Orion Wüthrich-Bradshaw (Daishikaze)

This film is my #1 choice for greatest movie of the 20th Century, its such a tremendous story and so beautifully told. This movie set the bar so high that very few films ever reached that level again. Certainly nothing in the last 30 years has ever come close. Its exceptionally well made, I had no idea how well made it was until I saw the Documentaries on the extras discs. Alot of trick photography was used, but it was done so well that you'd really have to examine the footage closely to notice it. Some things added to the fore- and Backgrounds look seemless, I actually believed that those things were real. I never realized the level of creativity and ingenuity that went into films like this, its absolutely amazing. They went through so much over the 3 years it took them to get everything together and then film it. They were working so hard to get everything right, they put so much money into it even though they didn't have to with certain things and they did it anyways. Ann Rutherford recalled getting fitted for her costumes, and she noticed all the detail that went into things that the audience is never going to see. She said "Mr. Selznick, you really shouldn't bother with the little things that the audience won't even know is there" and he told her "they won't know its there, but you will and thats all that matters". Who thinks like that nowadays? No one, they are all too money conscious, but even if they weren't its not like anyone is writing anything of this calibur today anyways Vivien Leigh was born to play Scarlett O'hara, she was absolutely perfect for the role. She was able to be Bratty, scheming, selfish, proud, passionate, strong willed and determined, She was everything that made Scarlett so compelling. She made you hate Scarlett when she was being a bitch, but she also brought out the redeeming qualities of the woman, Which helped the audience to sympathize with her. Leigh was brilliant and beautiful, its hard to imagine Scarlett being played by anyone else, even someone as equally beautiful as Paulette Goddard (who was just barely inched out by Leigh for the role). Its hard to believe that certain radio pundits of the time tried to incite a boycott on this movie because Vivien was british. Thankfully no one listened to the crackpots, otherwise this magnificent film would have probably been tossed into the vault to gather dust, never to be seen again. Clark Gable was the only one people could see as Rhett Butler, and the people made a good choice. Gable was Gable, and thats how people imagined Rhett to be, there could be no subsitutes. Incidentally Gable was greatly worried that his performance would ruin the film, that fans would stand up and say "Thats how he thinks Rhett would be like!? What a Jerk!". He proved himself wrong, even though he still wasn't satisfied with his portrayal. Olivia De Havilland as Melanie was ,again, perfect. I guess alot of great actresses could have pulled that role off, but could they beat Olivia's performance? thats something we'll never know. personally I don't think so. Melanie was a really important character to the story, she was the glue that held everyone together. Olivia nailed that part, she was just so right for it. Leslie Howard as Ashley Wilkes was again the only person they had in mind for it, even though he was too old to play Ashley, and he had no interest in the part in the first place. David Selznick just couldn't see anyone else as Ashley, and did everything he could to get Les on board. They did a good make-up job on him, he looks alot younger than he actually was. Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly McQueen were both very good, Hattie was so good she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress over Olivia De Havilland! Butterfly was excellent in her role, she really took it seriously, and she took a stand when it came to things she didn't want to do, like eating Watermelon or being slapped. Many Black actresses of the time would have just done what they were told, even if they didn't agree with it, she stood up and said No and they listened to her. Some may not like the film because its not action packed, there isn't any gratuitous sex or nudity. Its a very dramatic film, which will also put off alot of the hipsters who think drama is not cool. Its 4 hours long which unless it has alot the stuff I just said it doesn't have, will be too long for alot of folks. Its a brilliant film that will stand for all time, even if the youngsters don't appreciate it, its still the Top grossing movie of all time (adjusted for Inflation).

Ah Casablanca, Considered by many to be the best movie ever made, and it has a great case for it. Its hard to believe that this film became what it is completely by accident, isn't it? It started out as just another picture, 1 of the 50 that Warner Brothers made every year, but after all the work was finally done it would be the #1 picture of 1942, standing out over the other 49 pictures they made that year. When you hear about how hectic this production was you'd never think this movie would have been as good as it is. With the constant work on the script, No one really knew where the film was going or how it would turn out. But somehow it all came together to make a master work. Humphrey Bogart plays Rick, and he plays him like no one else could. Bogie gave us one of the best if not the best performance of his career. I could see the pain in his eyes when he remembered the good times back in Paris with Ilsa, I could hear the venom in his words when he spoke to Ilsa when he was drunk. The anger of having her come back into his life after what she did to him. he was great, no doubt about it. Ingrid Bergman plays Ilsa, and there really wasn't anyone else who could have nailed this role. No one could look the way she did at a man, with love an tenderness. Gods, she was wonderful, You could see in her eyes how she felt when she heard "As Time Goes By" and she reminiced about the good old days. You could feel her admiration for Victor and the love she had for Rick, and how it tore her up to have to make the choice between the man she loves (Rick) and the man she admires (Victor). The supporting cast were all wonderful in their roles, Claude Raines was exceptionally good, but then he always was. There are so many memorable scenes and lines in this film that it has become deeply intwined with our Popular culture. The most powerful scene in the movie was the La Marseillaise scene, where The German soldiers are singing "Wacht am der Rhein" and Victor Laszlo tells the band to play La Marseillaise, the French National Anthem, and all the refugees and Free French people start to sing along and completely drown out the germans. I had tears in my eyes when I saw that, and the playwright whoe wrote it said he cryed when he wrote that scene. Not only that but many of the extras and lesser cast members were refugees either from Germany or France so this was a particularly emotional scene for them as many of them wept during and after that scene. A wonderful moment to be sure. The Dialogue is wonderful too, so much wit and verve. Alot of great humourous lines, and memorable exchanges. The Epstein Brothers did a magnificent Job with the dialogue, if only writers today had half the wit they had, Hollywood would be in much better shape right now. Certainly this film deserves its great reputation, and I hope anyone reading this and hasn't seen it yet will go out and get it right now.