Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of Casablanca : Bogart, Bergman, and World War II (Paperback)

by Aljean Harmetz (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Harmetz conjures up the film world of 1942 in this spirited and knowledgeable look at the production of Casablanca . Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Roundup of the usual suspects in the making of Casablanca, by Harmetz (The Making of the Wizard of Oz, 1977), the Hollywood business reporter for The New York Times. Harmetz is an ever interesting though not lively writer, and her intense research and packaging of all possible information about Casablanca make for a book that newcomers to the film will find fulfilling and complete. Older fans of the movie and its stars, though, may not find enough that's new here to reward wading through a hill of beans this big and detailed - and it's strange that so much formidable research turned up so little fresh material. Over the years, Harmetz interviewed five cast members, three of whom are now the film's last living - and minor - players. She awards major space to Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, Claude Rains, Paul Henreid, producer Hal Wallis and director Michael Curtiz, studio head Jack Warner, the technicians, the set designer, and what studios called "the little people" (makeup, hairdressing, etc.). Harmetz includes the studio's vast research on North Africa, the look of Casablanca's then-current license plates and telephone poles and so on. Amusing sidelights: Bogart uncomfortable at making love to and dancing with Bergman on the first day of shooting (it was the flashback sequence of their love affair in Paris); Bergman being coy in later years about supposedly not having known how to play to Bogart and Henreid because she didn't know which one she'd wind up with (although it turns out that the last scene was shot midway during the film, so she did know); the role of character actors in filling each scene with ore (today's films, Harmetz says, "lack the thick layers of character actors who brought depth to the background and refracted the star's light so that it formed a different and more complicated image"). It's still the same old story.... (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 402 pages
• Publisher: Hyperion Pr; 1st Paperback Ed edition (December 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562827618
• ISBN-13: 978-1562827618
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #294,521 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Miracle of Accidents, July 28, 1998

By	bored - See all my reviews

"Casablanca" is quite simply my favorite film. Its history encompasses the studio system at its finest, the political movements of World War II (the famous Casablanca conference provided invaluable free publicity for the film), and some of the best casting in film history (my favorite character was always Claude Rains' Louis Renault).

In "Round Up the Usual Suspects," Aljean Harmetz has brought the history of this film to glorious life, exploring its origins and dispelling its myths. (How seriously was Ronald Reagan considered for the lead? Did Ingrid Bergman know the ending?)

Her attention to detail would have been sufficient to make this a great book, but Harmetz does much more. Her greatest achievement (and it's great indeed) is to present the film as a miracle of accidents, the almost coincidental meeting of the forces of Hollywood with the forces of history.

"Round Up the Usual Suspects" is essential reading for anyone interes! ted in the story of how a great film is made.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best MAKING OF A MOVIE book I have ever read!, August 27, 1998

By A Customer

"Round Up the Usual Suspects" provided many behind-the-scenes tidbits about CASABLANCA that I've never heard before - Murray Burnett's lawsuits against Howard Koch, the feud between Jack Warner and Hal Wallis and a precise picture of the Warner Brother house style. Ms. Harmetz provided an excellent and detailed account of Hollywood moviemaking in the early 40s. After reading this and her books on GONE WITH THE WIND and THE WIZARD OF OZ, she just may well be one of the foremost historians of Hollywood's Golden Age.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book on the best film of the 1940s, September 25, 2003

By	Daniel Waitkoss (St. Charles, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Round Up the Usual Suspects: The Making of Casablanca-Bogart, Bergman, and World War II (Hardcover)

Aljean Harmetz's "Round Up the Usual Suspects" is one of the best books on the making of what is probably the best film of the 1940s (and possibly of all time). Harmetz explains almost every aspect of the story--often sounding more like fiction than fact--of the making of this all-time winner. These aspects include who was behind the camera, the actors, and the writers. She provides many details about life behind the WB shield--which collaborates the view of Jack Warner as a jerk seen in a fine book,"Hollywood Be Thy Name"--the fights on who wrote the screenplay, and how they all meshed together to create an enduring classic. She also explains how the film escaped the propanganda machine of later 1940 films. If you love this film, you should read this book! Let us hope that it returns to print witht he release of the special DVD edition of "Casablanca".