Casablanca (1943).
DB here:
….develops a mind of its own.
Those who think I’m losing my own mind may find evidence here–evidence more compelling than the great Ambersons poster mystery of last year. There I was fussing over details that were put onscreen intentionally. Today the fuss is about something more elusive, inconsequential, and weird.
Last weekend I was sitting in the front row of the Nitrate Picture Show at George Eastman House. The movie was Casablanca, an original from the period and magnificent in its gray scale. During one scene my eye was attracted to some strange table-top antics.
Ugarte (Peter Lorre) has joined Rick (Humphrey Bogart) at his table and boasts of tonight’s big deal, when he will sell the pair of letters of transit he has acquired. The major plot point is that he gives Rick the letters to hold for an hour or so. But later Ugarte will be killed and Rick will have to hide them. Of course they will come in handy later for Ilse and Victor.
At Rick’s table, Ugarte orders a glass of wine and then chatters along, trying to justify his shady dealings. Rick responds coolly. While all this is going on, certain shots of Ugarte show him with not one but two wine glasses; one is more or less full, the other is empty and sits right on the low right edge of the frame. It occupies more space in the 35mm print, but the video “safe area” doesn’t completely slice it out.
This second, empty glass is a continuity error. It’s never shown being delivered, and it’s not there in the master framings. So far, so normal. Such discrepancies are common in filmmaking all over the world.
The interesting thing is what happens to the glass in the frame. It moves back and forth, with nobody touching it.
I’m not saying it moves between cuts, as if it changes position from shot to shot. Within each of two separate shots, it skitters in and out at the frame edge, in a silly little dance. No other character is at the table, so no one is fiddling with it. There’s no dramatic reason it should shift position at all. And it’s not the second drink Ugarte orders when he gets his first; the waiter delivers that one later in the scene, after Ugarte stands up.
Don’t believe me? Watch the video. The glass moves in shots 3 and 7.
On the 35 print, you can see more of the action. No hand is jerking the glass; it’s being pushed to and fro by someone off frame wrinkling the tablecloth. What production circumstances could justify this?
Maybe others have already noticed and explained this. Maybe you have some hypotheses. In any case, feel free to correspond.
In the meantime, here’s looking at you, kids.
I’ll be blogging more about the fine Nitrate Picture Show in Rochester later this week. I promise to talk about some more substantial items, though thanks to Richard Koszarski another bit of stray detail will be considered.
There are three other entries in the “Sometimes…” series: “Sometimes a shot…”; “Sometimes two shots…”; and “Sometimes a jump cut…”.
Casablanca (1943).
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