Casablanca (1942)

A cynical American expatriate struggles to decide whether or not he should help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape French Morocco.

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Julius J. Epstein (screenplay), Philip G. Epstein (screenplay)

Stars:

Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid

Top Rated Movies #49 | Won 3 Oscars. Another 5 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Humphrey Bogart	...	Rick Blaine
Ingrid Bergman	...	Ilsa Lund
Paul Henreid	...	Victor Laszlo
Claude Rains	...	Captain Louis Renault
Conrad Veidt	...	Major Heinrich Strasser
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Signor Ferrari
Peter Lorre	...	Ugarte
S.Z. Sakall	...	Carl (as S.K. Sakall)
Madeleine Lebeau	...	Yvonne (as Madeleine LeBeau)
Dooley Wilson	...	Sam
Joy Page	...	Annina Brandel
John Qualen	...	Berger
Leonid Kinskey	...	Sascha
Curt Bois	...	Pickpocket

Storyline

The story of Rick Blaine, a cynical world-weary ex-patriate who runs a nightclub in Casablanca, Morocco during the early stages of WWII. Despite the pressure he constantly receives from the local authorities, Rick's cafe has become a kind of haven for refugees seeking to obtain illicit letters that will help them escape to America. But when Ilsa, a former lover of Rick's, and her husband, show up to his cafe one day, Rick faces a tough challenge which will bring up unforeseen complications, heartbreak and ultimately an excruciating decision to make.

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Plot Keywords:

nazi | anti nazi | casablanca morocco | french morocco | 1940s | 

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Taglines:

Where Love Cuts as Deep as a Dagger!

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for mild violence

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English French German Italian

Release Date:

23 January 1943 (USA)

Also Known As:

Everybody Comes to Rick's

Filming Locations:

Hotel Monte Vista, Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$950,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$181,494, 12 April 1992

Gross USA:

$4,108,411

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$4,374,761

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 82 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Hal B. Wallis nearly made the character Sam a female. Hazel Scott, Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald were considered for the role.

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Goofs

From the fall of Metropolitan France in June 1940 until Operation Torch (the Allied invasion of North Africa) in 1942 was less than two years. During that time French colonies in Africa were ruled by the Vichy government until each one was either occupied by Free French forces or were conquered by the Allies.

The Nazis never played more than minor role in French North Africa (except for Tunisia and even that was relatively limited during late 1942 to mid 1943) at any time during WWII and certainly did not run Morocco, much less Casablanca,

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: With the coming of the Second World War, many eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas. Lisbon became the great embarkation point. But, not everybody could get to Lisbon directly, and so a tortuous, roundabout refugee trail sprang up - Paris to Marseilles... across the Mediterranean to Oran... then by train, or auto, or foot across the rim of Africa, to Casablanca in French Morocco. Here, the fortunate ones through money, or ...
[...]

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Alternate Versions

In the Italian version, the sequence where the Italian Officer Tonnelli meets Strasser is cut.

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Connections

Featured in Dates in Movie & TV History: Ilsa Lund Walks In (2016)

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Soundtracks

Parlez-moi d'amour
(1930) (uncredited)
Music by Jean Lenoir
Played when Laszlo and Ilsa first enter Rick's

User Reviews

As time goes by, it's still one of the all-time greats...

While my personal Bogey favorite is still his Sam Spade in 'The Maltese Falcon', his cynical nightclub owner, Rick, in 'Casablanca', is also a standout. Rather than some "off the cuff" comments, I'll quote instead from my article on Claude Rains (from March 2000 issue of CLASSIC IMAGES) that pretty well sums up the film:

"It was 1943's 'Casablanca', bustling with melodramatic wartime intrigue, that really put him (Claude Rains) in the forefront as one of the screen's smoothest character actors, almost--but not quite--stealing the film from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, as the uniformed Captain Louis Renault who investigates the goings-on at Rick's notorious cafe.

Nobody associated with the film guessed that it would become a screen classic, least of all its director, Michael Curtiz, the prolific WB director to whom it was just another assignment. It went on to win the Oscar for Best Film of 1943 with an award for Curtiz' taut direction.

Oddly enough, the film's memorable airport ending was written and conceived just shortly before filming wrapped up, with neither Bergman nor Bogart knowing whether or not she would leave him for husband Paul Henried. Wartime audiences loved the film. Sydney Greenstreet, Conrad Veidt, Victor Francen and Peter Lorre all gave sterling performances and Rains was again nominated for Best Supporting actor."

And by the way, I disagree with a former comment indicating the black and white photography of this film was primitive as compared to today's. Incredible nonsense!! As a matter of fact, the film's black and white cinematography was nominated for an Oscar!

Ingrid Bergman was at the peak of her radiant beauty in this one--and Bogey was firing on all six cylinders. Great chemistry!

As time goes by, we still have 'Casablanca'...