My Visit to Warner Bros.

On Sept 30th, 2002, I had the good fortune of taking the VIP Tour at Warner Bros Studios. What a wonderful experience, walking around the sound stages where many of Bogart's best films were made. The tour takes two hours, just 12 people on each tour, and no children allowed. Most interesting of all was the Museum. Although there were many exhibits, I only had eyes for the "CASABLANCA" display. It has the most prominent position, right in the center of the first floor. "Sam's Piano"....it is not full size, known as a "Cafe Piano", about three quarters the size of a normal instrument. Our guide showed me the initials "FNP" stamped on the back. This indicates it was the property of "First National Pictures" before Warner Bros took over that studio. This piano is a peach color. Of course the music "As time goes by" is on the music stand, plus the baton used by Max Steiner who composed and conducted the music for the film. Mannequins displayed the suit worn by Bogie in the Paris flashbacks, where Rick and Ilsa are taking a cruise down the River Seine. Also the outfit worn by Ingrid Bergman, when she goes to Rick's office to try and get the Letters of Transit, it's a yellow and brown paisley blouse, red cumberband, and black silk skirt, and finally, the cream silk suit that Victor Lazlo wears all through the movie. If you have seen the colorized version of Casablanca, you can picture what these clothes really look like. Also there is a cocktail table, lamp and a chair from Ilsa and Victor's hotel room. A lot of documents reflect frantic exchanges between Jack Warner and Hal Wallis, some of them in the form of telegrams. The passport for Ilsa Lund, which is mis-spelled "Elsa". The final script is opened at the last page. It is not written anywhere that Rick would say at the end of the film, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", this last line was added by a verbal agreement only. The only other Bogart item in the museum is a statue of the "Maltese Falcon" which is displayed under glass, mounted on the wall. It states that the Prop department made two falcons. Bogart dropped one during the shooting of the film, and this is the one on display, because all the tail feathers are bent. I hope to take this tour again, there was so much to see and I could not absorb it all in just one visit. Thanks for reading my memories of this interesting day.

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