Lengyel ---
Michael Curtiz
Michael Curtiz (; born Manó Kaminer; from 1905 Mihály Kertész; ; December 24, 1886 April 10, 1962) was a Hungarian-American film director, recognized as one of the most prolific directors in history. He directed classic films from the silen ...
*Evelin Dobos --- Kitty
*Declan Hannigan --- Mr. Johnson
*Scott Alexander Young --- Hal B. Wallis
*Joseph Gyabronka --- S.Z. Sakall
*Nikolett Barabas --- Bess
*Yan Feldman --- Julius Epstein
*Rafael Feldman --- Philip Epstein
*Christopher Krieg ---
Conrad Veidt
Hans Walter Conrad Veidt ( , ; 22 January 1893 – 3 April 1943) was a German and British actor. He attracted early attention for his roles in the films ''Different from the Others'' (1919), ''The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'' (1920), and ''The Man ...
*Andrew Hefler ---
Jack L. Warner
Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-born American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros., Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's ca ...
*Ian O'Donnell ---
Claude Rains
William Claude Rains (10 November 188930 May 1967) was a British and American actor whose career spanned almost seven decades. He was the recipient of numerous accolades, including four Academy Award nominations for Academy Award for Best Supp ...
/ Captain Louis Renault (voice)
*Lili Bordán --- Irene Lee
*Caroline Boulton --- Louise Fazenda
*Eszter Nagy-Kálózy --- Margit (voice)
*Jeremy Wheeler --- Government Official No. 1
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival (), commonly abbreviated MWFF in English or FFM in French, was an annual film festival in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 1977 to 2019.
2 February 2019 (Pendance Film Festival,
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...