This is my favorite postcard of all, including those that belonged to my grandmothers and those I have added to the collection since beginning Old Postcard Wednesday. It is, in fact, one that I bought from a Paris vintage postcard vendor earlier this year. When I first saw it online I thought I probably could not afford it. I mean, look, this is a postcard of a movie theater in Casablanca! It was affordable, possibly because of the stamp and cancellation being on the front of the card, something I think rather adds to the character of this beauty mailed in 1923 by someone with the most gorgeous handwriting, who used ink the color of the stamp. I cannot make out the words in the message sufficiently enough to key into Google translator, so if any of the written words jump out at you please let me know what they mean. {Postscript: Roxana graciously translated the card in her comments following this post. Thank you so much, Roxana.} The more I look at this postcard, especially after enlarging it here, the more I see.....and I may do something I have not done with any other cards, put it in a frame.
The Majestic Cinema was showing The Three Musketeers (Les Trois Mousquetaires) when the photographer took this shot. There are two large poster boards in front of the theater, undoubtedly movie posters for the Douglas Fairbanks production released in 1921.
The image is full of life, as if a director had just called out "Action!" ....notice the movement caught in the horse-drawn buggy where the driver's stick can be traced against the roof in the background as his hand is directing it to maneuver the horses, and notice the graceful working legs in motion of the horse in the background while in the foreground the other horse, head held high, has a less active gait. Where the image looks like a movie scene itself, the people and animals here were actually going about living one day of their lives in a city that would be featured in a great film nearly 20 years later, after which the name Casablanca would have cinematic meaning and would make personal memories for millions of fans on into the future.
Casablanca, which premiered 68 years ago, was shot on the studio lot, the Van Nuys airport, and Flagstaff, Arizona, yet anyone who has seen the film seems to have a feeling of having been in the film's namesake city.
Although an initial release date was anticipated for spring 1943, the film premiered at the Hollywood Theater in New York City on November 26, 1942, to coincide with the Allied invasion of North Africa and the capture of Casablanca. In the 1,500-seat theater, the film grossed $255,000 over ten weeks. It went into general release on January 23, 1943, to take advantage of the Casablanca conference, a high-level meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt in the city. It was a substantial but not spectacular box-office success, taking $3.7 million on its initial U.S. release, making it the seventh best-selling film of 1943. The Office of War Information prevented screening of the film to troops in North Africa, believing it would cause resentment among Vichy supporters in the region. - Wikipedia
ILSA: Play it, Sam. Play "As Time Goes By."
RICK: I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.
MAJ. STRASSER: You give him credit for too much cleverness. My impression was that he's just another blundering American.
CAPT. RENAULT: We musn't underestimate "American blundering". I was with them when they "blundered" into Berlin in 1918.
CAPT. RENAULT: What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
RICK: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
CAPT. RENAULT: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
RICK: I was misinformed.
RICK: Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.
VICTOR LASZLO: Play the "Marseillaise."... Play it!
CAPT. RENAULT: Because my dear Ricky, I suspect that underneath that cynical shell you are at heart a sentimentalist.
CAPT. RENAULT: Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects.
ILSA: But what about us?
RICK: We'll always have Paris.
RICK: Here's looking at you kid.
RICK: Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
-from Casablanca (1942)
I was not able to find if Casablanca, when first released, was ever shown in Casablanca at The Majestic or another theater. But I did find the following fascinating information:
... If you find yourself in Casablanca, Morocco today you really can go to Rick's. An American woman has opened a replica of the famous cafe. And yes there is a piano player who plays As Time Goes By every night and it's quite a coincidence but his name is Isam.
