Casablanca (1942)
Casablanca needs no introduction.
America’s public is well familiar with it, as is the rest of the world. The
film was just supposed to be another one of the very many films Warner Brothers
churned out every year…but instead it became one of the most beloved films in
history. There are millions of Casablanca fans out there. You know who you are.
Perhaps the best line in the film
(there is some competition here) belongs to Claude Rains’s character with his,
“Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the
usual suspects!” Which spawned a great film in its own right - The Usual Suspects.
The film stars Gabriel Byrne and Kevin Spacey, among others, and sports a great
twist in its plot.
Though Bogart’s negligible acting
ability is commonly speculated upon, this is actually one of his better films.
Another where I thought he was especially good was in Key Largo; it seems his
work with director Huston was his best, though Michael Curtiz (who directed Casablanca) didn’t do too shabbily either.
Be leery of those misguided people
who misquote the line, “Play it, Sam.”
The DVD version features a
making-of documentary entitled, “You Must Remember This.”
Related Links:
Quotes from Casablanca:
Rick
Blaine: How can you close me up? On what
grounds?
Captain
Louis Renault: I'm shocked—shocked to find
that gambling is going on here!
A
croupier hands Renault a pile of money.
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain
Louis Renault: Oh, thank you ... very
much. Everybody out at once!
Mr.
Leuchtag: Liebchen-- sweetnessheart, what
watch?
Mrs.
Leuchtag: Ten watch.
Mr.
Leuchtag: Such watch?
Carl: Hm. You will get along beautiful in America, mm-hmm.
After
he watches Rick shoot Major Strasser, Renault gives orders to his police:
Captain
Louis Renault: Major Strasser has been
shot. Round
up the usual suspects.
Ugarte: You know, Rick, I have many a friend in Casablanca, but
somehow, just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust.
Captain
Louis Renault: Carl, see that Major
Strasser gets a good table, one close to the ladies.
Carl: I have already given him the best, knowing he is German
and would take it anyway.
Captain
Louis Renault: Rick, there are many exit
visas sold in this café, but we know that you've never sold one. That is the
reason we permit you to remain open.
Rick
Blaine: Oh? I thought it was because I let
you win at roulette.
Captain
Louis Renault: That is another reason.
Ilsa
Lund Laszlo: Play it once, Sam. For old
times' sake.
lying
Ilsa
Lund Laszlo: Play it, Sam. Play “As Time
Goes By.”
Rick
Blaine: I remember Paris perfectly. The
Germans wore gray—you wore blue.
About
Rick:
Major
Strasser: You give him credit for too much
cleverness. My impression was that he's just another blundering American.
Captain
Louis Renault: We mustn't underestimate
American blundering. I was with them when they blundered into Berlin in 1918.
Major
Strasser: Are you one of those people who
cannot imagine the Germans in their beloved Paris?
Rick
Blaine: It's not particularly my beloved
Paris.
Heinz: Can you imagine us in London?
Rick
Blaine: When you get there, ask me!
Captain
Louis Renault: Hmmh! Diplomatist!
Major
Strasser: How about New York?
Rick
Blaine: Well there are certain sections of
New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.
Captain
Louis Renault: What in heaven's name
brought you to Casablanca?
Rick
Blaine: My health. I came to Casablanca
for the waters.
Captain
Louis Renault: The waters? What waters?
We're in the desert.
Rick
Blaine: I was misinformed.
Rick
Blaine: Here’s looking at you, kid.
Of
Victor Laszlo, who wants to escape from Casablanca:
Captain
Louis Renault: No matter how clever he is,
he still needs an exit visa... or I should say two?
Rick
Blaine: Why two?
Captain
Louis Renault: He is traveling with a
lady.
Rick
Blaine: He'll take one.
Captain
Louis Renault: I think not. I have seen
the lady.
Captain
Louis Renault: My dear Ricky, you
overestimate the influence of the Gestapo. I don't interfere with them and they
don't interfere with me. In Casablanca I am master of my fate! I am...
Police
Officer: Major Strasser is here, sir!
Rick
Blaine: You were saying???
Captain
Louis Renault: Excuse me.
Rick
Blaine: If she can stand it, I can! Play
it!
Senor
Ferrari: Might as well be frank, monsieur.
It would take a miracle to get you out of Casablanca, and the Germans have
outlawed miracles.
Rick
Blaine: And remember, this gun is pointed
right at your heart.
Captain
Louis Renault: That is my least vulnerable
spot.
Last line
Rick
Blaine: Louis, I think this is the
beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Trivia about Casablanca:
- Julius and Philip Epstein, as well as Howard Koch adapted the
script for Casablanca from an un-produced play called “Everybody Comes to
Rick's” by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison.
- No one knew right up until the filming of the last scene
whether Ilsa would end up with Rick or Laszlo. During the course of the
picture, when Bergman, Ingrid asked director Curtiz, Michael with which
man her character was in love, she was told to “play it in between.”
- In Germany, one of the most famous and often-quoted movie lines
is, “I look in your eyes, little one.” This is the way the German dubbing
people and subtitle writers chose to translate Casablanca's, “Here's
looking at you, kid.”
- Producer Hal B. Wallis, considered Hedy Lamarr for the role of
Ilsa, but she was then under contract to MGM. Lamarr later portrayed Ilsa
in a 1944 radio show based on movie scripts, “Lux Radio Theater.” At the
time, both Bergman and Bogart were overseas entertaining the troops. Alan
Ladd played Rick on the radio version.
- “Rick's Café Américain” was modeled after Hotel El Minzah in
Tangiers.
- Conrad Veidt, who played Major Heinrich Strasser, was very well
known for his hatred of the Nazis.
- Dooley Wilson (Sam) was a professional drummer who faked
playing the piano. As the music was recorded at the same time as the film,
the piano playing was actually a recording of a performance by Elliot
Carpenter being played behind a curtain.
- Producer Hal B. Wallis nearly made the character Sam a female.
Hazel Scott, Lena Horne, and Ella Fitzgerald were tested for the role.
- Bogart's wife Mayo Methot continually accused him of having an
affair with Bergman, often confronting him in his dressing room before a
shot. Bogart would come onto the set in a rage.
- Wallis originally had Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan in mind
for the lead roles. Pan Brennan, another producer, then said he thought
Bogart Warner Brothers' most appealing star to women. Meanwhile George
Raft was angling for the part with Jack Warner, but Wallis eventually
chose Bogart.
- Hedy Lamarr turned down the role of Ilsa, as she did not want
to work with an unfinished script.
- Paul Henreid was loaned to Warner Bros. for the role of Victor
Laszlo by Selznick International pictures against his will. He was
concerned that playing a secondary character would ruin his career as a
romantic lead.
- Two endings were filmed, but the first one worked so well that
they used it.
- The budget was so small they couldn't use a real plane in the
background at the airport. Instead, it is a small cardboard cutout. To
give the illusion that the plane was full-sized, they used midgets to
portray the crew preparing the plane for take-off.
- Director Michael Curtiz's Hungarian accent often caused
confusion on the set. He asked a prop man for a “poodle” to appear in one
scene. The prop man searched high and low for a poodle while the entire
crew waited. He found one and presented it to Curtiz, who screamed, “A
poodle! A poodle of water!”
- The film was rewritten daily during filming, made on a
shoestring budget, hastily released, and expected to bomb.
- Many of the actors who played Nazis were Jewish.
- The timely real-life invasion of Casablanca was used to promote
this film, and undoubtedly contributed to its success.
- A rumor is that many of the shadows in the background were
painted onto the set.
- Wallis thought of the film's last line 3 weeks after shooting
ended, and Bogart was called back to dub it.
- Captain Renault's line, “You like war. I like women,” was
changed from, “You enjoy war. I enjoy women,” in order to meet decency
standards.
- Warner Bros. had intended to use “Horst Wessel,” the main song
of the Nazi party, during the "battle of the anthems" sequence,
but a German company controlled the copyright, and Warner Bros. dropped
that anthem for the lesser “Die Wacht Am Rhein” rather than violate the
rights.
- “As Time Goes By” was written by lifelong bachelor Herman
Hupfeld and debuted in 1931's Broadway show “Everybody's Welcome,” sung by
Frances Williams.
- Continuity: A knight on the chessboard disappears momentarily
in the opening chess game.
- Continuity: The man who is shot escaping from police dies next
to an arch where a woman suddenly appears.
- Continuity: Rick's tie is suddenly knotted differently when he
sees Ilsa in the bazaar.
- Continuity: When Rick gets on the train after standing in the
rain, his coat is completely dry.
- Continuity: The venetian blinds in Victor's and Ilsa's hotel
room.
- Continuity: While chatting outside Café Américain, Rick lights
his cigarette twice.
- Plot holes: There never was such a thing as a letter of
transit.
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: It sounds like Ugarte says that
the letters of transit are signed by “General de Gaulle,” leading to
confusion as de Gaulle was on the other side, with the Free French, at the
time. Ugarte (Peter Lorre) actually says “General Weygand,” but his accent
makes it difficult to understand.
- 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.
- The German army occupied Paris on June 14, 1940. France
surrendered eight days later. The Germans occupied about 2/3rds of French
territory in Northern and Western France (including Paris) permitting the
French, for a time, to set up a supposedly neutral administration in
Southeastern France and in the French colonies. Marshall Henri Petain, a
hero of the First World War, became the dictator of this truncated France.
Petain and his administration collaborated with the Nazis by organizing a
fascist state, which governed under German supervision. Petain's
Government was based in the resort city of Vichy and is referred to by
that name. Vichy is also the location of a famous mineral water spring.
- While the Vichy government was generally oppressive, its
officials at times softened the effects of the occupation. The population
in Vichy France was often unsure of which rules applied, those of Vichy
France or its German “advisors.”
- The Free French included the underground and the French who had
fled to the Allies to help in the fight against Germany. Its leader was
Charles de Gaulle. The Cross of Lorraine, an ornate design with two
horizontal bars, is the ancient symbol of the sovereignty of France. It
was adopted by the Free French as their symbol.
- American Jazz and contemporary music have been popular in
Europe since at least the First World War. Many black entertainers, such
as the character Sam in the movie, have performed there.
- In the film General Strasser makes an offer to Lazlow's wife,
Ilsa, that if Lazlow will return to German Occupied France, Strasser will
provide Lazlow with a safe-conduct. Ilsa declines remarking, “You may
recall what German guaranties have been worth in the past.” She is
referring to Hitler's promise at Munich to British Prime Minister
Chamberlain and to all of Europe, that after the German annexation of the
Sudentenland, Germany would make no more demands for territorial
expansion. The Sudentenland was a part of Czechoslovakia, which had a
large population of ethnic Germans. The annexation of the Sudentenland
deprived Czechoslovakia of any natural defense to invasion from Germany
and set the stage for many early German victories in World War II.
- Casablanca is more than just a love story. This film strikes a
responsive chord because the changes that Rick goes through parallel
changes in the thinking of the American people before WW II when we threw
off isolationism and began to work with the other Western Democracies
against the fascist dictatorships.
- In his youth Rick had been an idealist, running guns to the
Ethiopians who were resisting an invasion by then fascist Italy. Rick also
fought for the Republic against the fascists in the Spanish Civil War.
(See For Whom the Bell Tolls.) But he has changed, as he said at the
beginning of the film, “I stick my neck out for nobody.” He permits his
friend Ugarti, to be taken by the police and executed. But Rick cannot
remain indifferent to the fate of Lazlow or Ilsa. By the end of the movie
Rick has abandoned his nightclub and his comfortable life in Casablanca so
that the woman he loves can leave with her husband to continue the fight
against the Germans. As he gets on the plane, Lazlow says to Rick:
“Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win.” Rick then
walks off into the mist with Renaud [the former Vichy prefect] to find the
Resistance saying, “This could be the beginning of a beautiful
friendship.”
- When the First World War failed to “make the world safe for
democracy” as President Wilson had promised, there was a strong reaction
in the U.S. The Senate would neither ratify the Treaty of Versailles nor
permit the U.S. to join the League of Nations. The whole country turned
inward. Pacifism was very strong and many students took the Oxford Pledge
not to go to war for any reason. There was a feeling that the U.S. had
been tricked into fighting World War I by the “merchants of death,” arms
manufacturers and dealers who made a fortune in the war. Senate hearings
were held to find the culprits. These hearings resulted in the passage of
the Neutrality Act of 1935, which prohibited the sale of arms, ammunition
and other war supplies to belligerents on both sides of any conflict.
- Shedding isolationism for involvement on the Allied side in the
Second World War was a slow and painful process, which involved reversing
more than a decade of thought patterns. At first, America was willing only
to send aid to the Allies on a cash and carry basis. Thus, a “cash/carry” proviso
was added to the Neutrality Act. The real purpose behind “cash/carry” was
to aid Great Britain, the only belligerent that had any hard cash. When
the British ran out of money, the U.S. and Britain came up with the
destroyer deal (50 overage destroyers in return for 99 year leases on
bases in British possessions in the Americas).
- Next the future allies came up with the idea of “lend/lease” to
“send guns, not sons.” But even before Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy was
escorting convoys half way across the Atlantic and then relaying to the
British the position of German submarines. When the German subs began to
attack American merchant ships in retaliation, the American Navy responded
in kind. Even before Pearl Harbor, the U.S. was moving step by step toward
war with Germany.
Complete
credited cast:
Humphrey Bogart .... Richard "Rick" Blaine
Ingrid Bergman .... Ilsa Lund Laszlo
Paul Henreid .... Victor Laszlo
Claude Rains .... Captain Louis Renault
Conrad Veidt .... Major Heinrich Strasser
Sydney Greenstreet .... Senor Ferrari
Peter Lorre .... Ugarte
S.Z. Sakall .... Carl, the Headwaiter
Madeleine LeBeau .... Yvonne
Dooley Wilson .... Sam
Joy Page .... Annina Brandel
John Qualen .... Berger
Leonid Kinskey .... Sascha
Curt Bois .... Pickpocket
