Sabrina (1954)

Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn) is a chauffeur's daughter who has grown up around near her widowed father's wealthy employer.  Her father has long been concerned about her infatuation with David (William Holden), the youngest son of the wealthy family.  Sabrina's father decides to send his daughter off to Paris, France to a fancy cooking school.  Sabrina doesn't want to go, and she even thinks about suicide when she spots David, a notorious playboy, sneaking away for a private moment with another woman.  But she ends up going away.

When she returns two years later, presenting a grown-up, sophisticated image, suddenly David is smitten with her.  David's parents are concerned with image in their social set.  After all, David is engaged to a woman whose dad plans to sign off on a merger with the family business.  David's older brother Linus (Humphrey Bogart) steps in.  Linus runs the family business, and he formulates a plan for himself to wine and dine Sabrina, then eventually send her back off to Paris and away from David.  But unlike his brother, Linus begins to consider Sabrina's heart -- and more complications arise.

This movie is miles ahead of the 1995 remake that starred Harrison Ford and Greg Kinear.  Ms. Hepburn is very stylish, and the movie has a very romantic sweetness to it.  Ellen Corby plays Bogart's secretary; she went on to star in the 1970's series, "The Waltons".  Nancy Kulp, who was Miss Hathaway on "The Beverly Hillbillies" and Hoppy the cop's mom on "Sanford and Son", also has a small part as a maid.

The Caine Mutiny (1954)

Ensign Willie Keith (Robert Frances) who is new to the Navy is assigned to the Caine, a ship that has seen better days.  Keith isn't so crazy about the first captain, but then that captain is replaced by Capt.Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) who appears to have what it takes to shape things up.  But soon, it is apparent that not only is Queeg overbearing and unreasonable, but that Queeg may have some mental issues.

Keith and two others, Lt. Maryk (Van Johnson) and Lt. Keefer (Fred McMurray), gather information that they believe will prove that Queeg should not be in charge.  Keefer backs out at the last minute, stating that their accusations might not stick and cost them their careers.  Later, Queeg appears to lose it during a storm, and Maryk takes over.  A mutiny charge is made.  A lawyer, Lt. Greenwald (Jose Ferrer) cautiously agrees to defend Maryk.

I'm not a fan of films about the military or war, but this was one of Bogart's films that I had never seen.  Bogart does a great job showing how tightly wound Queeg is.  I saw similarities between how dry Ferrer plays his role and how his son Miguel ("NCIS: Los Angeles") puts a deadpan spin on a lot of his roles.  The one thing that didn't work for me was a romantic sub-plot involving Ensign Keith and his on-and-off sweetheart May.

James Colburn (In Like Flint), Jerry Paris ("The Dick Van Dyke Show"), E.G. Marshall ("The Defenders), and Claude Atkins ("B.J. and the Bear") all have roles in this as well.

The Harder They Fall (1956)

Eddie (Humphrey Bogart) used to be a well-known sportswriter until the newspaper he worked for folded.  Nick (Rod Steiger), a less than ethical fight promoter, begs Eddie to get the news out about his latest find, a boxer named Toro (Mike Lane).  Toro is big, strong, but has no real boxing skills.  Nick is only looking at dollar signs.  Against his better judgement, Eddie agrees to be a publicity agent.

Eddie invites a sports news colleague and old friend of his, Art (Harold J. Stone) to Toro's first professional fight. Toro's opponent has been paid to take a dive, and Art recognizes it right away.  Eddie asks Art to put a spin on what he saw.  Art agrees, but Eddie is aware that Art's respect for him has gone down because of it.  Nick and his crew, including Leo (Nehemiah Persoff), a sneaky bookkeeper, are all about making dollars for themselves while shortchanging the boxers.  Eddie is in deep, mainly because of his own greed.  But his distaste for how Toro is being treated grows, and his conscious gets a hold of him.

This film is not far off the mark about how boxing was run during the mid-20th century.  Unfortunately, the sport still hasn't been able to completely shake off the effects of past misdeeds by promoters, managers, trainers, organized crime involvement, etc., even to this day.  This is a good film that sheds light on the underside of a great sport.  This was also Bogart's last film.

Jack Albertson ("Chico and the Man"), Abel Fernandez ("The Untouchables"), as well as professional boxers Max Baer and Jersey Joe Wolcott can be seen in small roles.

Casablanca (1942)

I had always been jealous of my mother because she saw this movie 70 years ago.  "Oh, yeah, I saw that when it first came out," she said casually to me when I asked her about it.  I think she paid 35 cents to see it.  That was how much movie tickets cost then.   I finally got to see it in a theater as part of TCM's (Turner Classic Movies) 70th anniversary tribute to the film.

Most people have seen this movie dozens of time on television, but I'll recap the plot for those who aren't familiar with it.  Rick (Humphrey Bogart) is an American living in exile for unknown reasons in Casablanca.  He runs a popular club, but he's not a particularly friendly host.  Rick is good to his staff, but he keeps his thoughts mainly to himself.  Word comes that a couple of German soldiers were found murdered in the desert.  They had transit papers on them, documents that are of interest to most in Casablanca.  Most of the people who stop into Rick's club are refugees escaping from conflicts in their countries of origin brought on World War II.  A person with those papers could use them to go on to Lisbon, and from there, to freedom in the United States.

Umgarte (Peter Lorre) is a crook with whom Rick is acquainted, but doesn't have much use for.  Umgarte is in possession of the transit letters, and Rick reluctantly agrees to hide them.  Not too long afterwards, Umgarte is arrested, and later dies in custody without revealing what happened to the transit letters.

Renault (Claude Rains) is a French military official (Casablanca was considered to be part of unoccupied France) who plays host to a German military official, Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt).  Strasser has gotten word that an anti-Nazi political activist named Victor Lazlo (Paul Henreid) is headed to Casablanca.  Strasser plans to see to it that Lazlo never leaves Casablanca.  Lazlo shows up at Rick's club with his wife, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman).  She recognizes the club's pianist, Sam (Dooley Wilson), who is uneasy upon seeing her.  She asks him to play a song called, "As Time Goes By".  Rick storms up to Sam snapping, "I thought I told you never to play that song again!"  He then looks up and sees Ilsa.  It is obvious they have a history together. 

Soon, rumors spread that Rick knows what happened to the transit letters.  Renault and Strasser keep their eyes on Rick.  Lazlo is interested in getting the papers so he and Ilsa can escape to America.  But as much as Rick tries to fight it, he still has feelings for Ilsa, and visa versa.  In the midst of the danger surrounding everybody, what is Rick going to do?

In every screenwriting class I've ever taken, the script for this film has always been taught.  It is considered to be a near-perfect, if not the most perfect screenplay ever written.  The cast is perfect, all the way down to the minor characters, such as a rival club owner of Rick's played by Sydney Greenstreet. The film ties together all its elements - romance, intrigue, danger, suspense, and some comic moments - in a neat package.  Casablanca has some of the most quotable dialogue of any film that's been made. 

My mother was ten years old when she saw Casablanca.  I had to wait until I was 50 years old to actually see it on the big screen.  The print I saw -- a new digital transfer -- was extremely nice.  The scene at the airport near the end looked and felt exceptionally grand.  As the film ended, I clapped along with the rest of the audience in attendance in acknowledgement of a film that still holds up today.