CASABLANCA: World War II Morocco springs to life in Michael Curtiz's (THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD, YANKEE DOODLE DANDY) classic love story. Colorful characters abound in Casablanca, a waiting room for Europeans trying to escape Hitler's war-torn Europe. Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Blaine, a cynical but good-hearted American whose café is the gathering place for everyone from the French police to the black market to the Nazis. When his long-lost love, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), surfaces in Casablanca with her Resistance-leader husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), Rick is pulled into both a love triangle and a web of political intrigue. Ilsa and Victor need to escape from Casablanca, and Rick may be the only one who can help them. The question is, will he? Topnotch performances include Claude Rains as the chief of the French police and the major authority figure in unoccupied France, Peter Lorre as the doomed Seńor Ugarte, Sydney Greenstreet as Senor Ferrari, and Dooley Wilson as Rick's loyal friend and the café's pianist, Sam. The mesmerizing musical score, by Max Steiner, along with the well-structured plot, flawless acting, and unforgettable dialogue makes this one of the best films of all time.GONE WITH THE WIND: Hot-tempered, self-centered, part-Irish Southern beauty Scarlett O'Hara, played to the teeth by Vivien Leigh, loves the gentlemanly Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard). Smug, rebellious, honest, blockade-running profiteer Rhett Butler, portrayed dashingly and naturally by Clark Gable, loves Scarlett. Ashley, who is also in love with Scarlett, marries his genteel cousin Melanie (Olivia de Haviland) because he believes that their quiet similarities will create a better marriage than Scarlett's passion. Meanwhile, sparks fly between Rhett and Scarlett at their first encounter and continue throughout Scarlett's first two marriages. Scarlett and Rhett finally wed, but Scarlett continues to pine for her beloved Ashley. Set against the Civil War and Southern Reconstruction, this tragic love quadrangle offers the burning of Atlanta and fields of wounded Confederates as part of its lush scenery. Meticulous backdrops, glorious sunsets, numerous silhouettes, and the ultra-saturated Technicolor film create a hyperreal vision. The romantic score is every bit as lush and dramatic as the photography, borrowing folk melodies from the Old South to underscore the tragedy of war. Heavily nostalgic tones pervade the often witty dialogue and larger-than-life charms and faults of the leads. GONE WITH THE WIND stands among the greatest epic dramas ever filmed.