Casablanca celebrates its 70th on the big screen again

ETX Daily Up
The 'Casablanca' anniversary Blu-ray package

Here's looking at Casablanca -- in theaters again. For the 70th anniversary of Michael Curtiz's classic film, the 1942 Oscar winner for Best Picture, and third on AFI's Top 100 Films, will be shown in US cinemas again for one night only on March 21.

The event, hosted by Fathom Events, which hosts the Metropolitan Opera nights, will feature the digitally restored film on 500 screens across the US.

Turner Classic Movies will sponsor the event and include a discussion with the cable channel's host Robert Osbourne about Casablanca's legacy. He will also share behind-the-scenes anecdotes about this timeless love story, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Claude Rains.

Also, for the 70th anniversary, a special edition of Casablanca will also be available as a Blu-ray three-disc set on March 27, with several documentaries about the production plus original-artwork poster and packaging.

Meanwhile, in the UK, Park Circus has screenings of Casablanca scheduled in ten UK cinemas through the month of March. For more information, visit http://www.parkcircus.com.

Fathom Events has also presented screenings of the restored copies of The Wizard of Oz for the 70th anniversary and 50th anniversary of West Side Story.

As part of an effort to expand programming in cinemas beyond movies, many of these theaters will also show the award-winning series The Met: Live in HD with the Metropolitan Opera with live transmissions of Manon on April 7 and La Traviata on April 14.

Find out more about the US screenings at http://www.fathomevents.com/classics/event/casablanca.aspx?d=3/21/2012.

A Casablanca trailer posted by Park Circus Films: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rguz_XRi8E

RC