It has to be a crowning achievement for a movie to have entered into public consciousness to such a point that even when the average person may not even have a passing idea as to what this remarkable movie might be about, they assume, from the title, from the poster, that it has to be "one of those unforgettable love affairs between Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart". Of course, the more you do know about CASABLANCA the clearer the in-jokes and the subtle yet potent lines become: as a matter of fact, CASABLANCA has now become one of the most quoted pictures of the last one hundred years. With a convoluted story which is really a romantic love affair between Rick, Ilsa, and her husband Victor Lazlo as well as a denouncement of the Nazis in this otherwise relatively safe haven that is Rick's cafe in Casablanca, Morocco, CASABLANCA becomes a ferociously sophisticated tale that has overtones of film-noir and that overwhelming chemistry that both Bogart and Bergman possess, their romance surpassing everything else and being the barometer for which romantic drama has been measured up against. If anything, of the supporting cast, Paul Henreid, for all his third billing, is the more thankless since he doesn't get much to do other than play the somewhat befuddled Lazlo (although he does get to find out that Rick and Ilsa have a little more than common than they'd like to admit). Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre (who also appeared with Bogart in THE MALTESE FALCON), Conrad Veidt also appear here as well as Claude Rains who has one of the most memorable supporting parts as the general who is "shocked! shocked!" that any gambling is taking place at Rick's... as he smoothly takes his winnings from an employee. Also featuring one of the most deeply, lush ballads, "As Time Goes By" and that powerful scene of defiance as the occupants sing for France, CASABLANCA has become an emblem more than just another feature film -- the stuff that dreams are made of.
Review of Casablanca
