Casablanca (1942)

This really is as good as it gets. Humphrey Bogart, playing himself as well as he ever did, runs Rick’s Café Americaine, a bar and casino in Casablanca, during the early stages of the Second World War. He used to be a freedom fighter, but now insists those days are behind him (“I stick my neck out for no man”, he opines).
Although Morocco is still unoccupied, the French are there, as are the Nazis. A brief prologue explains the importance of Casablanca to those fleeing the war. As Nazi Germany has tightened its grip on Europe, a circuitous route of escape has arisen, from southern Europe across the Mediterranean, to Casablanca. Those refugees in Casablanca then try to obtain transit papers to Portugal and from there, escape to the USA.
A somewhat slippery gentleman by the name of Ugarte comes to Rick with letters of transit that he has obtained and which he hopes to sell on to some suitably desperate refugees. Ugarte is killed, leaving Rick to decide what to do with the letters, which he now holds.
At this point, a long-lost love of Rick’s arrives at his bar, now on the arm of a hero of the resistance against the Nazis. This hero, Victor Laszlo, has heard of the letters of transit and is hoping to persuade Rick to hand them over, while the Nazis hope to close in on Laszlo and return him to their concentration camps.
This is a beautiful film in every way. It is written impeccably, full of well known (but often mis-quoted) lines yet it still feels as fresh as this week. Each of the principal actors is perfectly cast, from the stoic, principled Laszlo, through weasel-like Ugarte, fragile but beautiful Ilsa and the wry, pragmatic but ultimately heroic Rick. Every supporting actor plays his part to perfection and the denouement, as Rick rediscovers his idealism is wrapped up by the second-finest final line in film history (see “Some Like it Hot”). It has been my favourite film since I first saw it and nothing has come close since. It is incredibly romantic, but with a rugged man’s man as the lead, it is funny yet underpinned by the most serious of historical contexts and just leaves you as the viewer as satisfied as by a five course meal. Perfect in every way.