this and despite not be the original it begin life a a play in central europe have weather the several incarnation that follow ( mgm own remake with period song in the good old summertime and the broadway show she love me and even the excellent theatre revival in paris a couple of year ago ) and remain the definitive version and the one they all have to beat . several previous commenters have identify the contribute factor that make it so successful and memorable not least be the prevail fashion in 30 and 40 hollywood for lavish attention and detail on ensemble play rather than just two lead a so often happen today try and for example and remove ugarte and ferrari and renault etc from casablanca and yes you would still have rick and ilsa and viktor lazslo but they would just be frost without the rich cake mixture below . jimmy stewart and maggie sullavan be both ideal and irreplaceable lead but how much brighter they shine when their performance be reflect in those of frank morgan and felix bressart and joseph schildkraut and andy hardy sara haden and this be before we factor in that lubitsch touch . okay and maybe they be a tad more naive and innocent even and in that jurassic age but how many genuine film lover and sate with scatology and screwing and in your face sex and turn back to those day of story and style and slickness and skill and wallow in great movie like this one . by far the best thing about this technological age be not csi but dvd that can at one and the same time make these classic available to nostalgics and show the matrix freak how the big boy use to do it .