Both of tonight's movies rank as seminal works of film. How often can we say that without fear of contradiction? It is a rare day indeed. And both, in different ways, enjoyed inauspicious beginnings. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Pearl, 9.30pm) took nearly three years to film, and when it did finally premiere in the United States the reception was mixed. One critic remembers the late Rock Hudson stomping from the theatre saying, 'Will somebody please tell me what this is about?' Because, despite all the hype, first-time viewers will quickly realise the most striking thing about this film is that nothing really happens. It is less a film about men in space, than a film about mankind in space. The plot is thin at best and the characterisations two-dimensional (the most animated performance comes from HAL, the omnipotent talking computer). Instead of adventures and baddies and strange creatures from another world, director Stanley Kubrick did something much bolder: he tried to explain the idea of space, space travel and the search for intelligent life away from Earth, using some extraordinary special effects and well-chosen music. Kubrick's film is not exactly an acquired taste, but it certainly has a narrower appeal than the alternative viewing, Casablanca (World, 9.30pm). Unfortunately this is the tacky, coloured-in version, which is supposed to add something of the brightness of wartime Morocco but in fact only subtracts from the mood of the movie. The plot is really just a twist on the well-worn eternal triangle theme: a cynical, armour-plated bar owner meets the love of his life once more. She is married to someone else - a Resistance hero who must get away before the Nazis realise he is there. Despite the casting of some of the biggest stars of the time - Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman - this was not tipped to be a huge hit, and it was not then. It is only with time that the movie has become the great romance, and the film above all others that we remember Bogart and Bergman for. It is almost a cautionary tale in careful casting. Hollywood historians point out Bogart almost did not get the part. An early press release for the movie stated that Ronald Reagan was going to take the role - quite a horrible thought. Bergman has played the role of a confused lover before, unsure of her true feelings until the very last moment, but she never did it better than here, as poor Ilsa, torn between sexy Rick on the one hand, and virtuous Victor on the other. The indecision is in some scenes very real: until Bergman shot the airport scene, 11 days before the end of shooting, she did not know which man she was to fly away with.
