Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon (1 Viewer)

[Scott W.]

Casablanca.

Scott

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Casablanca

 

[Lou Sytsma]

Casablanca.
Any movie with a guy Louie is OK by me.

 

[Dheiner]

I'd rather watch the one it's been the longest since I've seen.

 

[Jack Briggs]

Do yourself a service and purchase both titles on DVD, and never have to face such an unfair choice again. Casablanca is probably the better film, but I wouldn't want to choose one over the other.
We'll ignore Steve's "forget Citizen Kane" comment for now.

 

[Rain]

I'll second what Jack said. You really can't go wrong with either.
Forget which one is on TV and go out and get yourself the DVDs.

 

[Agee Bassett]

Both superb films, I'd have to give the edge to Casablanca.
While I would be extremely hard pressed to find a single other thing I could find fault with in Falcon, ironically, perhaps the one thing with which I do happens to be among the most lauded of its particulars--the very precision of its staging and delivery. IMO, it's a little bit too breathlessly tight and calculated for its own good, to the point where the action often seems stiff and blunted. As his debut effort, this is the only film in his resplendent career director John Huston storyboarded, and it unfortunately shows a bit.
I suppose this is the reason I prefer Hawks' The Big Sleep--another contender for greatest detective thriller--in spite its overly-convoluted plot; as its cynical casualness allows the actors to breathe a little, producing an atmosphere of greater spontaniety and immediacy. It is for this same reason, I think, that I'm also more partial to Casablanca.
As a further irony, I find Polanski's Chinatown a little too casual and deliberate for its own good. As in music, cinematic narrative tension is a fine line to toe (especially in a detective/mystery thriller), and it can often mean the difference in making an entertaining experience into an unforgettable one.

 

[David Dennison]

Casablanca