There are times when a film and its music blend seamlessly into something that is more than the sum of its parts. There are times when the music steals the show from a mediocre film. And there are times when the music score - even by the greatest film composer of his day - is simply overmatched by the film itself.
Casablanca is one example of the latter. Now this isn't entirely fair, because Casablanca is arguably the greatest film ever made. But there it is anyway.
Max Steiner is someone we've seen before here.
There's a reason that Max Steiner is called "the father of film music". As with many composers we've seen here over the years he was a child prodigy. He was born in Vienna back in the days of the Emperors. He was named after his grandfather who was the fellow who persuaded Josef Strauss (Jr) to write music for the theater. Richard Strauss was his godfather. A composer by ten years old, he enrolled at the Imperial Academy of Music at 14 and completed the entire 4 year program in 12 months. It likely helped that his tutor was Gustav Mahler.
Unlike many German composers who came to America during World War II, he landed in the New World in World War I. He was on a concert tour in Great Britain when World War I broke out in 1914 and was interned as an enemy alien. But he had many fans in His Magesty's Scept'red Isle - not least the Duke of Westminster - and so was allowed to sail to New York. He was soon writing music for Broadway. RKO Pictures hired him in 1929 and music in Hollywood was never the same.
But the score for Casablanca was workmanlike, not brilliant. It sets the stage for the actors and while it holds up its end throughout the film, it definitely plays second fiddle so to speak. Again, the film is so spectacular that this is perhaps not surprising, but while Casablanca was nominated for best musical score at that year's Academy Awards, it lost to The Song Of Bernadette. In a way, the father of film music had a knack of having his music overshadowed by the film - Gone With The Wind also lost the Oscar to The Wizard Of Oz.
But Steiner's genius is fully on display in the scene that is sometimes called "the duel of the anthems". That scene would simply not have been possible without the music score, and it is one of the most memorable scenes in a film filled with memorable scenes.
His was a rare genius, even if he didn't win as many Oscars as you'd expect.
7 comments:
Spectacular choice, and a worthy exemplar.
Casablanca arguably belongs in anyone's Top Five Movies of All Time, if not the best (tastes differ).
He also did the scores for Gone With The Wind, The Searchers, and The Caine Mutiny, and another 220+ films and countless TV shows and episodes. For sheer output, he's second to none.
But then I look at the same era at Warner Brothers, and find Erich Korngold, who wrote the scores for Captain Blood, The Adventures Of Robin Hood, and the The Sea Hawk, among dozens of other features and works.
Picking between those two composers is like picking between modern composers John Williams, Hans Zimmer, James Horner, or Michael Giacchino.
It's an embarrassment of riches, and one more proof that the motion picture is the pinnacle and quintessential American art form.
Neat, mostly unknown thing about "Casablanca" is that many of the actors were refugees from the Nazis. I was totally blown away when I found that little fact out.
I like the score. It frames and develops the scenes and actions, without overpowering the actors.
And anyone who doesn't get teary-eyed and a bit stiff in the spine over the cabaret music battle, well, just don't know about them.
Aesop, it seems I haven't featured Giacchino here. I'll try him next week. And you make a great argument that film is not only the greatest American art form, it is the quintessential American art form.
Beans, Casablanca was wartime propaganda, and we need to keep that in mind. But what propaganda. So yeah - if this doesn't screw the courage to the sticking point then there's not much that can be done.
- Borepatch
Thanks for the attached music. It's a good start for my morning.
I've seen Casablanca numerous times (including twice on the big screen, once in an old movie palace); and I cry during the dueling anthems every time.
To know that many of the actors who snap to attention and/or weep during La Marseillaise had escaped the Nazis. And that Conrad Veidt had escaped Germany and had it in his contract that he'd only play Nazis as evil and donated his salary to the war effort makes it extra special.
I have said more than once that scene is almost enough to make a person want to run off and join the foreign legion.
Madeleine Lebeau, the last surviving featured cast member from Casablanca (she played the absolutely beautiful Yvette, the ex-gf whom Rick dumps and has thrown out of the Cafe Americain) passed away in 2016 at the age of 92. The entire movie belongs to another age now.
The Warner Bros. stock company cranked out about a movie every two weeks, and when the usual suspects cranked out Casablanca, not one single person, not star, crew, cast member, or production executive, had any wild idea that they'd bottled lightning with this monster hit. It was supposed to be just another thing, and no big deal.
Proving once again the timeless wisdom of William Goldman (The Princess Bride) when he wrote about The Hollywood Biz:
"Nobody in this town knows nothing."
If you want to watch a movie where the music elevates it to a sum greater than the parts, watch "Psycho" again. Hitchcock wanted the shower scene to be silent, but Bernard Hermann wrote a piece to sync with the action, and showed Hitchcock. Very few people ever convinced Hitchcock to change his mind, but Hermann did.
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