CASABLANCA
IN ONE OF the most famous scenes in movie history, Rick (Humphrey Bogart) sacrifices his own interests and allows an espionage agent to escape from German-occupied Casablanca to a plane with Rick's former lover, even though he knows he will lose her forever. In this classic sequence, we'll study a few seconds of underscore, after the agent, Victor Laszlo's words: "Thanks. I appreciate it. Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win."
The scene would fall flat, except for a single percussive chord as the airplane propeller begins to spin. In fact, originally there was no underscore for this moment. But viewing the final edit, the producer felt the moment lacked excitement. Composer Max Steiner (King Kong, Gone with the Wind, The Searchers, A Summer Place) said he could "fix it": he added a single percussive chord at the moment the airplane propeller begins to spin and that single chord gave the scene the emotional impact it had lacked.
The sequence begins at 4:12 (use the work/time bar) and ends at 4:25, Study also the montage of close-ups beginning at 4:32 and ending at 4:43. The actors probably had no idea what those close-ups were for or how they would fit into the final sequence. Only the editor and director knew how to use them to convey great tension and emotion. This is what the art of editing is all about.
Max Steiner's score, which we don't have time to study, is also noteworthy, based mainly on romantic variations on the Broadway song, "As Time Goes By" and nationalistic source music (the national anthems associated with Germany and France).
To view the two sequences, go here. A study picture is attached.
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