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

In many of the film's better-known posters, the shot of a trench coat- and fedora-wearing Humphrey Bogart wielding a gun was pulled almost exactly from a publicity shot from an earlier Bogart film, Across the Pacific (1942), by poster artist Bill Gold, who repainted it in a photorealistic style.

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Goofs

When Rick is listening to Annina explain the situation in Bulgaria with his back to the camera, he takes 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.

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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 The Last Shot (2004)

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Soundtracks

You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
(1938) (uncredited)
Music by Harry Warren
Played when Yvonne walks into Rick's with the German officer

User Reviews

I've loved this film for thirty years.

Casablanca is a film about the personal tragedy of occupation and war. It speaks to the oppression of the one side - and the heroism and self-deprecation of the other. From opportunists, to isolationists - from patriots to disenchanted lovers - the film has everything a man or woman would enjoy. Bravery, courage, intrigue, romance, beauty and love. Leading actors to please any appetite. Watching this film is to step back to a world that doesn't exist - yet to know it. It is to experience lives that have never been lived - but are "real to you." It is to know pain and joy, pride and pity for characters that are a fiction - yet are so real that you can't help but get lost in their story.

Amazing cast, memorable dialogue, unforgettable story. Through this film, Casablanca will always live in my heart and I will think of its characters as family.

Seeing it for the first time is truly the start of a romance with ideals that will live in you long after credits end.