Significance of '22' - Lost in America (1985) Discussion

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] transmentalist 14 years ago

Aha, bet that's it! Thanks!

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[–] ntsci 13 years ago

In Casablanca Rick told a young couple who were desperate to escape to America to bet on 22. Rick told his croupier to do something (I can't recall if we can see what he actually did) and 22 came up. I seem to recall, Rick told the young couple to let it ride and it won again. He then handed the couple their money and told them to leave and never return. One of the minor characters when said something along the lines of "are you sure this casino is entirely honest".

In this film, the opposite happens. She bets on 22 obsessively and loses everything.

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RIGOLETTO: I'm denied that common human right, to weep.

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[–] pd78w 13 years ago

Thanks for that backstory. I had no idea betting on "22" meant anything until reading that.

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[–] ntsci 12 years ago

You're welcome. It was actually an accidental discovery only a few days before I posted that message. Casablanca was on that afternoon while I was working at home, but my ears perked up when Rick said, put it on 22, and I recalled this film.

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RIGOLETTO: I'm denied that common human right, to weep.

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[–] emncaity 11 years ago

That's what I think it is, too. I was reminded of it when TCM aired Casablanca recently.

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[–] aciolino 12 years ago

Comedy writers, good ones, that is, use words they think are most effective, in this case, funny. This concept is parodied in "The Sunshine Boys," when one of the vaudeville team says, "Potato Chip is not funny. Words with a 'K' are funny. Cab is funny." etc. . .

I suspect that Brooks, whose dad was a well-known vaudevillian by the way, chose 22 for it's sound, for the effect it had being spoken by Julie Haggerty and the other characters who say it.

That's my guess, anyway. I feel strongly about it though.

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[–] ntsci 12 years ago

17 is also played in the "Great Sinner"

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RIGOLETTO: I'm denied that common human right, to weep.

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[–] robolly 12 years ago

Just watched the movie last night, and when "22" kept being repeated, it brought to mind that there is a Twilight Zone episode called "Twenty-Two"; Brooks character does mention that there situation is like being in the Twilight Zone, so perhaps that's got something to do with it.

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[–] emncaity 11 years ago

Check a previous poster re the use of 22 in the roulette scene in Casablanca.

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[–] PussyCrusher_Principal 9 years ago

Casablanca, in addition to being just a classic movie from Hollywood's Golden Era, seems to be a particular touchstone for yuppies/boomers. I know the show came after LIA, but I seem to remember there being. Thirtysomething episode that had an important sequence wherein two of the characters were watching Casablanca and discussing how it was their favorite all time movie etc etc

I'm probably making more of that than is called for as far as LIA is concerned, but when I read the posts regarding '22' and Casablanca, that popped into my head. Since Brooks and Hagerty are yuppies in this I felt compelled to post.

Not sure exactly why Casablanca is so important to boomers in particular....it was put out before the first boomers were born, so it's not like it was released at a time when they'd have many opportunities to actually see it in theaters, and there was no cable TV....probably has something to do with honoring their parents? If it's because Rick is self- sacrificing, that's just too ironic that yups would like it for that reason....

....and Whitey's on the moon

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[–] emncaity 9 years ago

Not sure exactly why Casablanca is so important to boomers in particular....

I have a feeling it may have to do with pure proto-hipsterism, the need to show how cool one is (as a boomer-yuppie-whatever) by knowing which movies were supposed to be on best-ever lists and so forth. If you look back at films from the '80s and early '90s, you see a lot of that amongst various "he's so cool" protagonists -- he listens to Sinatra; he's got a fedora, maybe; he's got retro furniture in his place, maybe a really old stereo he's restored; he's into classic rock, not the new stuff; and so forth. I remember when knowing what was supposed to be "best-lists" for film, music, whatever, was kind of like a wine list, and you were urbane and worthy of serious consideration to the degree that you were up on such things.

Anyhow...all conjecture, but that seems the flavor of it to me.

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[–] ccr1633 9 years ago

The Twilight Zone episode "Twenty Two" certainly fits the theme of people who have found themselves in a surreal situation hinting of hell. I prefer this explanation to Casablanca, for two reasons: (1) David (Brooks) mentions that he feels his life has turned into a Twilight Zone episode, as robolly says, and (2) Brooks appeared at the beginning of Twilight Zone: The Movie, further amplifying his obsession with the show.

At the very least I'd say that the Twilight Zone had as much an influence on the choice of 22 as Casablanca. There is nothing else in the Albert Brooks canon suggesting that he has any particular reverence for Casablanca. Now if LOA were a Woody Allen film, then that would be a different story...

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[–] peteyob 8 years ago

Wow - great stuff! And later Brooks was in the movie version of The Twilight Zone.

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[–] ebright99 8 years ago

For information regarding why Bogart was significant to BAby Boomers, google Brattle Theater and Cult of Bogart. It all started at Harvard.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] ccr1633 (1415) 3 years ago

I recently re-watched the excellent Robert Altman film "California Split." Toward the end when they're in Reno, Bill (George Segal) is playing roulette while his partner, Charlie (Eliot Gould), is yapping in his ear wondering how much they're up. In the first wheel spin Bill loses and shouts "It bounced out of 22! What the hell is that!!!" This film was released in 1974. Along with the Casablanca and Twilight Zone theories, it seems that there is a long history in cinema alluding to the mystical aspects of 22! In "California Split" I'd bet that this is a direct reference to "Casablanca," which in my opinion lends more credence to that theory.

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[–] Pete314 (2454) 5 months ago

The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters.

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