How could you not want to see a movie with a synopsis like this: “As America prepares to enter WW2, Hungarian film director Michael Curtiz grapples with political intervention and a dysfunctional relationship with his estranged daughter amid the troubled production of Casablanca in 1942.”?


It was Friday, movie day, and though the theatres are closed I made a bowl of popcorn, got in my recliner, flipped through what new movies were on Netflix and seeing the synopsis of “Curtiz” I picked that movie. I didn’t care about the daughter angle but come on considering: “Casablanca”, Bergman, Bogart, “As Time Goes By”, Claude Raines, “This looks like the start of a beautiful friendship, Louie,” there was no way it couldn’t be a winner!


I had never heard of anyone connected with the film but in a way I thought it might be better without the original stars, having stand-ins. Okay so we only hear voices instead of seeing them except for Jozsef Gyabronka who, not sounding or looking like him, plays SZ Sakall.


The director, Tamasyvan Topolanszky, who also co-wrote the screenplay, tries to make it look like a 1940s picture using black and white film but with such lines as “Where is Ronald Reagan?” (who, for those who don’t know was supposed to have played the Bogart role originally) and is answered with “He’s off to make America great again” or “Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” I would suggest you see the original “Casablanca” for the first or tenth time and not waste your time with this.