Well Always Have Casablanca, Noah Isenberg
Well Always Have Casablanca, Noah Isenberg
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We'll Always Have Casablanca
The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood's Most Beloved Movie

Author: Noah Isenberg

Narrator: Tom Perkins

Unabridged: 8 hr 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 07/20/2017

Synopsis

Casablanca was first released in 1942, just two weeks after the city of Casablanca itself surrendered to American troops led by General Patton. Featuring a pitch-perfect screenplay, a classic soundtrack, and unforgettable performances by Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and a deep supporting cast, Casablanca was hailed in the New York Times as "a picture that makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap."

We'll Always Have Casablanca is celebrated film historian Noah Isenberg's rich account of this most beloved movie's origins. Through extensive research and interviews with filmmakers, film critics, family members of the cast and crew, and diehard fans, Isenberg reveals the myths and realities behind Casablanca's production, exploring the transformation of the unproduced stage play into the classic screenplay, the controversial casting decisions, the battles with Production Code censors, and the effect of the war's progress on the movie's reception.

Finally, Isenberg turns to Casablanca's long afterlife and the reasons it remains so revered. From the Marx Brothers' 1946 spoof hit, A Night in Casablanca, to loving parodies in New Yorker cartoons, Saturday Night Live skits, and Simpsons episodes, Isenberg delves into the ways the movie has lodged itself in the American psyche.

About Noah Isenberg

Noah Isenberg is director of screen studies and professor of culture and media at The New School. The recipient of an NEH Public Scholar Award, he is the author of Edgar G. Ulmer: A Filmmaker at the Margins and editor of Weimar Cinema. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

Goodreads review by John on December 24, 2019

If you're a Casablanca fan (I've seen it over 20 times myself) this book could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Just about every aspect of the movie--before, during and after production-- is explored and the book brims with fascinating details about the mediocre play on which it was based......more

Goodreads review by Ed on March 18, 2020

For gaining some background and history of the renowned movie, Casablanca, this book fills the bill quite nicely. The discussions of the movie, especially the actors, is more interesting to me than the pop culture associations with it. I don't care if The Simpsons did a parody, for instance. The ori......more

Goodreads review by Jim on September 23, 2024

I really enjoyed this! Casablanca is one of my all-time favorite movies and I enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at how it was made and all the things happening in the world and in Hollywood at the time that informed it.......more

Goodreads review by Michael on March 11, 2017

This book has a lot of interesting Casablanca trivia. It also has a lot of boring Casablanca trivia. The opening chapters on the making of the movie, the role of emigres in it, and how the movie makers dealt with the censorship of the time were quite interesting. The part about possible sequels got......more

Goodreads review by Michael on February 26, 2017

There have been a lot of books written about Casablanca, and I've probably read most of them. This one begins well, but its structure is weak (not exactly chronological but thematic) and the author goes off on cultural tangents in order, it seems, to lengthen the book. Very little new is brought up,......more

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