CasaBlanca

                  Key Movie Elements in: Casablanca

 

Production:                               Movie Elements       

Producer                                     Jack L. Warner         

Director                                       Michael Curtiz            

Screenplay                                  Julius J. Epstein & Philip G. Epstein & Howard Koch

Story                                             Murray Burnett  & Joan Alison   

Production Designer               George James Hopkins        

Production Management       Al Alleborn   

Art Director                               Carl Jules Weyl              

Director of Photography        Arthur Edeson          

Music Director                          Max Steiner  

Costume Designer                   Orry-Kelly     

Special Effects                           Lawrence W. Butler & Willard Van Enger       

Film Editor                                Owen Marks 

Actor #1                                     Humphrey Bogart           

Actor #2                                     Ingrid Bergman       

Actor #3                                     Paul Henreid

Actor #4                                    Claude Rains

                                               

Movie:                      

Character #1      Rick Blaine - Complicated American Gun Runner turned Saloon owner in Casablanca

Character #2      Ilsa Lund - Long lost lover to Rick “Richard”. She is conflicted about her love for her husband and the love she feels for her lover.

Character #3      Victor Laszlo - Rebel forces leader and revolutionary. He is the husband to Ilsa.

Character #4      Captain Louis Renault - Corrupt official and friend to Rick

Setting                  The setting is placed in WWII French Neutral Casablanca,

Story Line            This is a love story about love found & lost, then found & lost.

Point of View      Third Person Omniscient  

Theme                   Drama/Love story  

Overview

This is a love story that is told over and over again. It is hard to change something that seems to work. Although this has been re-written into several different movies, you can never change the classic.

            In an emotional turn of events the lead character, Rick, goes from having everything he wants to being tossed about like a storm. There is a lot to be said to minding your own business and keeping to your morals. Here that is shown to be truer than ever. In the movie Rick is even warned to just stay out of it. Only thing that will happen is trouble.

It is amazing the changes in lighting and the use of angles that are employed in the movie to change the mood of the different scenes. The lighting usage of shadows brings about a since of expectation for the moviegoers. The blurring of scenes to travel back into memories and the use of the fog and darkness to bring the viewer deeper into the movie adds a lot to the movies impact.

The effort put into the movie by Jack Warner and Michael Curtis show throughout. Making this movie a classic.

A Touch of Evil

Key Movie Elements in:   A Touch of Evil
Production:	Movie Elements
Producer	Albert Zugsmith
Director	Orson Welles
Writer	Orson Welles (screenplay), Whit Masterson (based on the novel "Badge Of Evil" by)
Production Designer	Foster Thompson
Director of Photography	Russell Metty
Music Director	Henry Mancini
Film Editor	Ernest J. Nims
Actor # 1	Charlton Heston
Actor # 2	Janet Leigh
Actor # 3	Orson Welles
Actor # 4	Joseph Calleia
Actor # 5	Akim Tamiroff
Actor # 6	Joanna Moore
Actor # 7	Marlene Dietrich
Movie:		Comments and Observations
Character #1	Mike Vargas	Mexican Policeman
Character #2	Susan Vargas	Mike’s Wife
Character #3	Police Captain Hank Quinlan	Crooked Cop
Character #4	Police Sergeant Pete Menzies	Hank Quinlan’s Partner
Character #5	'Uncle' Joe Grandi	Brother of the Grandi Family boss
Character # 6	Marcia Linnekar
Character # 7	Tana	Brothel owner and friend to Hank Qunilan
Setting	Mexican town on the U.S. Border with Mexico
Story Line	The police officer haunted by the death of his wife using false evidence to convict the guilty party. A story of Love, lies and murder mystery.
Point of View	Third Person
Theme	Drama/Murder Mystery

Overview

At a time when the film industry was mandated by a code of what could and could not be said and done A Touch of Evil dances all over the lines. The theme of the movie is a mix of a love story between Mike and Susan and the murder mystery. At any time the movie could bounce back and forth. This is a movie that is hard to follow at times.

There is a contrast to this movie that you do not see in many other movies. The lighting is very dark and this radiates the harshness of the style. The sound of the movie is like nothing done before. The depth of the sound makes it seem that you are in the middle of what is going on. There is a cutting back and forth between the stories for Mike Vargas and the stories Susan Vargas there is a staggering that makes you wondering what the story is really about.

As you are becoming involved in the initial storyline the theme suddenly takes a 90 degree turn and you are following a new theme. There is a major role played by the character of Hank Quinlan. He is a corrupt police officer Haunted by the death of his wife, the only case he could not solve. In an attempt to make up for that mistake he plants evidence to expose the guilty parties in crimes. He follows his instints, filling in what is needed to get the bad guy.  Now here is a murder at the U.S. / Mexican border that has to be solved. In the process of “Solving” the crime Mike and Susan Vargas are drawn into the plot.

There are several characters that have small parts, many with little to no input. However the character of Tana is quite vital. She is a key element from the past of Hank Quinlan and in the end she justifies him. Making the statement that he was a great detective and a lousy cop, but in the end he was “Some kind of a Man”.

This movie touches on implied topics ranging from Drugs and violence to Sex and Corruption. This is an interesting work by Orsen Wells that leaves you scratching your head and wondering exactly what was he thinking.

Run Lola Run

Key Movie Elements in:

Production Crew:

• Producer                                        Stefan Arndt
• Director                                          Tom Tykwer
• Writer                                              Tom Tykwer
• Director of Photography            Frank Griebe
• Music Director                              Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil
• Sound                                             Matthias Lempert
• Lighting                                          Ralph Brosche
• Special Effects                             Maria Koff
• Props                                             Alexander Manasse
• Wardrobe                                      Monika Jacobs
• Film Editor                                   Mathilde Bonnefay

Cast

• Actor #1            Franka Potente,

• Actor #2            Moritz Bleibtreu

• Actor #3            Herbert Knaup

• Actor #4            Nina Petri

• Actor #5            Joachim Krol
• Actor #6            Armin Rohde

Movie:

• Character #1            Lola - Just a girl trying to help her boyfriend out of trouble.

• Character #2            Manni - He trouble prone boyfriend

• Character #3            Papa - Lola’s “Father”. He is the head of the bank and is cheating with Frau Hansen.

• Character #4            Frau Hansen - The Other woman

• Character #5            Norbert - The “bum” who is the center of all the trouble.

• Character #6            Schuster – The “helpful” police officer that just seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

• Setting                      German town

• Story Line                Girl and boy are supposed to meet, but don’t. Boy gets in trouble and girl tries to fix it. Boy gets out of trouble and doesn’t realize everything that has happened.

• Point of View            Third Person

• Theme                      Action

Overview

The blurred entry pushes the focus to the center, making the questions asked stand out. This movie seems to have only one direction, and that is to go from bad to worse. The three different scenarios that you see are what could have happened based on a chain of events and the choices that Lola makes. She is desperate to help her boyfriend and goes to extreme measures to try and save him.

The movie itself leaves a lot to be desired. There are a lot of scenes that leave you feeling like there is to many things left out. But I guess that is the way that the writer wanted it. Making you think more into the movie that what was being showed. With each “what-if” you throw in your own ideas about what the next steps should be. Adding to the movie without really adding anything.