Casablanca

Question 1

Name the Big Five and the Little Three studios.

Answer 1

Oligopoly.
The Big Five: MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, RKO, Warner Bros.
The Little Three: Columbia, Universal, United Artists.

Question 2

What is the difference between the Big Five and the Little Three?

Answer 2

The Big Five controlled production, distribution and exhibition, meaning they had vertical integration. The Little Three controlled production and distribution, meaning they had horizontal integration.

Question 3

How did Classical Hollywood operate?

Answer 3

Factory system of producing films.
Studios dominated the market.
Formulaic genre films.
Films were filmed in studio lots.
Actors were contracted to studios.
Each studio released a new film every week.
Hays code with censorship rules.

Question 4

Who stars in Casablanca?

Answer 4

The film stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund and Paul Henreid as Victor Lazlo.

Question 5

Paris flashback scene analysis.

Answer 5

Flashback scene of Rick, Ilsa and Sam in Paris.
The streets of Paris and the buildings and interiors are all in the Warner Bros. studio.
Typical romance music that was common in romance films at the time.
Soft focus on Ilsa to highlight Ingrid Bergman’s beauty and femininity, influenced by how studios treated female actresses at the time.
Back projection and archive footage of Paris is used.
The scene uses continuity editing and focuses on its stars.
The film’s genre is reflected by the tragedy of the scene.