Casablanca
Casablanca was released during the Second World War, but still never fails to captivate people of all ages. I believe that Casablanca is as successful as it is for several reasons. The first is the setting both historically and geographically, the themes as well as Romance, Comedy and War, is protest and potentially patriotism. One of the most thrilling aspects is the believable characters like Rick Blaine (played by Humphrey Bogart) and the way they react to the events and surroundings. I believe that the opening scene creates an image of Casablanca, as a rough city. One of my favourite early scenes is one where Rick and Ugarte (played by Peter Lorre) have a long dialogue filled with Ugarte's long-winded efforts to persuade Rick to look after documents that will get him out of Casablanca, whilst Rick provides witty insults and put-downs. Rick's dynamic character is very funny and rarely serious about the quite dangerous situation he is in (only minutes later, Ugarte is chased by the guards and Rick does nothing to save him) his dark humour and questionable sense of morality, make us unsure both at the very opening and the end as to what his actions are going to be, the fact that we cannot predict where the story is going, but we have a set-piece in the plot, these papers. One of the things that really, for me, created a large quantity of tension, was the fact that Rick is very comfortable in Casablanca, Ugarte gives him the papers, knowing that he will not leave Casablanca, as to why he hasn't chosen to leave Casablanca and perhaps even more importantly why he is there in the first place (One of the most crucial parts of the story).
The 39 Steps
This is an even earlier film than Casablanca, a pre-war thriller. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, I believe that this film in some ways is very important in the development of movie techniques. This movie begins effectively with a stage act that we dismiss as just a humourous interlude, the rowdy audience trying to put off the people on stage at the music hall. The dialogue mainly consists of 'cheeky' cockney jokes, but our main character is quite clearly established from the ruckus and mayhem, asking 'How far is it from Winnipeg to Montreal?' Roger Donat stands out from the predominantly working class audience, because he is well-dressed and well-spoken in comparison, we notice him very rapidly despite the fact that he is the quietest man in the room. The tension starts to build when gunshots are heard during a fight and everyone flees and he meets up with a woman who wants to go home with him, she later reveals to him that she is a spy, Hannay doesn't believe her but she is assassinated in the night. One of the things that makes this movie great is the humour delivered mainly through sarcasm and the fact that we are at some points thinking ahead of Hannay, like when the Spy woman tells him not to answer the phone because it is for her, but he is very sarcastic about that. I think that this movie is in many ways one of the big inspirations for the James Bond movies, because Donat's Hannay is very smooth, humourous, womanising and strangely enough seems to enjoy being put in danger.
The Lady Vanishes
Another Alfred Hitchcock movie, many people believe that this is his best film while he was still in Britain, personally I think it is one of the best Hitchcock films I have ever seen. It is both thrilling and humourous. You are introduced to several different groups of people, many of whom are humourous. There are the two main comic characters, Charters and Caldicott (played by the brilliant Naunton Wayne and Basil Radford), a group of glamourous girls including our main character, a mysterious man played by Michael Redgrave and an old lady who seems relatively harmless. The first half-hour introduces to the characters and establishes the potential for romance between the two strong-willed main characters. The real thrill arrives with the disappearance of the old woman whom our main character gets to know on the train. The quantity of characters and reasons for them not to tell her that they know the woman has disappeared are intriguing. The story is clever, the script is quick-paced, funny and thrilling, the direction is perfect and it does not keep to a single genre and takes a more action-filled route at the end. What I think makes this very thrilling is the fact that the movie, is not dated like some old movies, the plot is plausible even nowadays, the girls are still beautiful and the wit is still sharp.
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