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Night for Day, Film for Life by Lawrence Shaffer
This article delves into the difficult study of how movies are seen by their audiences. Specifically, Night for Day, Film for Life analzes how film viewers see actors within their films. Shaffer states that audiences see actors only in relation to their lives within other films. Cult films like Casablanca create actor sterotypes that live on within other films. For example, Humphrey Bogart became identified with Rick after Casablanca’s success. Shaffer states that psychologically Casablanca’s audience can not diferentiate the real Bogart from Rick and this greatly contributes to the creation of the classic Bogart character in classic cinema. Shaffer also extends this theory to Ingrid Bergman and her illuminous character within Casablanca. He suggests that this inablilty to separate the actress from the character greatly contributed to Bergman’s fans’ shock after her scandalous divorce from her husband. Within this article, Shaffer states that the actor/ character phenonminon is especially powerful in classic film as these movies were the first to create the actor images that confused their identity. This article directly relates to Casablanca due to the fact that the film is so seeped in the images that have become characteristic of classic film. In order to properly analyze Casablanca, these image sterotypes must be identified and analyzed. Only after this has taken place can Casablanca’s true meaning and impact be established.