W h e n H u m p h r e y B o g a r t G o t W o k e !
by T. Matthew Phillips – film critic
The film Casablanca is a masterpiece from the Golden Age of Hollywood! It’s the number one movie of all-time!—along with Citizen Kane, Sunset Boulevard, Double Indemnity, Vertigo, Pulp Fiction, plus every Stanley Kubrick film!
Casablanca stars two Hollywood screen legends—Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman! The film was shot during the summer of 1942 at Warner Bros. in beautiful downtown Burbank! In 1943, it won the Academy Award for Best Picture!
Casablanca has many memorable quotes:
“Here’s looking at you, kid!”
“We’ll always have Paris!”
“Round up the usual suspects!”
“Play it again, Sam!” (misquoted) … and,
“Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine!”
The story is set in WWII. Bogart, an American in Paris, falls in love with Ingrid Bergman. And then the Nazis come marching into town! It’s a doomed wartime romance. But the two star-crossed lovers will soon meet again in Casablanca!
Casablanca is in French Morocco. After sacking Paris in 1940, the Nazis install a puppet gov’t—the infamous Vichy (“vee-shee”) regime—which rules over Casablanca.
In one of Casablanca’s opening scenes, Vichy troops impose warrantless searches on the people—demanding to see immunity passports—shouting: “Papers please!”
The world of Casablanca is a dismal portrait of fascism—where state and corporate powers merge—to rob the people of fundamental liberties. But Humphrey Bogart will soon take a stand for freedom!
Yes, Casablanca is a propaganda film! It’s highlight, of course, is the famous nightclub scene at Rick’s Cafe where French freedom fighters rise-up against fascism!
The film’s moment of truth comes one evening at Rick’s Cafe when some beer-drinking Nazis get drunk and obnoxious at the same time! They sing “Die Wacht am Rhein,” a Nazi marching song.
But the nightclub patrons are unimpressed—they support the French Resistance—and they have no wish to be reminded of how their beloved Paris now lay under Nazi control.
The freedom fighters are forced to endure the brutish Nazi singers — until their indignation reaches critical mass! “Uh-oh!”
Just then, a leader of the Resistance, fed-up with the Nazi singers, leads an inspired act of civil disobedience. He is a Czech named Victor Laszlo.
Laszlo, (played by Paul Henreid), approaches the orchestra and instructs the bandleader to play the French national anthem!
“Play La Marseillaise! Play it!” — demands the Resistance leader!
Unsure what to do, the bandleader turns to the club owner, Bogart, on the other side of the room. Unflinching, Bogart silently nods his approval. The band plays La Marseillaise! It will ignite the crowd like no other musical performance in the history of cinema!
The orchestra plays the French national anthem! Everyone stands to attention! The freedom fighters erupt in song!
It then turns into a singing “duel” — freedom fighters vs. obnoxious Nazis! But the freedom fighters sing like Freddie Mercury at Wembley Stadium!
In the end, lion-hearted French voices drown out cold-hearted Nazi voices! “Vive la France!”
The Nazis are forced to return to their seats (literally!). And Bogart is the self-effacing hero! It’s epic Hollywood magic!
After the patriotic outburst at Rick’s Cafe, Bogart is forever changed! He is no longer a political isolationist. Bogart has chosen the cause of freedom!
In Casablanca, the sequence where they sing La Marseillaise is the pivotal moment of the movie — it’s when Bogie got “woke!”
For the first hour of the film, Bogart is the disinterested American who steers clear of politics. He just wants to mind his own business. He’s a neutralist.
Bogart would say, “I stick my neck out for nobody.” He takes no sides. He supports no causes. In one famous scene, Bogart won’t even admit to being American! The Nazis ask, “What is your nationality?” Bogart replies: “I’m a drunkard.”
But after the singing of La Marseillaise, Bogie’s idealism gets the better of him! No longer content with neutrality, Bogart takes a stand against fascism! He realizes the time to resist is NOW! (Are you paying attention?)
MORAL-of-the-STORY: Wake up! Stay-at-home orders are unconstitutional. The Constitution recognizes no class distinction between essential and non-essential persons!
How come the essentials get to decide who’s essential and who’s not? Who made them essential in the first place?
C’mon! Any job that puts food on the table is essential!
And how come nationwide chains like Walmart, Target, and Home Depot get to be immune from the lock-down?—while small businesses go extinct!
Fascism has come to America in the guise of a nationwide lock-down over a make-believe virus! It’s all a hoax! Except for the microchips in the nasal swabs—those are real!
When you test positive for Covids—and you will—the authorities will remove from your household all non-infected persons—including your kids—who will be relocated to virus-free green zones—for their safety and protection! And then you will be relocated to a Covid Detention Center, (“CDC”).
Wake up! N-95 is not a respirator—it’s a mind control device! Wear it and flaunt your submission to the state! Before long, they’ll insist on immunity passports to shop at the grocery store!
And then they’ll unleash 7 billion Covinator vaccines—for 7.5 billion people—because they want a sustainable world population with just 500 million remaining!
And who says the Covinator vaccine will even work? (It won’t!) But one thing’s for sure—the vaccine will come with heaping helpings of GMOs, carcinogens, neurotoxins, and fertility suppressants—just like every other vaccine! On top of that, the Covinator vaccine will include biosensors and GPS trackers! (It may be the last vaccine you’ll ever need!)
Sure, you can call it self-quarantine—but it feels more like house arrest! Wake up!—”mandatory quarantine” is just another way of saying “martial law.” (Get it?)
The time to resist fascism is now! Resist NOW!
Get up! Stand up! “Play La Marseillaise! Play it!”
– T H E E N D –
Produced and Directed by TMP’s Midnight Minions
in association with Chapter Eleven Productions,
Fly-By-Night Management Services, and
Neurotica Entertainment Group
Copyright 2020 – T. Matthew Phillips, Esq.
“All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close–up.”
Norma Desmond
tmatthewphillips 
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