We'll Always Have Casablanca: The Legend and Afterlife of Hollywood's Most Beloved Film (Paperback)
A Los Angeles Times bestseller
A New York Times Book Review “Editor’s Choice” Selection
“Even the die-hardest Casablanca fan will find in this delightful book new ways to love the movie they were certain they could never love more.” —Sam Wasson, best-selling author of Fifth Avenue, 5 A.M.
Casablanca is “not one movie,” Umberto Eco once quipped; “it is ‘movies.’” Film historian Noah Isenberg’s We’ll Always Have Casablanca offers a rich account of the film’s origins, the myths and realities behind its production, and the reasons it remains so revered today, over seventy-five years after its premiere.
Noah Isenberg is professor and chair of the department of radio-television-film at the University of Texas at Austin, the author of We'll Always Have Casablanca, Edgar G. Ulmer: A Filmmaker at the Margins, editor of Weimar Cinema, and the recipient of an NEH Public Scholar Award.
We'll Always Have Casablanca is a hugely readable and entertaining look at how Casablanca came to be, and how it came to be such an indelible part of American pop culture.
— Chris Foran - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Combining trenchant analysis of the film’s poetic and political power with a well-researched and playful account of its legacy, We’ll Always Have Casablanca is a necessary book and perhaps even an urgent one.
— Noah Gittell - Los Angeles Review of Books
Anyone interested in the magic of movies will relish this book.
— Tavo Amador - Bay Area Reporter
Fascinating… [and] profoundly relevant.
— Rebecca Prime - Los Angeles Times
A treasure trove of facts and anecdotes.
— Peter Biskind - New York Times Book Review
Observant and astute.… Isenberg makes some insightful contributions to Casablanca lore.
— Gerald Bartell - Washington Post
An insightful, revelatory new book.
— Paul Teetor - Los Angeles Weekly
Hugely entertaining.
— David Mikics - Tablet
As Noah Isenberg details in his excellent new book We’ll Always Have Casablanca, the 1942 film is a case study of how history gets depicted for popular entertainment, but it is also a powerful example of how the Hollywood machine produced work that intersected with political commitment while still holding fast to its romantic conventions.
— Michael S. Roth - Chronicle of Higher Education
Four out of four stars.… Isenberg’s great contribution is tying together the production [of Casablanca] and its legacy.
— Bill Desowitz - USA Today
Noah Isenberg brings an appropriate passion to his pop analysis of [Casablanca], along with a delight of details and some savvy reassessments.
— John Anderson - Newsday
Isenberg gives us… a rich miscellany of material that will delight fans of both the film and Hollywood’s golden era. His research is clearly second to none.
— Lucy Scholes - Times Literary Supplement
— Chris Foran - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Combining trenchant analysis of the film’s poetic and political power with a well-researched and playful account of its legacy, We’ll Always Have Casablanca is a necessary book and perhaps even an urgent one.
— Noah Gittell - Los Angeles Review of Books
Anyone interested in the magic of movies will relish this book.
— Tavo Amador - Bay Area Reporter
Fascinating… [and] profoundly relevant.
— Rebecca Prime - Los Angeles Times
A treasure trove of facts and anecdotes.
— Peter Biskind - New York Times Book Review
Observant and astute.… Isenberg makes some insightful contributions to Casablanca lore.
— Gerald Bartell - Washington Post
An insightful, revelatory new book.
— Paul Teetor - Los Angeles Weekly
Hugely entertaining.
— David Mikics - Tablet
As Noah Isenberg details in his excellent new book We’ll Always Have Casablanca, the 1942 film is a case study of how history gets depicted for popular entertainment, but it is also a powerful example of how the Hollywood machine produced work that intersected with political commitment while still holding fast to its romantic conventions.
— Michael S. Roth - Chronicle of Higher Education
Four out of four stars.… Isenberg’s great contribution is tying together the production [of Casablanca] and its legacy.
— Bill Desowitz - USA Today
Noah Isenberg brings an appropriate passion to his pop analysis of [Casablanca], along with a delight of details and some savvy reassessments.
— John Anderson - Newsday
Isenberg gives us… a rich miscellany of material that will delight fans of both the film and Hollywood’s golden era. His research is clearly second to none.
— Lucy Scholes - Times Literary Supplement