Casablanca (1942)

◄ Casablanca (1942)

Audio/visual unsynchronised

When the trumpet and trombone players raise their instruments to play "La Marseillaise", the music begins a split second before they start playing.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Yvonne is kicked out of Rick's in the first scene there, the comments she shouts as she walks outside don't match her lip movement at all.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When the bartender spins Rick around on his chair and kisses him on both cheeks, saying, "Boss, you've done a beautiful thing," Rick smacks him on the back and replies, "Get away from me, you crazy Russian." We hear the sound of the smack quite a while after Rick hits the bartender.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Rick tells Louis to make out the transit papers in the name "Mr. and Mrs. Victor Lazlo", Ilsa moves toward Rick with her mouth moving. She is obviously saying, "Why my name?" which is the line she delivers in the next shot.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

While accompanying Sam on "If I Could Be With You", the guitarist pats her instrument in rhythm, yet the sound we hear can only be made when the guitar is actually strummed.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

There are multiple instances throughout the film where the action of Sam's hands on the piano bears no resemblance to the piano part heard. Especially notable is the first time Sam sings "As Time Goes By" for Ilsa; a rapid treble run is executed that would have necessitated the movement of his right forearm. None is seen.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Character error

When Rick and Ilsa are listening to the sound of German guns out the window in Paris, Rick comments that they are from the "New German 77s". Actually, the German Army used a 77 mm. field gun in World War I, not World War II. The script writers, (or perhaps Rick himself) may have been thinking of this older weapon.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Continuity

A knight on the chessboard disappears momentarily in the opening chess game.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

The man who is shot escaping from police dies next to an arch where a soldier, a young woman, a stool, and an amphora suddenly have shifted positions.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Rick's tie is suddenly knotted differently when he sees Ilsa in the bazaar.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Rick gets on the train after standing in the rain, his coat is completely dry.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

The Venetian blinds in Victor's and Ilsa's hotel room.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

While chatting to Captain Renault outside the Café Américain, Rick lights a cigarette, then in the next shot, lights another.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

While Captain Renault is chatting with Rick outside the Café Américain, the medal to the left on Renault's tunic clearly extends below the pocket flap. In the next scene the medal is significantly smaller and does not extend below the pocket flap.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

At the airport, the epaulets on Major Strasser's coat disappear and reappear between shots.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

An extra (elderly man with white goatee and hat) is shown being herded into the police station along with other "usual suspects" and shortly thereafter is seen along the street peering upward at the German plane coming in for landing.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

In the hangar scene at the airport, the bottles of "Vichy water" on the shelf below the table change positions between shots.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Rick receives the transit documents from Ugarte, he pockets them in his inside right pocket. When he gets them out and puts them on Sam's piano, he gets them out of his left inside pocket.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Victor goes to get the papers from Rick, he takes off his hat and stands with his arm by his side. A second later he is suddenly holding his lapel, and subsequently lowers his arm again.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Early on in the movie, Sam has his piano facing towards the band. A few moments later, the piano faces away from the band.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Rick is listening to Annina explain the situation in Bulgaria with his back to the camera, we see him take a drink of brandy. The shot switches before he put his glass down. But in the new shot with the camera facing him, Rick only has a cigarette in his hand and the brandy glass isn't visible.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When he enters in the Rick's, Ugarte passes through the people who are in the doorway and turns to his right. The subsequent shot shows him walking to the left, behind Rick.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Major Strasser talks with Rick about Laszlo, he leans his elbows on the table and crosses his fingers. In the next shot he is raising his right hand to join his left. And after, between cuts, he appears with both arms leaning on the table.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Laszlo enters Rick's and sits down with Ilsa on his left-hand side. Soon after, when a woman begins to play guitar and to sing, Laszlo appears sitting with Ilsa on his right side.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Ilsa sends the waiter to call Sam. Sam pushes the piano to Ilsa's table. When Rick comes to reprimand Sam for singing "As Time Goes By," he is standing next the piano, which Sam has pushed away from the table. In the next long shot, Rick is a little ways from Ilsa's table, which has changed places.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Laszlo enters Rick's for the first time, he puts his hat on a chair next to the one he sits in. Later, before Capt. Renault sits on the same chair, Laszlo picks up the hat and puts it on the floor. When Laszlo leaves, he does not pick up his hat. But when he leaves Rick's, he is holding his hat.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Carl sits with a couple of friends, he finishes pouring the brandy and rubs his hands together. In the following shot, his right hand is resting on his left arm.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Rick has a discussion outside and they are regularly bathed with the lighthouse light every few seconds the time for a full turn varies due to cuts in the scene.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

During the discussion between Rick and the police captain in the captain's office, the cigarettes keep changing - sometimes missing, burned at different lengths, etc.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Rick places the letters of transit under Sam's pile of sheet music on the piano, the sheet music is on the right side (from the back) and Sam's ashtray and drink are on the left. Later the drink and ashtray are on the right and the sheet music is on the left.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Rick has a drink of bourbon with Signor Ferrari in the Blue Parrot, Ferrari puts the cork back in the bottle. In the next shot the bottle is uncorked.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Victor and Ilsa first go to the Blue Parrot in search of exit visas, the parrot sitting outside is clearly a different bird than the one sitting outside later in the film when Rick comes to see Ferrari.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

An extra (elderly woman in a flowered dress and dark hat) is shown being herded into the police station along with other "usual suspects" but moments later is shown herded off a police van and in the next shot she is again herded into the police station. Furthermore, shortly thereafter she is seen along the street peering upward at the German plane coming in for landing.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Major Strasser steps out of the airplane upon arrival in Casablanca, another officer is also stepping out behind him. In the next frame, the Major has shifted backwards and the other officer steps out of the plane once again - and 3 soldiers saluting with guns (and a cart) have suddenly appeared along the trailing edge of the plane's port wing.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Major Strasser thanks Heinz for the welcome after stepping out of the airplane upon arrival in Casablanca, he and Heinz momentarily shift positions ninety degrees.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

As Rick signs the note authorizing the payment of one thousand francs, a white bishop sudden appears on the table next to the black bishop beside the chessboard.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When the German banker attempts to enter the gambling room at Rick's Cafe, he has a flower with 2 leaves on his jacket. Moments later, the flower has only one leaf whose position has shifted.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Right before showing Rick the letters of transit, Ugarte begins lighting a new cigarette with his previous cigarette, but gives up doing so and puts the unlit cigarette on the ashtray in front of him, where it rests partially on the table. Moments later there are two cigarettes in the ashtray, none of which are resting on the table. Moments later, as Ugarte leaves the table, the cigarettes have disappeared from the ashtray.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When discussing with Renault outside the café, when Rick sits down there is a piece of paper on the table along with a white, square dish, and an ashtray. A little later, the paper and the white dish have disappeared. Instead, a bottle has appeared and the ashtray has shifted position. Moments later, the dish and the paper reappear only to disappear again.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

During Renault's first visit to Rick's office, Renault sits in a sofa in Rick's office. To his left is a table. When he gets up from the sofa, a small figure of a woman has suddenly appeared clearly visible on the table.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Upon arrival at Major Strasser's table during Strasser's first visit to Rick's, Captain Renault puts his cap on the table next to a sign showing that the table is reserved. Shortly thereafter, during Ugarte's arrest, the cap has disappeared as has the sign.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

While Ugarte is pleading with Rick for help, Ugarte holds a gun in his right hand. Moments later as Ugarte is being wrestled by French police, his right hand is suddenly empty.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Major Strasser approaches Victor's table at Rick's, he is carrying a sword on his left side. The sword disappears during the conversation.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

In the initial scene at Bella Aurore where Rick pours champagne, Rick puts down the bottle on Sam's piano so that the label faces the camera, but a few shots later the bottle has turned so it is now turned sideways as seen from the camera.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

In the La Belle Aurore scene, when Rick and Ilsa hear the German loudspeaker outside, Rick picks up the champagne bottle and walks toward the window leaving his glass and the bottle of champagne on a table. As he puts the bottle on the table, it ends up with the label non-visible facing away from the camera. Upon returning to the table five shots later, the bottle has turned 180 degrees so that the label faces the camera - and a champagne cooler with another bottle has disappeared.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Before the beginning of the Paris flashback, Rick is sitting with his back to the door. After the flashback, he has shifted to the other chair, his original chair having been knocked over - and he is now using the other glass on the table.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Rick is asked by Renault whether or not Rick has the letters of transit, Rick is drinking from an almost full bottle that Carl moments before has put on the table. A few moments later, when Rick pours Renault a drink, the bottle is less than half full. After Yvonne passes by the table, the bottle is suddenly more than half full.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

The level in the Cognac bottle changes suddenly during the scene where Carl serves Cognac to the German couple, who are leaving for America.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

As Rick steps out of his office to hear the Germans sing, Major Strasser is seen sitting at the end of the piano. Moments later, Strasser has shifted to the right, and the German officer, Heinz, and a large vase has appeared. A few moments later, as Yvonne appears in a shot, Heinz has disappeared again and Strasser shifted back. Also, the table that Yvonne is sitting at was occupied by another couple when Rick stepped out of his office. Later, as the La Marseille is being sung, Heinz reappears at the German table.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

As we see the Germans start singing, the bar behind them is empty. Moments later as Rick steps out of his office, a French officer has appeared at the end of the bar. Moments later the camera pans from the singing Germans to the bar where two old men have suddenly appeared and the French officer has shifted further down the bar.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Right before Ilsa pulls a gun on Rick, he is seen lighting a cigarette. In the next few shots, smoke from the cigarette in his hand is visible, but shortly thereafter, when Rick puts his arms around Ilsa, the cigarette has disappeared.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

After the breakup of the underground meeting, Lazlo is tending his cut on his arm while talking to Rick. Lazlo's shirt has blood on it. A little later, when Lazlo is arrested, there is no blood on the sleeve and the shirt is nicely cuffed.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

While Lazlo is tending to his wounded wrist and talking to Rick, Lazlo's tie shifts position.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

One of the 'usual suspects' being herded into the Police HQ, an elderly man with a gray beard - wearing black suit, dark tie, white shirt and gray hat - will forty seconds later be seen outside the Police HQ queuing up for an exit visa.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

While examining Rick's finances, Carl's glasses move from his forehead to his nose from cut to cut.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

In the railroad station scene Rick's clothes are soaked from the rain but appear dry a moment later after he jumps onto the moving train.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Crew or equipment visible

When the German plane approaches the airport the camera pans across a large group of refugees with their passports lined up outside the Police Headquarters. The camera moves close to the crowd and we suddenly see the individual persons. We see for a second or two a shadow moving across the wall behind them, which is most likely the camera crane.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Errors in geography

In the initial scene with a map of Africa, Rabat is incorrectly placed at the location of the town of Kinitra and thus is too far north. Rabat is actually about 20 miles further to the southwest at the place where the map indicates a river flowing into the Atlantic. Note that Rabat is correctly placed on the map on the wall in the Prefect's office.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Throughout the film, liquor bottles are seen with USA tax revenue stickers across the tops of the bottles.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Renault calls Strasser to tell of the upcoming events at the airport, Major Strasser is in the office of the "German Commission of Armistice" according to the sign on the door. The name should have been in German - or perhaps French, but not in English.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

The railroad car Rick boards in Paris is an American railroad passenger car. French railroad cars of the time would likely board from multiple doors into individual compartments. The two cars shown reveal their American heritage in handrails, side moldings and other minor details. Given the availability of French cars at the time of filming, the error is understandable.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Factual errors

There is a French tricolor with crescent and star in the middle waving over the Police offices at the beginning of the film. Such flag was never used in Morocco. During the time of the French Protectorate the flag of Morocco was the same as today, red with a green pentagram in the middle. The civil ensign used between 1923 and 1956 added a small French tricolor in the canton but never a crescent and star.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

During the flashback scene in Paris, loudspeaker trucks are shown with the Gestapo telling the Parisians not to act when the Germans arrive tomorrow. In fact, Paris issued no warnings about the German advance at all. The German blitzkrieg overwhelmed the French so completely that all communications were either stymied or went astray.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Major Strasser is wearing the uniform of a Luftwaffe Major, but his rank insignia and stripes on the trousers are those of a Luftwaffe General.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

At the start of the final airport scene, the weather report that is telephoned to the radio tower visibility is quoted as being one and one half mile, light fog, but if the visibility is 1½ miles then it is called haze rather than fog. And the weather report is missing some very important items such as wind direction, wind speed, and air pressure.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

There was never any such thing as a "letter of transit" (see trivia).
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs

Renault says, "We mustn't underestimate American blundering. I was with them when they blundered into Berlin in 1918." This isn't historically correct, but Louis was being sarcastic.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Major Strasser is supposed to be a Gestapo officer, yet he wears the uniform of a Luftwaffe major. However, since the Gestapo is the German secret police it is entirely likely that Strasser would wear any uniform or none at all, as a deception.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

At the very beginning we see a turning globe as a voice describes the plight of those fleeing the war. As the globe turns, we can see across the Soviet Union the words "Union of Socialistic Soviet Republics." Although it was not used as frequently as "Union of Soviet Socialist Republics," it is an accepted translation of the name and occasionally appeared on maps of that era.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

When Rick is getting drunk he ask Sam, "It's December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in America?" He then goes on to say that they're probably all asleep, all across America. However, Rick is not referring to the actual time (noted by giving a month and year rather than a time) and is actually making reference to, in pre-Pearl Harbor America, most Americans are "asleep" when it comes to the war and fighting the Axis powers. This is an intentional attempt at a poetic reference, not a statement of fact.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Just after the scene where Ugarte gives Rick the "letters of transit", Sam is playing "Knock on Wood". The drummer isn't actually playing the drums.

*** The drummer is probably just imitating drumming along with the tempo of the song. We can also notice that the actual audio does not have any drumming in the music during that time. However, when the actual knocking is, his hand moves to the drums or the other stick (not clear, since that portion of the screen is not well lit) and strikes thrice to accompany of others knocking on the table. This can be observed multiple times. ***
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Revealing mistakes

After police break up underground group's meeting and Laszlo escapes to Rick's café, Laszlo is trying to bandage his arm with a dish towel. The towel falls off several times yet there is no blood on it.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

As the scene opens a man is told he can locate senior Ferrari at The Blue Parrot. The camera pans to show the front of The Blue Parrot and a beautiful Macaw sits there, apparently a Blue Parrot. But it is not a blue parrot. It is hard to tell in black and white, but based on the face patch, size and gray scale of the colors, the parrot is a Scarlet Macaw (Red and yellow with blue wing tips) or Ara Macao; and not a Blue Macaw (Hyacinth or Blue and Gold).
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Spoilers

The goofs below may give away important plot points.

Incorrectly regarded as goofs

The fact that Louis' fake phone call to the airport fools Rick shows that the letters of transit are meant to be used as exit documents. Yet in the end, the Laszlos board without anybody ever checking the documents. If once Louis was a hostage he could get the Laszlos around any exit check, why did Rick insist on the letters of transit being filled out? He did it to make it "even more official"; the Laszlos would be protected in case there was an unexpected document check later, either on arrival at Lisbon, or at Casablanca if someone else arrived on scene and events did not continue as planned.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink:

Revealing mistakes

As Major Strasser gets shot, he falls down holding the telephone handset-the telephone cord between the phone and the handset is not connected. However, he actually got a hold of an operator and requested to speak to the radio tower. The phone was successfully operated earlier when the weather report was phoned to the radio tower, the cord is clearly connected-and the phone works.
Share this

Facebook | Twitter | Permalink: