here's lookin' at you, kid

I bet I have seen Casablanca at least 40 times

     Tonight I saw it on the big screen, which may have been a first for me.
     I say may.  When I was a teen, I went to movies and may have seen Bogart and Bergman on the big screen.  I say may, because I  can't explain my fascination with the movie.  I don't think I would have seen it on TV back in the mid 60s.
     When I went away to school, I had a poster of each of them on my room door.  Actually, I had them at home too, but they went with me to school second semester.
     I remember Bergman as Ilsa.  The poster was from the last part of the movie, her in her big hat, tears in her eyes, telling Rick thank you.  I have been in love with her ever since.
     The Bogart poster was waist up, him in his trench coat, hat pulled down, fog swirling around the picture and him with a cigarette and a scowl that accentuated his hurt face.  Truthfully, I'm in love with him too.
     I know I used the line, "Here's lookin' at you kid," long before dating Jackie.
     I love the movie.  I love the humor, the suspense, the great use of shadows to highlight faces and to add to the air of mystery.  And I love the romance.
     You get the idea:  It's my favorite movie.
     Going to use favorite again.  My favorite part of the movie is when the Germans start singing their national song and Victor Laszlo comes down the stairs from Rick's office and tells the house band to play the Marseilles.
And they do.  The emotions of the people, the crowd, is amazing.  I did not know until today that Yvonne, one of the smaller but vital roles, was Madeleine LeBeau and she was actually a French national who fled Paris right just before the Nazis came in.
     When the tears roll down her face during that scene,  they are real. It's a powerful moment.
     Usually I watch on my TV in the basement because I don't think Jackie is a fan of the movie.  Watching tonight with a crowd was interesting because there are funny parts, at least to me, and tonight people laughed with me at those parts.
     And on the big screen I could see things I could not on my small screen, with explained questions I had about certain parts.
     Anyway...open invitation.  Want to watch Casablanca?  Give me a call, bring some popcorn  and we can make a night of it.
     Who knows, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

PS.....tomorrow night could be the night!  100,000...darn close!!