On this day in movie history – Casablanca (movie & books):

Casablanca

directed by Michael Curtiz,

written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch,

based on the play Everybody Comes to Rick's by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison,

was released in the United States on November 26, 1942.
Music by Max Steiner.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, Madeleine Lebeau, Dooley Wilson, Joy Page, John Qualen, Leonid Kinskey, Curt Bois.

Recommended reading:

Casablanca: As Time Goes by:

50th Anniversary Commemorative

By Frank Miller.

Published by‎ Andrews McMeel Pub.
Published 1992.
First Edition.
Hardcover.
ISBN-10: 1878685147
ISBN-13: 978-1878685148

Description:

The leading lady was the producer's second choice. The leading man avoided his co-star between love scenes for fear of his wife's jealousy. Two of the stars didn't want to be in the movie in the first place. And nobody knew how the picture would end until the day they shot the final scene. Yet, out of this chaos came one of the enduring film favorites of all time – Casablanca.

For the First time, here is the whole story of Warner Bros. Production No. 410, from the original play that laid its foundation, through casting, writing, shooting, and post-production, to the series of lucky breaks that created one of the most everlastingly popular films of the last fifty years.

At every step along the road to Casablanca, the picture's creators had to make choices that later meant the difference between triumph and flop. Ronald Regan was initially announced to play one of the male leads. Producer Hal Wallis considered casting Ella Fitzgerald as Sam the piano player. Composer Max Steiner tried to cut "As Time Goes By." And sometimes the participants managed to make the right choices in spite of themselves.

Lavishly illustrated with a collection of photos, memos, blueprints and posters never before assembled in one book 'Casablanca: As Time Goes By...' paints the most complete picture ever of a movie that has mesmerized film-lovers and romantics for half a century.

The Scene-by-Scene Casablanca Film Guidebook:

A Detailed Look at the Hollywood Film Classic

By Michael Willian.

Published by Kerpluggo Books.

Published 2020.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0976242915

ISBN-13: 978-0976242918

Description:

It’s the ideal way to enjoy this American film classic – a comprehensive guidebook that walks you through Casablanca scene by scene. Breathing new life into the film, the guidebook is packed with intriguing insights, cool cast and film anecdotes, and countless closer looks at scene details, curiosities, historical tie-ins, gaffes and more. And it’s all presented in a smart, page turning format. Casablanca fans will be thrilled to have this humorous and insightful companion guiding them through this cinematic gem with fresh eyes.

Inside the guidebook you'll find: first-of-their kind illustrations showing the layouts of Rick's Cafe, the Casablanca Airport and the Paris street and bistro Rick and Ilsa visit, and where your favorite scenes take place in relation to one another; a complete chronology of key film scenes; a handy summary of World War II events leading up to the film's setting; the stories behind the countless World War II-era references that have lost their context over time; translations for the film's foreign language references, and the fascinating insights they unlock; a breakdown of songs in the film; film bookmarks for easy access to key details; And here is just a sampling of the things you'll discover: what popular chess strategy Rick invokes while playing both sides of the table, and the host of curiosities and gaffes involving the match; where Ilsa gets the gun she pulls on Rick; the incredible real-life story of how two Casablanca actors, then married, made their own World War II escape from France to America; Carl's profession before he waited tables at Rick's; the good luck symbol Ferrari displays outside the Blue Parrot; how to recreate Rick and Ilsa's Paris boat ride scene; what real-life plane was used for Strasser's arrival, and what became of it; whether Captain Renault's champagne recommendation to Strasser really was a good one.

On this day in movie history - The Roaring Twenties (1939):

The Roaring Twenties

directed by Raoul Walsh,

written by Jerry Wald, Richard Macaulay, Robert Rossen, Earl Baldwin, Frank Donoghue and John Wexley,

based on the short story The World Moves On by Mark Hellinger,

was released in the United States on October 28, 1939.

Narrated by John Deering.

Music by Ray Heindorf and Heinz Roemheld.

Cast:

James Cagney, Priscilla Lane, Humphrey Bogart, Gladys George, Jeffrey Lynn, Frank McHugh, George Meeker, Paul Kelly, Elisabeth Risdon, Edward Keane, Joseph Sawyer, Abner Biberman, John Hamilton, Robert Elliott, Eddie Chandler, Vera Lewis, John Deering, Elliott Sullivan, Patrick H. O’Malley Jr., Bert Hanlon, Joseph Crehan, Murray Alper, Dick Wessel, George Humbert, Ben Welden, Clay Clement, Don Thaddeus Kerr, Ray Cook, Norman Willis, Arthur Loft, Al Hill, Raymond Bailey, Lew Harvey, Joe Devlin, Jeffrey Sayre, Paul Phillips, Bert Hanlon, Jack Norton, Alan Bridge, Fred Graham, James Blaine, Henry C. Bradley, Lottie Williams, John Harron, Lee Phelps, Nat Carr, Wade Boteler, Creighton Hale, Ann Codee, Eddie Acuff, Milton Kibbee, John Ridgely, Frank Mayo, Bess Flowers, Frank Wilcox, Oscar O’Shea, Robert Armstrong, James Flavin, Emory Parnell.

On this day in movie history - The Maltese Falcon (movie & novel):

The Maltese Falcon

directed and written by John Huston,

based on the novel by Dashiell Hammett,

was released in the United States on October 18, 1941.
Music by Adolph Deutsch.

Cast:

Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Barton MacLane, Lee Patrick, Sydney Greenstreet, Ward Bond, Jerome Cowan, Elisha Cook Jr., James Burke, Murray Alper, John Hamilton, Walter Huston.

Recommended reading:

The Maltese Falcon

By Dashiell Hammett.

Introduction by Richard Russo.

First published 1930.

Published by Vintage Crime / Black Lizard.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0679722645

ISBN-13: 978-0679722649

Description:

“Hammett … wrote scenes that seemed never to have been written before.” – Raymond Chandler.

Detective Sam Spade is a private eye with his own solitary code of ethics. When his partner is killed during a stakeout, he is drawn into the hunt for a fantastic treasure with a dubious provenance – a golden bird encrusted with jewels. Also on the trail are a perfumed grifter named Joel Cairo, an oversized adventurer named Gutman, and Spade’s new client Brigid O’Shaughnessy, a beautiful and treacherous woman whose loyalties shift at the drop of a dime.

These are the ingredients of Dashiell Hammett’s coolly glittering gem of detective fiction, a novel that has haunted generations of readers.

“Hammett’s prose [is] clean and entirely unique. His characters [are] as sharply and economically defined as any in American fiction.” – The New York Times.