Jul 20, 2018 3 min read

Not sure how this happened, but I reached my advanced age without having ever watched “Casablanca” or “Gone With the Wind” all the way through.

Strange, no?

It’s hard to go through normal life as a media person, movie lover and avid reader without bumping into references to those films, both of which are among the most famous in history. Each time, I would make a mental note to sit down and watch the films, someday.

This is compounded by the fact that one of my best and certainly longest friends has read “Gone with the Wind” probably a dozen times. You’d think that somewhere along the line I would have brought myself up to date on the saga, if only to be conversant with her and not appear out of touch.

But we all have those gaps, don’t we? I’ve been reading for going on 60 years and, until rather recently, did not know the pronunciation of the word “ribald.” Did you know Webster’s prefers ribbled?

Of course, we don’t know what we don’t know. The other day, one of the morning TV programs had a mock game show in which recent college graduates competed to have some of their student loan debt paid off. One young contestant, a teacher, did not know “Four score and seven years ago …” was the start of the Gettysburg Address. That’s not a gap, it’s an ocean.

And so, apparently, is my own gaping movie lapse.

I should be forgiven for not having seen any of the recent superhero movies. I lost track back when Christopher Reeve was Superman.

And, in fact, I’ve never seen “Animal House” all the way through.

But “Casablanca”?

There’s nothing like a three-day virus to get a girl up to speed. Last week, I was down and housebound with some kind of stomach thing, a situation that had “binge watch” written all over it.

After watching all episodes of the Netflix documentary “The Keepers” (riveting), I switched to the classic movie channel, and there it was.

“Casablanca,” still in the opening credits. This felt like an opportunity to make myself whole, and so I watched it all. Ingrid Bergman is so beautiful, but in a churchgoing, plain sort of way. Bogie, not so much, but of course there’s something about him – and about the two of them together.

And then last night, out of nowhere, came “Gone with the Wind.” At four hours, it’s a time commitment, for sure. I’d seen pieces of it, but seeing it all strung together was a revelation. Now I get it. Vivien Leigh is so beautiful, and not in a plain sort of way. She’s beautiful in an Elizabeth Taylor sort of way.

So now I’m all up to speed. Meet me for coffee and open the subject of my favorite movies. I’m not sure “Casablanca” or “Gone with the Wind” are at the top of my list, but I could argue the point honestly.

As for “Animal House”, I think I can go through the rest of my life never having seen the whole thing, and not feel like I’m missing anything.

But from the little bits I’ve seen of it, that John Belushi? Beautiful, although not exactly in an Elizabeth Taylor sort of way.

Beth Dolinar can be reached at cootiej@aol.com.