This book distinguishes itself by giving a through biography of Casablanca’s often forgotten director, Michael Curtiz.  Usually considered to be nothing more than a studio workhorse, Curtiz and his work have often been ignored as merely the cookie cutter products of the enormous studio factories.  In the Casablanca Man, Robertson tries to rebuff this image of Curtiz and investigate the unique elements of Curtiz’s work.  During this investigation, Robertson outlines Curtiz’s life-story and the influence that it had on his films.  Robertson also attempts to discover the man behind Curtiz’s films by researching the director’s view of film auteurism.  In 1917, Curtiz stated that the director’s place in a film could be described as a kind of supreme behind the scenes coordinator.  Throughout his life, Curtiz favored a hidden approach regarding the influence he had on his own films.  Unfortunately, this method has led critics and viewers alike to forget his existence or see his many successful films as merely happy studio systems accidents.  This book is highly relevant to the analysis of Casablanca because it reminds its audience to not forget the work of a director who seems to have put a great deal of effort into being forgotten.  Curtiz’s influence on Casablanca is significant and (as this book reminds us) should not be forgotten. 

The object of this book is to present a detailed summary of many aspects of the making of the legendary film Casablanca.  This summary includes a brief history of the Warner Brothers studio, the life of Jack Warner, short biographies of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, and the traumatic story of the writing Casablanca’s screenplay.  Although at first glance, this book seems to be a classic coffee-table book, its contents and writing style do much to differentiate it from this rather superficial genre.  Lebo seems to desperately search for a middle ground between the aesthetically pleasing use of pictures in his book and the more academic use of detailed analysis and quotation.  By blending the two styles, Lebo creates a book that is stimulating both visually and intellectually.  Casablanca Behind the Scenes’ is relevant to this film’s analysis because it gives a detailed summary of the behind the scenes drama and controversy inherent to the making of the now legendary film.   This analysis particularly shows the inner workings of the Hollywood studio system and gives examples of the system’s advantages and faults.