Trudy Gold
Casablanca: The Quintessential Immigrant Movie

Trudy Gold - Casablanca: The Quintessential Immigrant Movie

- Well, not only am I glad Judi’s back, but I just want you to know just how wonderful Lockdown community is. I’ve had two emails today from students, one via Judi, from a lady who is informing us that Ronald Lauder, who is a huge supporter of “Casablanca”, it’s his favourite film, has a whole… There’s an exhibition of his art on show at the Neue Freie Galerie, and this was the photograph that was sent by her. So those of you who are lucky enough to live in New York, and you want to go to his gallery, there is a whole room on “Casablanca”. And the other email I had was absolutely wonderful. It was from… It’s actually from Aurelia Young, whose father, Oscar Nemon, of course, was a great sculptor, and she talked about him. And she talks about the hotel her father stayed at in Vienna, which according to the film critic, Paul Giuliani, Murray Burnett, who wrote the play that the film score is based on actually stayed at this hotel in Vienna, so did her father when he was sculpting Freud, and so did she when she went for the unveiling. So that just gives you a notion of what our community’s like. If you knew how many interesting emails I have and keep them coming, because one of these days, Wendy and I will decide what on earth we’re going to do with these incredible memories. And I really am very glad that today we can turn to a completely different subject ‘cause I really want to wallow in “Casablanca”. It’s interesting, I said to Judi, “Do you know the film 'Off by Heart’?” And of course, she doesn’t because, in a way, I suppose it is a generational thing.

And certainly, in my family, it’s a completely generational thing because my daughters were brought up on it. And I’m glad to say that my grandsons quoted at me sometime, and it’s very dear to me because one of the most important relationships in my life actually began with a quote from “Casablanca”, the man who later became my partner. He was in the bar business, and a group of us had arranged to meet at his restaurant bar. And when I walked in, he actually said to me, “Of all the gin joints and all the world, you come into mind.” And I replied, “Well, maybe one day, we’ll have Paris.” And I’ve always found that many of my close friends, people I become close to, we have many of the same points of cultural reference. And certainly for most of my friends, Casablanca was a great point of reference just to go through some of the quotes because I hazard a guess that many of you are around my age, and therefore, it’s so much part of our whole outlook. So how many of you said to someone, “He’s looking at you, kid. This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. We’ll always have Paris. We lost it for a while, but we got it back in Casablanca.” And of course, round up the usual suspects, the film, the usual suspects based on that line. One of the final lines, “The problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.” Claude Rains, “I’m shocked to find out that gambling is going on.” And then of course, when Rick points a gun at Claude Rain’s heart, poor Rain says, “This is my least vulnerable point.” And at the end of the film, where the hero makes the great speech to make the heroine go on the plane with her husband, he says, “Get on that plane. If you don’t, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow and soon for the rest of your life.”

And of course, that is the line that Woody Allen replicates in the joint in his film, “The Front”. I beg your pardon. So basically, it’s an iconic movie. Some people don’t see the point of it, but for me, I wallow in it. I must have seen it 20, 30 times. In fact, it was on again over Christmas. Most people, and I’m sure of my generation, as I said, Judi’s not seen it. And I think unless you pass this love onto your children, they’re not going to know it either. but it is routinely rated amongst the top five films of all time. And it does feel very, very European. All but three of the cast were in fact refugees. Many of them, they’ve had to flee Germany, but it shouldn’t have worked. The whole point about the film, it was really a B picture. Why on earth did it have the magic? There was a lot of controversy. Who was going to play Rick? It was offered to George Raft. He’d already turned down “The Maltese Falcon” and “High Sierra”. At one stage, Ronald Reagan was put forward. Can you imagine the potency if it was Ronald Reagan? The Epsteins who did the screenplay wanted Bergman. She didn’t want to do it, but the Epsteins were quite close to David Selznick, and they lobbied him, And they lobbied him to enter to Warner Brothers. She didn’t like the story, she wanted to do “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. But in the end, she was persuaded to do it in return for that film. Paul Henreid, who plays the good guy in the film and inverted commerce, he didn’t want it. It was his third billing, and he wanted to establish himself as a romantic lead after his great success in “Now, Voyager”.

I’m sure many of you have seen that fabulous film with Bette Davis and when they’re both on the deck and he lights two cigarettes and gives one to her. You know, everything was so politically incorrect in those days. And she says to him, “We don’t need the stars, we’ve got the moon.” And so he wanted to be the new great lead. And it’s interesting because, on screen, Bergman and Bogart do have a certain kind of screen chemistry, but it didn’t work in real life. They didn’t even like each other. And she was two inches taller than him. So he had to wear elevator shoes for the love scenes and also that vacant expression of hers. I’m sure you know why. They didn’t know. The Epstein brothers and Koch who wrote the screenplay. They couldn’t decide how it would end. And in fact, when Michael Curtiz, the director was asked about it by Bergman, he said, “Just play it in between.” In the end, it does become a masterpiece. It was nominated for eight Oscars. The New York Post called it an accidental classic. Bogart was forced to play because his third marriage was crumbling, and he needed the money. And when Woody Allen was looking for a hero, he plays a in his film, “Play it again, Sam”. And he’s looking for the hero who can inspire him to get the heroine. And of course, he chooses Humphrey Bogart. When Nora Ephron wanted to illustrate the practicality of women in “When Harry Met Sally”, she chose Bergman. And she said, “After all, why would she want to spend the rest of her life with a man who owned a bar?” So why does “Casablanca” work so well?

To start with, it’s the American romantic fantasy. It was rushed into release, it was made in six weeks. It was shot mainly in the… It was shot mainly in the studio except for the end sequence, which is at the local airport. It ties up with Allied Invasion of North Africa. The world premier was on November the 26th, 1942. just think what 1942 was like. Think about it. America’s in the war, the terrible years, we didn’t yet know exactly what was going on to the Jews in Europe, but we knew something appalling was happening. And maybe it’s because it’s the romantic fantasy that people do want to hear it. And in the end, it won three Academy Awards. It won the best picture for Curtiz and the best director. So it’s best picture, best director, and Epstein and Koch both won the adapted screenplay. And it is a refugee movie, the montage that begins, and I’m going to read you the montage, “With the coming of the Second World War, many eyes in imprisoned Europe termed hopefully and desperately towards the freedom of the Americas. You know, America, the great beacon of freedom. Lisbon became the great embarkation point, but not everyone could get to Lisbon directly. So a tortuous round up refugee trail sprung up. Paris de masse across the Mediterranean to Iran then by train, automobile, or foot across the rump of Africa to Casablanca in French Morocco.” And don’t forget, amongst the screen credits, only three of the 14 named cast were born in America. And it is though it’s a Tinseltown… It’s a Tinseltown creation. There were no Nazis in casts of “Casablanca”.

I’ve been talking about France, Vichy France ran Casablanca, so the bad guys were Vichy French. I think one of the reasons it’s quite potent though, there are many refugees in supporting parts as well, and the accents are not faked. Never forget the number of refugees in Hollywood, in America at this period. And what is also of interest, of course, is that the… Although practically everybody involved in the making of Casablanca is Jewish, the word Jew is not mentioned once in the film. We talk about refugees, we don’t talk about Jews. So how did it all begin? And it all began with a man called Murray Burnett. I haven’t got his picture, I’m afraid. He was an English teacher. And in the summer of 1938, he and his wife actually travelled to Vienna. This is after the Angelus. He’s an American teacher. He wanted to help his Jewish relatives get out of the country. They needed money, and he stayed at the hotel, the Hotel de France, which Aurelia Young has already told me today, was the hotel where her father stayed. Now, they later went to a small town in the south of France, and they went to a club overlooking the Mediterranean and a Black pianist was playing there. And it was also crowded with French refugees because, of course, they are coming south and in the… He came back to America. He stopped off in England, actually went to Bournemouth. But in the summer of 1940, he completed the play. It took him six weeks. He was very anti-Nazi, very pro French. He worked with a woman called Joan Alison as his collaborator. Unfortunately, they couldn’t find a Broadway producer. So in the end, they managed to sell the play for an unpublished play, an unproduced play for the extraordinary sum of $20,000. It was sold to a woman called Irene Diamond, and she recommended it as sophisticated hokum.

The play was called “Everyone Comes to Rick’s” and it was recommended to Hal B. Wallis. Now, later, the inclusion of time goes by. The iconic song comes from the play and the opening credits are given to Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, but they did never felt they had the correct recognition because it became this huge hit. And later on they sued Warner Brothers, it was unsuccessful, but then they were each awarded $100,000, but they very much felt that they had lost out. So can we go on please, Judi? Yeah, here we see some iconic shots. Look there, of course, you see Rick’s, there you see the incredible Peter Lorre, and then that scene at the end when Rick is going to force them to go on the plane, and you see Rick and Ingrid Bergman together. I just think they’re lovely shots. And I love the fact that it’s all in black and white. I’ll never forget when my daughter was at university, my older daughter. So I’m giving about quite a few years, and she phoned me up, and we were talking about something, and there was a black and white movie on. And one of her friends said, “We never watch movies in black that aren’t in colour.” And I’m thinking that’s why I think perhaps it’s such a generational thing, but I think “Casablanca” in colour, just for me, it wouldn’t have worked. So now, let’s talk about the making of “Casablanca”. Can we go on please, Judi? Let’s see the… Let’s just see the opening. Let’s just see the trailer.

CLIP BEGINS

• [Narrator] Casablanca, city of hope and despair located in French Morocco in North Africa. The meeting place of adventures, fugitives, criminals, refugees lowered into this dangerous swept oasis by the hope of escape to the Americas. But they’re all trapped for there is no escape against this fascinating background has woven the story of an imperishable love and the enthralling saga of six desperate people each in Casablanca to keep an appointment with destiny.

• I was willing to shoot Captain Renault, and I’m willing to shoot you. All right, Major, you asked for it.

• You knew how much I loved you, how much I still love you.

• I know a good deal more about you than you suspect. I know, for instance, that you are in love with a woman. It’s perhaps a strange circumstance if you both should love the same woman.

• What do you want for Sam?

• Don’t buy and sell human beings.

• That’s too bear, that’s Casablanca’s leading commodity.

• You can ask any price you want, but you must give me those letters. I tried to reason with you, I tried. Now, I want those letters.

CLIP ENDS

• Thank you. And can we come onto the first character, please? Irene Diamond. Yeah, I could only find a picture of her later in life when she was running a huge foundation, and she worked in the story division of MGM. You’ve got to remember all these companies had talent scouts looking for stories because think of the number of films that Hollywood was churning out every week. And later on, she married a property man called Aaron Diamond and became a huge philanthropist and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. And Clinton actually presented her with the National Medal of Arts for her services to the arts. She was absolutely brilliant at spotting winners. She came up with the play of “The Maltese Falcon”, the play of “Dark Victory”. And anyone listening who haven’t seen either of those films, you are missing a huge treat. And in 1941, she’s on a visit to New York City, and she read this unproduced play of Murray Burnett’s “Everyone Comes to Rick’s”, and she persuaded Hal B. Wallis to buy the play. Now, let’s have a look at that sophisticated producer for Warner Brothers, Hal B. Wallis. What if I tell you he was born Aaron Blum Wolowicz? He was the son of Polish born immigrants, and of course, was the producer for Warner Brothers of “Casablanca”. He’d produced “Dark Victory” with Bette Davis. He produced “The Adventures of Robin Hood”. And of course, Robin Hood was Claude Rains, Olivia de Havilland, and Errol Flynn.

“Now, Voyager”, the great success that Conrad fights… That Paul Henreid had had, of course, with Bette Davis, and he is going to win the best picture for “Casablanca”. Actually, when the Oscars, he was called up for the award, Jack Warner ran to the stage to get it for himself. And Wallis later said, “I tried to get into the aisle, but the entire Warner family blocked me.” He couldn’t believe it. “Casablanca” was my creation. And he said, “Almost 40 years later, he constantly recovered from the shock.” And of course, the five Warner Brothers… Well, the eldest was by this time dead. The four Warner Brothers, their wives, those that extraordinary bunch of characters who ran the Warner Brothers Studios. They so wanted the Oscar, they stopped the producer getting it. And as a result of that, Hal Wallis actually left Warner Brothers. He became an independent producer and employed writers such as Ayn Rand and Lillian Hellman. He was to receive 16 Academy Award nominations. “True Grit” is one of his. He later moved to Universal, coming more into the modern period. “Anne of the Thousand Days” with Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold, “Mary, Queen of Scots” with Vanessa Redgrave. He was twice honoured with very prestigious awards, including the Irving Thalberg Award. Of course, Irving Thalberg was the son-in-law of MGM, married to Norma Shearer, the great darling of MGM, who died desperately young. He was a brilliant German Jew.

He also won the Cecil B. DeMille Award. So he is the producer, although Jack Warner tried so hard to take the credit. Jack Warner hadn’t even been on the set of the “Casablanca.” It was a minor production. Now, let’s have a look at the writers. Yes, this is Julius and Philip G. Epstein. Julius’s dates are 1909 to 2000, his twin tragically died of cancer young. And it took him a long, long time to actually get over it. Of course, Jewish, the father was a livery stage owner. Horses were widely used in the city, think when they’re born. He went to Penn State and they… Philip became an actor. Julius became a boxer. He was always fighting with Jack Warner. And they gradually finish up in Hollywood writing. As a team, they were brilliant writers. And in 1952, he was put up before HUAC, he was accused of being a communist. And he was asked, “But have you ever been a member of a subversive organisation?” And he said, “Yes, I have, Warner Brothers.” He won the Academy Award for “Casablanca”. After his brother’s death, he continued to have a glittering career. He wrote Mr. Skeffington with Bette Davis and Claude Rains, a wallow of a film, if you haven’t seen it. “Cross of Iron”, “Reuben, Reuben”, and “Last Time I Saw Paris”, where he wrote with his brother, brilliant film. And can we see a line of his? I think that’s just a lovely line, “There wasn’t one moment of reality in Casablanca. We weren’t making art- we were making a living.”

Now, if we could keep it there, I’m going to mention Howard Koch unfortunately. I didn’t put a picture in because he was also a very, very interesting man. His dates were 1901 to 1995, and he’s the co-writer. He studied law. Jewish, of course, began to write plays while still a student, wrote radio scripts. He actually was involved in the writing of the “War of the Worlds”. Now, that was the 1938, radio play, which was narrated and to a large extent, written by Koch and Orson Welles, and it’s based on the war of the worlds. And it was so realistic that there was a panic throughout America because it’s based on H.G. Wells’s story of aliens invading, so people really believed it. And in fact, there were a couple of suicides. It was a terrible catastrophe. By the 1940s, Koch is writing for Hollywood. He writes many of the films you will know, “Sea Hawk” he wrote for Michael Curtiz. He wrote for William Wyler’s “The Letter”, again with Bette Davis. If you haven’t seen it, it’s wonderful. And won a joint Academy Award with the Epstein Brothers. He also wrote “Letter from An Unknown Woman”, which is one of my favourite films with Joan Fontaine. Brilliant, brilliant film, I really suggest you look at it. It was his favourite screenplay. He was blacklisted by HUAC. You see a lot of these characters, they were Jewish, they knew what was going on in Europe, and they joined, not necessarily communist organisations, but they had sympathy with left wing organisations.

And of course, after World War II was over, the real enemy becomes Russia again. So anyone who was in any way identified with left wing movements was in serious trouble. And he is blacklisted by HUAC. So what happens, he comes to London with his wife Anne. She was also a very talented writer. And those of you who live in England and remember the cinema of the… Remember television of the ‘50s, you’ll remember Richard Greene as Robin Hood. For five years, he and his wife wrote the screenplay for “Robin Hood” and he went back to America in 1956. He cleared his name and died in the… He died in 1995. His memoir really makes good reading, and he calls it “As Time Goes by: Memoirs of a Writer”. So moving on, I just want to give you a notion of the kind of characters who were involved in the making of this film. Let’s go on to Michael Curtiz. “When I came here, I was called on to direct seven pictures a year. That was my schooling. That’s how you learn.” Who was Michael Curtiz? He was an extraordinary character. Born in 1886, died in 1962. He was born Mano Kaminer. Of course, you guessed he was Jewish. He was born in Budapest. His mother was an opera singer. His father was a carpenter. He magyarized his name to Mihály Kertész. He was very poor, but incredibly ambitious. one of these tenacious bright people.

He went to university doing all sorts of odd jobs to get his way through. He then went to the Royal Academy of Theatre and Arts in Budapest, crazy for it. You know, when he was eight years old, he built a little theatre in the family cellar where he and his friends enacted plays for all their other friends. He became a travelling player after graduation, Ibsen, Shakespeare. He had many, many languages. He toured. He toured in France. He toured in Italy. He toured in Hungary, Austria, Germany. He was completely fluent in five languages. Whether he was fluent in English is another story. You should read David Niven’s “The Moon’s a Balloon” when he talks about Michael Curtiz because I’m not going to swear on air, but he’s an incredible character. He became a director at the National Hungarian Theatre. He was also very fit man. He was a member of the Hungarian fencing team. Practically every member of the Hungarian fencing team and the Olympic team for fencing were Jewish. He was in the Stockholm Olympics. He directed Hungary’s first feature film and starred in it. He was wounded on the Russian front in World War I. He had a horror of war. He had a horror of violence, and also his feet were firmly on the ground. After the war, he became the director of production at the leading Budapest studio.

Then, of course, moved to UFA. UFA was the cinema of Weimar, Germany, one of the most extraordinary cinemas in the… One of the most extraordinary film houses, production centres in the whole of the world. He became very influenced by German expressionism, and he was allured there by Warner Brothers. You’ve got to remember the Warner Brothers, all the MGM people, all the studios, they had agents in Europe looking for talent. By the '30s, his talent had really come to the floor. He was a look-for. He was a total workaholic, “Captain Blood” with Errol Flynn, “Charge of the Light Brigade”. He directed “The Adventures of Robin Hood” of 1938, I’ve already mentioned. He directed “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex”, again with Bette Davis and Errol Flynn. He was very close to John Garfield. John Garfield, another fascinating actor, a Jew who was very involved in fighting fascism in the '30s and '40s in America. He was also close to Claude Rains, who I’ll talk about later. They made 10 films together. He directed “Angels with Dirty Faces”. He directed a film called “Sons of Liberty”, which was the Jewish contribution to American independence. It starred Claude Rains, and it’s the story of Haym Solomon. I’ve never been able to get hold of it. If anyone can give me a clue how to, I’d love to. Now, and of course, “Casablanca”, he won the Oscar for “Casablanca”.

He went on to make “The Sea Wolf”. And that same year, he made “Yankee Doodle Dandy” with James Cagney. And then this is the army where Cagney sings “God Bless America” by Irving Berlin. Irving Berlin, of course, who wrote most of the great Christmas movies, Christmas songs, and was a vision of another Jewish immigrant, the vision of how America saw itself. And another great film he won the Oscar for was “Mildred Pierce” with Joan Crawford. If you haven’t seen it, I’m sure I’m talking to an audience who will have seen all these films. But if you haven’t seen it, make it… See it, it’s very, very wonderful. Now, let’s have a look at the stars. I’m not going to spend too much time on Ingrid Bergman or Humphrey Bogart. You can read up about them everywhere. I’m more interested in really either the Jewish actors or the refugee actors. Now, Humphrey Bogart, he is now a Hollywood icon. He began on Broadway, then he transferred to 20th Century Fox, switched to Warner Brothers, usually supporting gangster roles. He has his great break in “Petrified Forest”. And it was Leslie Howard who recommended him of the part. Leslie Howard, who was a darling of the American cinema, the quintessential Englishman, who of course his real name was Harold Steiner, Leslie Harold Steiner.

And of course, he was of Hungarian Jewish background. And he later is to die in a plane shot down by the Germans over the Bay of Biscay when he’d be coming back from Lisbon trying to promote British propaganda in Portugal. An incredible man who, of course, is most famous for playing Ashley Wilkes in “Gone with the Wind”, but he brought Humphrey Bogart back to the screen. And later on, when Humphrey Bogart married the Jewish Betty Perske, better known as Lauren Bacall, their child after Leslie Howard’s death, their daughter was named Leslie Howard in honour of their friend. He went on to be Sam Spade in “The Maltese Falcon”, Philip Marlowe in “The Big Sleep”. “Casablanca” is probably his most famous romantic role, and he was nominated for best actor. Other films that he met Lauren Bacall, he was middle-aged, she was 19. She’d been made an American model. She was actually related to one of the premise, one of the presidents of Israel, that’s another story. “Dark Passage”, “Key Largo”, “Treasure of Sierra Madre”, “Caine Mutiny”, “African Queen” of 1951 with Katharine Hepburn, he won the Oscar for that. “The Barefoot Countessa,” which is a wonderful wallow over film with Ava Gardner. If you haven’t seen it, wallow in it. “Sabrina” in 1954 with William Holden and the exquisite Aubrey Hepburn. He died of cancer young when he was 57.

So I think rather an unusual romantic lead, but he is the romantic lead and a Hollywood icon. And very much at the top of the American actor list. Ingrid Bergman, let’s have a look at her picture. Born in Stockholm, Swedish father, German mother. She began her film career in Swedish and German films where she was spotted by a talent scout brought to Hollywood by Selznick to start in the English language remake of her early Swedish film, “Intermezzo”. And she stayed with the Selznick’s, Irene Selznick, who of course was Louis B. Mayer’s daughter, was very, very fond of her, and that’s what made her a Hollywood star, and she really… It’s in “Casablanca”, she obtains her real stardom. And she later said, “I feel about 'Casablanca’ that it had a life of its own. There’s something mystical about it. It seems to have filled a need.” She went on to have a brilliant career. She won her first award in “Gaslight” with Charles Boyer, where she plays a woman who’s being driven mad by her unscrupulous husband. Again, a great wallower of film. “Spellbound”, and both “Spellbound” and “Notorious” directed by Hitchcock, and of course, produced by David Selznick. “Under Capricorn”, “Under Capricorn”, she made for Sydney Bernstein and Alfred Hitchcock. Sydney Bernstein, another interesting character, Jewish filmmaker. He and his brother later on created Granada Television. They called it Granada ‘cause they loved the city. And of course, I suppose from a British point of view, their greatest claim to fame is “Coronation Street”, the longest running soap in the history of television. And she’s fourth in Hollywood’s great women actresses. So Humphrey Bogart is first, her fourth. Now, can we come on to Claude Rains?

Now, speaking as a very strange female, he’s probably the character in “Casablanca” I would’ve run off with. He was a British film actor. He came from the wrong side of the tracks according to him, or the wrong side of the Thames. He was born in Croydon, very poor, one of 12 children. He had a Cockney accent. His father was a jobbing actor, and he spent most of his time in theatres. Yeah, you can imagine the kind of theatres he inhabited. He made his debut on the stage when he was 10 years old, became a runner at His Majesty’s Theatre. He moved to America in 1912. World War I, he returned to Britain, served alongside fellow actors, Basil Rathbone and Ronald Colman, Herbert Marshall and Cedric Hardwicke. They all came back to Britain. Now involved in a gas attack, and by the end of the war, he was a captain. He develops his acting talent. He was told by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who founded RADA, that to get rid of his Cockney accent and to become a very elegant man. And of course, the thing about Claude Rains that I find so attractive is his accent. He becomes one of London’s leading stage actors. He taught at RADA. Both John Gielgud and Charles Laughton were amongst his students. Gielgud said of him, “One of the best and most popular teachers I always had. I was always trying to copy him.” His agent was a very close friend of Carl Laemmle, who ran another Eastern European Jew, who ran Universal Studios.

And that led to him being cast in “The Invisible Man” after his voice was actually inadvertently heard in the next room by an agent of Laemmle’s. This is the man they needed for that another extraordinary film. And he signed a contract with… Then he signs a contract with Warner Brothers, and from then on he’s a villain. He’s a villain in “Robin Hood”. In “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington”, a wonderful film, he is the repentant villain in that. And he got his first nomination. Of course, he plays Captain Renault in “Casablanca”. And to me, it is the performance of the film. He’s in the remake of “The Phantom of the Opera”. He’s in “Juarez” with Bette Davis. He’s in “Now, Voyager” with Bette Davis. “Mr. Skeffington” with Bette Davis, “Deception” with Bette Davis. He was her favourite co-star. If you haven’t seen all of those films, you are in for a wallow. He was the first actor to receive a million dollar salary for playing his part in “Caesar and Cleopatra” with Vivien Leigh. It was an absolute flop, unfortunately. Of course, Vivien Leigh had become the darling of Hollywood after playing Scarlet O'Hara but it was a very, very unsuccessful film. And he came back to Britain to star in “Passionate Friends”, which again is one of my favourite films. He had a singing and dancing role in “The Pied Piper of Hamelin”. And one of his most last memorable roles, he acted right to the end was in “Lawrence of Arabia”. Personal life, not so good. He married six times, he had one daughter, and unfortunately became a chronic alcoholic, but a brilliant, brilliant actor. And as I said, for me, his role is the role I most enjoyed. Now, let’s have a look at Conrad Veidt, because Conrad Veidt is the hero of “Casablanca” in many ways. Although he is not the hero of the film, he is the hero… He is the hero, not of the film, but as a man.

He was born in Berlin to a former military man, turned civil servant. After failing at medicine, he decided to become an actor. He gave or he auditioned for the extraordinary Max Reinhardt reciting Goethe’s “Faust”. And he offered him work as an extra. He was, of course in the war, he had jaundice, he had pneumonia, and was given a full discharge in 1917. He goes back to the Deutsches Theatre, and he’s got his first rave review. And which in the review, the reviewer actually said, “God keep flight from cinema.” And he goes on to actually make a hundred films. He becomes one of the great stars of UFA. “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, if you haven’t looked at German expressionism film, you are in for an incredible treat. He plays the madman in “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” by Robert Wiene. Now remember, this is the most innovative theatre and cinema in the world at that period. There was no censorship. Everything went in Weimar Cinema. And of course under Fritz Palmer, the Jewish overlord of the theatres. And that’s one of the places that Hollywood was looking for talent. He was the invisible… And if you look at his portrayal in “Caligari”, it’s the visual inspiration for the Joker. You know, with the cracked lips and the strange mouth, he started as a homosexual, indifferent from the others. He had the leading role in UFA’s first talkie, “The Land Without Women”. Late '20s, he goes to Hollywood, but difficulty with English so back to Berlin. He was totally anti-Nazi. He was married to a Jewish woman called Lilli Prager. So it was wise that he went to England.

When the Nazis came to power, all the actors at UFA and all the producers had to sign what they called a race form to be still be part of the German film industry. You had to sign a race form. And this incredibly brave man wrote Jew, although he wasn’t. He comes to England. He’s close to Alexander. He’s close to Alexander Korda and Balcon. He stars in “The Wandering Jew”. He stars in both “Jew Suss”. “Jew Suss” directed by another exile Jew called Lothar Mendes produced by Balcon. He plays a spy in Powell and Pressburger’s “Spy in Black”. He’s in “The Thief of Baghdad”. In 1941, he settles in Hollywood. He wanted to make films to persuade America to enter the war. And before leaving the Britain, he gave all his savings for the British War effort, particularly for children who had been evacuated, or children who had been bombed out. And as major stressor, of course, he plays the kind of character that made him leave Germany. And as I said to you, there were no German officers in “Casablanca”. But in “Casablanca”, you’ve got that extraordinary sequence where he’s talking to Rick. He’s the Nazi talking to the American bar owner. And he says to Rick, “Why did you come to Casablanca?” And Rick says, “I came to Casablanca for the waters.” And Conrad Veidt says, “But there are no waters in Casablanca.” And Rick issues the immortal line, “I was misinformed,” which of course so many of us have used so many times. So not only did he give money to help poor kids in England, he managed to smuggle his Jewish parents in law to Switzerland in 1935.

And he managed to get his ex-wife, who was also Jewish and her daughter to Switzerland. Tragically, he had a congenital heart problem, aggravated by chain smoking, and he died of a heart attack. He’s buried with his wife in the columbarium in Golders Green. And in a darker moment, I sometimes think perhaps I should do a presentation on the people buried in the columbarium because there is, of course, the great Freud. There is also Lord Moyne, who was assassinated by the . Bram Stoker, it’s an extraordinary… It’s just an extraordinary place. And that is where those of you, if you want to pay your respects to Conrad Veidt, you’ll find him. Can we go on please? Here we see Paul Henreid, who came to Hollywood as Paul von Henreid, but they had to get rid of it. Born in Trieste, the son of a noble Viennese banker who had converted from Judaism to Catholicism. The family fortune had dwindled. And despite family objections, he trained for Max Reinhardt’s theatre. Remember Max Reinhardt had 31 theatres in Berlin and Vienna. He was violently anti-Nazi. 1937, he came to Britain. He played Prince Albert in the British stage production of “Victoria Regina”. World War II, he was interned. Conrad Veidt actually spoke up for him, and he was allowed to remain and work in films. He had a supporting role in “Goodbye, Mr. Chips”, “Night Train to Munich”. He relocates to America in 1941. And as I said, they dropped the von, he became an American citizen. “Joan of Paris”, moved to Warner Brothers, “Now, Voyager”, big hit, then of course, he plays the hero of “Casablanca”. He was semi-blacklisted for protesting against McCarthyism. And after leaving Warner Brothers, he became a producer. He married Elizabeth Gluck, who was Jewish.

He had two daughters by her. So do you see how Jewish this particular film is? Now, let’s go on to one of the most important of the supporting actors, Peter Lorre. Laszlo Löwenstein, born to, of course, Jewish parents. His father was a bookkeeper and an army reserve officer in Vienna. He moved to Berlin, becomes a great star of German expressionism and stars in Fritz Lang, the great Fritz Lang, his first talkie “M”, where he plays a paedophile, and he’s given a talkie, actually makes a speech as a paedophile. You see, UFA would touch subjects that Hollywood wouldn’t dare touch at the time. So he’s a great star of German cinema. But after Hitler came to power, he comes to England, he makes “The Man Who Knew Too Much” for Hitchcock and eventually Hollywood, “The Maltese Falcon” with Bogart and Greenstreet, followed by “Casablanca”, also brilliant in Frank Capra’s “Arsenic and Old Lace” with Cary Grant and Raymond Massey. If you haven’t seen it, it’s an incredible treat. And Disney’s “2,000 League Under the Sea”. Unfortunately, he becomes very much typecast as the sinister foreigner. And you see him often in horror films, and in “The Raven” with Vincent Price, another one of my favourite actors, much maligned. So can we go on please?

I just want to give you a taste. All these characters deserve a session of their own, the wonderful Sydney Greenstreet. He didn’t begin… He was a stage actor and didn’t actually begin his film career until he was 61 years old. Interesting background, poor background. Born in Kent in England, his father was a tanner. He had seven siblings. He was obviously an adventurer. Somebody once said to me, “Never underestimate the English. They’re not just a nation of shopkeepers, they’re also adventurous.” He left home to make his fortune in Ceylon as a tea planter, destroyed by drought forced him out of the business. So he managed a brewery and he was very bored in Ceylon, so he took acting lessons. And he returned to the UK, and he began his career in England as a murderer in a very bad production at the Ramsgate Marina Theatre. He then goes to America, he’s an adventurer, and he makes his New York debut. On the American stage, he worked consistently. He refused films until finally age 61. He’s in “The Maltese Falcon”. He’s in “Casablanca” and in “The Mask of Dimitrios”, a wonderful, wonderful actor. Now, the last character I’m going to talk about is the wonderful Max Steiner, who, of course, wrote the score for “Casablanca”. And he is someone, if I’m going to talk to Patrick, I think he probably deserves a session of his own. He was born in Vienna, came from a wealthy Jewish family and also a theatrical family. He was named after his paternal grandfather, Johann Steiner, who was credited with persuading Johann Strauss II to write for the theatre. And he was a manager of the Theatre an der Wien. So he comes from a musical, creative, theatrical, and wealthy family. His father was a musical impresario. He was a child prodigy. He was allowed to conduct an American operetta when he was 12 years old.

His godfather was Richard Strauss, now you can’t do much better than that. He studied at the Vienna Institute. He enrolled at the Imperial Academy of Music. He had private tutoring from Gustav Mahler, He managed to complete a four year course in one year. He studied and could play various instruments, the piano, the organ, the trumpet, double bass. He was introduced to operetta by Franz Lehar, who was for a time the bandmaster of his theatre. This gives you an introduction of what it must have been like to live in Vienna at that particular period. He was also taught by Eysler and many of his later film scores like “Dark Victory” or “Now, Voyager” have waltz melodies, which are very reminiscent of Eysler. 1907… In 1914, he worked between Britain and Europe. He conducted shows throughout the world. Now, this is the wonder kin. In London, he conducted “The Merry Widow”. He stayed in Britain for eight years. He conducted at the Adelphi Theatre, at the Hippodrome. 1914, of course, he’s interned as an enemy alien. But he had a fan in the Duke of Westminster who managed to get him exit papers to America and in America, he works for 15 years on Broadway. And then of course, the Law of Hollywood RKO 1929 to '37. 1932, he was asked by David Selznick to add the music to a strange film. It’s called the “Symphony of the Six Million”.

And it’s about Jewish life and tradition. You see, Selznick and Steiner, they never really forgot who they were, and that title is so chilling. I’ve never seen the film. I’ve seen stills, I’ve never seen the film. He very much pioneered the use of original composition as background scores for films. His breakthrough movie was “King Kong” of 1933. And of course, the score is an integral part of the film “King Kong”. He made 55 films. Most of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers films, Selznick and John Ford. He was regarded… John Ford called him the musical doctor. In 1935, he won his first Academy Award for “Inferno”. In 1937, he left RKO for Warner Brothers, but continued to work with David Selznick, who he was very close to, he did the music for “The Charge of the Light Brigade”. He scored 140 films over the next 30 years. He was borrowed by Selznick for “Gone With the Wind”. He only had three months to write the score for “Gone With the Wind”. He often worked 20 hours a day. His doctor prescribed benzedrine to keep him awake. Oh, wow, the doctors of Hollywood. He won his second Academy award for “Now, Voyager”. And he was nominated for “Casablanca”. He received his third Oscar for “Since You Went Away”, he had a great success with film noir. Remember his Viennese, he worked with the greats, “Big Sleep”, “Mildred Pierce”, “Letter from An Unknown Woman”. He wrote for the westerns. 1958, he’s back to Warner Brothers. The very interesting film, “Marjorie Morningstar”, which is about a nice Jewish girl and what happens to her. “A Summer Place” with Liz Taylor. He wrote when he was 71 years old. He died in Hollywood when he was 83 years old. Now, what would’ve happened to people like him and Korngold if they had just had a classical career? What extraordinary characters. So I’ve really used “Casablanca” as a vehicle to just to show you also just how Jewish Hollywood was. So we’re stopped there and let… And Judi, thank you for making everything run smooth. Let’s have a look at some of the questions.

Q&A and Comments:

I came to Casablanca for the waters, but Casablanca is in the desert. I was misinformed.

Myra, “The music of 'Casablanca’ is so haunting.”

This is from Martin, “Any visitor to Ronald Lauder as Neue Galerie can see the famous clipped woman in gold as well as ‘Casablanca’.” Thank you for that, Martin, of course.

Q: Gita’s saying why didn’t I do more visual clips.

A: Because I would’ve needed two years to show the clips. Look, it was on television. I made a value judgement . I wanted to tell you the stories of the people. Look, the films they were all in. We could spend a year on cinema, couldn’t we?

“Casablanca” won best song as time goes by. Thank you, Arlene.

The Epsteins were brothers. The grandson of one of them was Theo Epstein. He was the general manager of the baseball team Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, both teams won the World Series. That comes from David. Thank you so much.

Irve says, at least three characters are named after cars, Renault, Ferrari, and Ugarte. Thank you for that, Irve.

This is Joan, “Recommending ‘Mercury Pictures Presents: A Novel’ by Marra, Hollywood late ‘30s and '40s about Italian refugees from fascism. Author did massive research.” Thank you for that, Joan.

Q: Was the play in which “Casablanca” was based ever performed on stage?

A: Yes, it was, but it wasn’t successful and it didn’t run long.

Q: Does anyone know what Patan says on the poster in the first scene as running to his shot?

A: No, but I think someone will… Somebody will know.

Howard Koch pronounce Kotch, thank you.

“To Have and Have Not” is also a great movie about Vichy France and helping French resistance fighters. Great love story with iconic meeting of Bogart and 19-year-old Bacall. Yes, of course.

Curtiz bring on the empty horses. Yes, yes. He was wonderful. Some of his malapropisms, I think that’s the word.

Arlene says, “John Garfield was a distant relative of mine. He’s one of my heroes.”

Sabrina would like to receive an email with all Judi’s film recommendation. What we did about a year ago, myself and my colleagues, that was Patrick, David, I think Wendy contributed, William and Sandra Myers, we gave a hundred favourite movies. I dunno if we still got it, Judi. Have we still got it somewhere?

• [Judi] Of course, we still have it, Trudy.

• Well, of course, I knew. That’s why I love it when you are back. Well, perhaps we could put it on… I dunno how you would do that, but some of the films I’ve talked about tonight, of course are on that and that gives us our favourite hundred films. But don’t forget, we are of a certain generation, so we can do that.

“Sons of Liberty”. Oh, thank you, Stuart. 20 to 30 minutes trailer. Thank you very much, Stuart. Can you send that to me, Stuart? Side of email, if you don’t mind. Transcript of talk and Q&A would be great. Thank you for sharing the hype.

Q: Was John Garfield Jewish?

A: Yes, of course, he was. I’m afraid, Joel. Thank you.

“Sons of Liberty”. You’re mixing up Veidt with Henreid. Did I? Conrad Veidt, did I? My brain is jellied.

Peter Lorre was Hungarian. Yes, born in the Austro-Hungarian empire.

Lorre did a number of movies with Greenstreet. Yes, of course. You are obviously a great film buff.

This is from Carla, “In the fall of 2014, we saw an amazing exhibit at the Skir.” I hope I pronounced that… “Skirball Centre in LA about film noir and the refugees from Europe who were central to film noir. At the programme accompanying exhibit, Paul Henreid’s daughter was in the audience and spoke about her father. A fascinating afternoon.” That must have been amazing.

What we’re going to do, Susan, you are going to get the list of the hundred favourite films of ours, but it was other colleagues as well, but Patrick, and David and William and Sandra, they’re all film buffs.

• [Judi] Trudy, if they just send me… Trudy, if they just send me an email, and I will just send to those people that are requesting us. So just drop me an email, and I’ll send you the list that we created some time ago.

• Thank you very much.

Q: Barbara, “Was there a competition between Steiner and Korngold?”

A: Well, they were the two great music men of Hollywood. All the producers and directors wanted them, and I think they both won Academy Awards, many Academy Awards.

Roseanne, “My favourite scene, when the band is signalled to drown out the singing Nazis by singing "La Marseillaise” will never be the same.“ Thank you, Roseanne. The problem is, you know, when I’ve been looking at the history of the Jews, of France, you know, the French resistance wasn’t quite as glorious as it was made up to be out to be.

Q: This is from BC, "Can you name contemporary movies at much "Casablanca” in terms of writing action and pacing?“

A: I think, look, I have lots of conversations with younger people about this and they say… Look, films today are different. They’re about special effects. They are bigger. And are they about sheer unadulterated talent? Not for me. I mean, there are a few good films that came out. I mean, since 1960. But most of the films I actually like best are the '30s and '40s films with, of course, a few of the '60s, '70s, '80s. I’m trying to think. I’d love you to send me a list. Anyone wants to send it to me personally if you’ve got my email, don’t drive Judi mad. Of anyone of my generation who can name their favourite films of the year 2000s to 2023. I don’t enjoy going to the cinema much anymore.

The extras who sung the "La Marseillaise” in the film were Jewish refugees, their tears were real. Thank you for that information, Roberta.

Oh, Monica says, “Many of the movies you mentioned I used to watch with my kids, and now they love all the oldies.”

Q: What was the name of the Haym Solomon film?

A: That’s important. Let me find it. Can someone tell us?

Laurie Korngold enjoyed our trip. Are you by any chance related? Happy New Year, Laurie. Thank you, Kitty.

Q: Was Laszlo based on a real person?

A: No, I don’t think so.

Well, this is interesting from Vivian, “Max Steiner, maestro of movie music, was a wonderful documentary, Turner Classic Movies.” Thank you.

Whilst most of the men involved in the production of “Casablanca” were Jewish, very few married Jewish women. Yeah, it’s true. Brenda, that was true. It’s very different. Would enjoy a session on . See what we can do about that.

Greeter tells us, “Lauren Bacall has written autobiography, which is very interesting.” Thank you, Edna from Montreal.

Before I ever watched a movie when I was a young kid in the early 1950s, Peter Lorre did the introduction to a radio show called “Nightmare”, which I listened to under the covers of my bed, after my bedtime, shivering in fright. Oh, that’s fantastic, Jack.

Yeah, he did have an incredible voice, didn’t he? But if you haven’t seen “M” by Fritz Lang, that is a real treat. Thank you.

This is from Caroline, “My cousins were indeed the refugees in 'Casablanca’. Vache Vache is their favourite place. They eventually came to San Francisco.” Happy New Year. Oh, that’s incredible, Carolyn. Honestly, that’s why I love Lockdown. Where else would you find people who can enrich us all?

Q: This is from Susan, “How does my friend sign up to join Lockdown?”

A: She sends an email, Susan.

I have found the short film for you, “Sons of Liberty”. Thank you, Arthur. Thank you, Jeffrey. Also less expensive. “Sons of Liberty”, that’s the film me too.

Hi, Libya. How are you? Libya and Roberta want the list of hundred films. All you’ve got to do is to email.

My family was in the French Resistance Soldier I don’t appreciate the comment. Well, let me be very careful here. And I’m going to be talking about rescue and resistance. There was resistance in France, but there was also a lot of collaboration. And that’s what I’ve been talking about. Maybe you weren’t listening to my previous lectures. What I was talking about is how there was the myth of the whole of the country that resisted and that was not true of Vichy. Yes, the people who actually were in the resistance were extraordinarily brave. If I misspoke, I apologise, but there were an awful lot of collaborators too. That’s what I was referring to. It is.

This is from Frank, “It said that Curtiz asked for poodles for the final scene. They thought he wanted dogs, he meant puddles.” Oh, that’s lovely. Oh, this is interesting.

Rom Bick, “We recently started watching Turner Classic Movies. They show many of the best movies from the ‘40s and '50s.”

“Sons of Liberty”. “Sons of Liberty”.

Oh, this is from Cynthia, “John Garfield’s daughter, Julie, is my friend. She’s alive and well and living in New York City. He was blacklisted by McCarthy.” He was an extraordinary man. Oh, fascinating book about Hollywood.

This is Herbert Goldwin. Yes, some of the biographies of the moguls are interesting. Anyway, that’s it. Judi, thank you so much. You know, it’s made me think maybe we should do a few more movie presentations now and again.

• [Judi] Yes, it’s great,

• [Trudy] What do you think? What do you think, Judi?

• [Judi] Yes, please. Yes, please.

• You’ll help me with the clips then.

• [Judi] Of course.

• Thank you, everyone. I’m so much more relaxed now Judi’s back. I wish you all a happy secular new year and honestly, I can’t believe the comments that some of you make. You know, you all know so much. And at some stage, I’ll sit down with my colleagues, and I’ll make a list of… In case some of the films I mentioned today aren’t on the great lists. Yeah, just look at the films of the '30s and the '40s. Anything with Bette Davis, anything with Joan Fontaine, Olivia de Havilland, Orson Welles, Joan Crawford, just these are the greats, and I’m probably an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy. and I’m sure that’s what a lot of your children would say. And they probably say that about you because we love these kinds of films because they could write and they could act and the music was magnificent. So maybe I’m just an old-fashioned girl.

Anyway, look after yourselves, everybody, and see you all very soon. God bless.