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A perfect finale. As all things should be. Casablanca is arguably the ultimate studio film. Firing on all cylinders, setting precedents of quality for future generations to admire and emulate. In the '40s Kane must have been like looking into the future, confronting the possibilities of a medium you only thought you knew. Arguably the greatest leap in filmmaking since the introduction of sound, before or since.
Call me a cynic all you want. Kane all day.
These are both masterpieces to be sure, and yet I am kind of confident when voting Citizen Kane. It might be helping that I saw it the most recently of the two, but nevertheless it is the more spellbinding movie, and I am generally high on sublime darkness. Casablanca is a riveting drama, and perhaps the more captivating as an actor's masterclass. When that is said, my favourite 40s Welles-starring movie as well as war-themed movie might not be either of these, but the one that lodt to Double indemnity, namely The Third Man.
Citizen Kane has always felt like homework, even after seeing it, it's felt like a "check mark" of something that had to be done. Casablanca feels like after school activities you enjoy doing. That's why it gets my vote. It's the heart over the head as you said.
Final week of filling in blind spots to ethically vote for Casablanca. Citizen Kane wasn't technically a blind spot, but I watched it some 15 years ago - very, very early into my cinephile journey. Watching it then felt like what I imagine reading Heart of Darkness immediately after learning the English language would feel like. I admired it from a great distance, but found it emotionally inaccessible and formally perplexing. On re-watch, I realize that, of course, neither of those things are true. It is a remarkable film that lives up to its reputation in every way, and I am grateful for the excuse to finally get it re-watched and properly appreciated. And yet, for me...it is still no Casablanca. Kane can have Xanadu, but I'll always have Paris.
I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
Both movies have much to say about the human condition and smoking cigarettes in expertly dingy lighting. Ultimately Casablanca is both more cynical and more joyous and at this moment in our nation's history we need both cynicism and joy to combat fascism so I'm voting patriotically. And also because I've been to university showings where two halves of the crowd joined in the sing-off and that is an experience I treasure.
I have voted against Casablanca every round. Yes, even when it was up against Meshes in the Afternoon. It is not the best movie about World War II made during World War II (Rome, Open City by a Roman country mile). Hell, I don't even think it's the best Michael Curtiz film made during the 1940s (Mildred Peirce all the way). It is not Bogart's best work, who in my opinion plays Rick as a pathetic little whineypants who is also, paradoxically, on tranquilizers. Nor is it Bergman's (she is so much better in Gaslight, a criminally underrated film). I have seen Casablanca four times and each time I am more befuddled by it. I have given up on trying to figure out what I'm missing. For whatever reason, it is one of those great films that just never clicks for me.
(I do have a theory that Casablanca was blasted into the cannon of Great American Films because most of America's better directors were off making war propaganda at the time so Casablanca was the cream of a pretty weak crop in 1943, a time when Americans were pretty desperate for distractions and rousing feel-goodery, but god knows enough people who know film still laud it as an examplar of the craft, so I don't have anything on why it stands the test of time other than I am a certified hater.)
Anyways, I do not say all this to put down all of you who genuinely love Casablanca, which, let me be clear, I know is virtually everyone else. But, to anyone who doesn't: You are not alone. It is OK to not love this movie. There are dozens of us! Dozens!
I'm voting Kane because Charlie's so rich that he'll just buy Casablanca and save it from the incinerator.
Casablanca is the film I would recommend for someone not used to seeing old black & film, I think it never fails, and yet it is still underrated, because people don't realize how smart it is. but I'm going with my heart, and my heart says Citizen Kane. a movie that I've heard so many great discussion about, have seen more than 10 times, and I still feel there is much more to discover in it. Kane is way more funnier and moving for me then most people think.
end of day we all chose to go to Ricks
Given the current state of affairs with regard to how we’ve been infiltrated by a foreign government that has involved in yet another expensive (blood and treasure) war on their turf against their enemies, I can’t help but feel that Casablanca has deep shades of Zionist propaganda. It tries so hard to be an American film. But Kane is America. And Orson is as American as apple pie. It’s brilliant and there’s no unspoken motivation to manipulate us. It gets my vote.
This poll is unfair and too hard. Can we agree to put them both aside and crown Judy Garland's hats in Easter Parade as the real 1940s Filmspotting Madness Champion??
Movie critics are always asked what's their favorite movie of all time, and critics learn to have an answer ready. My answer has always been "Casablanca."
I dearly love "Citizen Kane" for its technical brilliance, and the way Welles plays with every toy on the shelf as he creates this indelible character. It's as if he knew Hollywood would never let him have carte blanche like that again, which they didn't.
But "Casablanca" represents the old Hollywood studio system trying to make entertainment and accidentally making a masterpiece at the same time. It was just one more story being churned out of the Warner Bros. assembly line in 1942 — but because of luck, fate or magic, it came through when everyone was at their absolute best.
That includes the casting directors who held out for Humphrey Bogart and Paul Henreid, when Ronald Reagan was on deck. That includes David Selznick pitching his new discovery from Sweden, Ingrid Bergman. That includes the array of Warner Bros. contract players, including Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Peter Lorre, S.Z. "Cuddles" Sakall, Dooley Wilson and Sydney Greenstreet. That includes Michael Curtiz providing the perfect touch to a script that was a war movie, a thriller, a romance and a dark comedy all at once.
"Casablanca" is the best movie of the 1940s because it's the best movie ever, something that remains true as time goes by.
This one's among the easiest matches for me. I appreciate everything Kane did (and does) for the medium, but I've never truly felt anything for it other than technical admiration. Casablanca gets me riled up every single time. Burn, Kane, burn!
(Also, if Casablanca goes away, I'm guessing Barb Wire goes away - and we can't have that)
This is tough! Literally the best two movies of all time! I went with Casablanca because it's a little more "fun" than Citizen Kane.
Basically, because the line, "I am shocked! Shocked to find there's gambling going on in here!" makes me laugh every time, Casablanca for the win!!
Charles Foster Kane is undeniable and I don't imagine anyone is genuinely disputing that. When it all comes down and the incinerator door opens up, all we can do is decide what we can and can't live without. On a cold and rainy weekday evening, I know precisely who I'd rather be spending my time with.
"It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, a case of do or die, the world will always welcome lovers, as time goes by"
I've seen Kane more than Casablanca (I think just once). And one of those times was an Ebert interruptus, I think then called Democracy in the Dark, with Roger Ebert, at the Hawaii International Film Festival in November 2002. So this was an easy choice for me.
Casablanca is heart and wit. Kane is head and heart.
And wit.
And stunning cinematography. And a special effects shot ratio rivaling The Empire Strikes Back. And Herrmann's score. And the woman in white dress. And on and on.
Casablanca is one I return to again and again. Kane is one I return to even more because it's just so watchable. It's a great 'film', and it's a great movie.
Fire and ice. Head vs. Heart. Pick your metaphor, it's as apt as any other. I select Kane every time with a song in my heart; I love Casablanca, it's why we go to the movies. But Kane *is* cinema, I see a little bit of it in nearly everything I watch. It endures. I feel pretty good about how this tournament unfolded; for a decade with such a high floor and even higher ceiling, just making it on the list is an achievement. There's no shame losing in the second round to Bicycle Thieves.
Let me check my list of top 200 favorite films. Okay. Citizen Kane comes in at 18, and Casablanca at 66. Considering all the movies I've seen in my 50 something years, that's practically tied, but I am a Kane man. It is my favorite 40's movie, and Casablanca comes in at 5.
I guess the writing was on the wall from the start and here we are. Maybe all roads led to this place anyway. So now it's a choice between the head and the heart. Since this isn't Sight & Sound and we aren't (for the most part) professional critics it's going to be a tight contest. But I've voted with my gut so far so why stop now?
Casablanca is king! Citizen Kane is great, one of my favorites of all time. But if I had to be honest about which film I return to more often it's Casablanca. Why? Well, Rick is simply a much more interesting character than Charles Foster Kane. Rick is torn between having his one true love for himself and ensuring her survival. It doesn't get any better than that. And, let's face it, who doesn't love that scene where the patriots since La Marseillaise to drown out the Nazis. I'd love to drown out some Nazis right about now. Wouldn't you?