Casablanca

One of my favorite movies, and clearly the most well-written, is Casablanca, made in 1942, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains.  It was directed by Michael Curtiz and written by the collaborative team of Julius Epstein, Philip Epstein, and Howard Koch.  This film received eight Academy Award nominations, winning three: Best Movie, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.  Bogart and Rains were nominated for Best Actor (won by Paul Lukas for Watch on the Rhine) and Best Supporting Actor (won by Charles Coburn for The More the Merrier), respectively.  Casablanca also received nominations for Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, and Best Music. 

This black and white drama takes place in December of 1941 in Casablanca, in then French-occupied Morroco in north Africa.  By then, World War II had already been raging in Europe for more than two years.  Rick Blaine, an American ex-pat, is the proprietor of a saloon, Rick’s Café Américain, where most of the story takes place.  He is a somber, brooding man who arrived in Casablanca around June of 1940 when the German Army marched into Paris.

Unexpectedly, one night a woman, Ilsa, enters the saloon with her husband, Victor.  This is the woman who was the cause of Rick’s grief.  When the Germans arrived in Paris, Rick and Ilsa, a couple very much in love (or so Rick thought), had agreed to escape (from the Nazis) together.  They had agreed to meet at the train station.  However, only a note from Ilsa (instead of Ilsa herself) arrived which told Rick, “I cannot go with you or ever see you again.  You must not ask why.  Just believe that I love you.  Go my darling, and God bless you.” A stunned Rick boards the train leaving Paris for Marseille and eventually finds his way to Casablanca.

The reason Ilsa was not at the train station was because she went to be with her husband who was a celebrated anti-Nazi organizer.  Her romantic relationship with Rick had started when she thought her husband was dead.  Obviously, he wasn’t.  Ilsa and Victor are in Casablanca attempting to flee to America.  However, once she sees Rick again, she is torn between the two men whom she loves.  Ilsa eventually gives up and lets Rick decide whether she should go to America with Victor or stay with Rick (the man she seems more passionate about) as they had planned back in Paris.

Rick does the “noble” thing and puts Ilsa on a plane bound for Lisbon (and from Lisbon to America) along with Victor.  Why?  The answer lies in the beautiful, romantic dialogue below.

Rick:  Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.

Ilsa: But what about us?

Rick: We'll always have Paris. We didn't have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.

Ilsa: And I said I would never leave you.

Rick: And you never will. But I've got a job to do, too. Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that.

[Ilsa lowers her head and begins to cry]

Rick: Now, now...

[Rick gently places his hand under her chin and raises it so their eyes meet]

Rick: Here's looking at you, kid.

“I’m no good at being noble.”  Au, contraire!  Rick was being noble.  He thought he was doing the right thing by sending his lover off with a man who was doing great things, fighting Nazis, as opposed to staying with a man who was running a saloon.  And what became of Rick?  He stayed behind with his friend, Louis (Captain Renault), to form a “beautiful friendship.”

 If it had been me, I would never have been so noble.  I would have done the selfish thing and run off with Ilsa.  After all, life is short.  Plus, all’s fair in love and war.  But it seems like the most successful romantic stories end unhappily.  (See Romeo and Juliet, Titanic, Gone With the Wind, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Sunset Boulevard, and Love Story to name a few.)  That must explain some of the appeal of this great movie.

As I said, the film is so well-written and contains so many incredible often-quoted lines.  Some of them are listed below.  Please enjoy them and try to watch Casablanca.  Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Rick:  Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.

 

Rick:  How can you close me up? On what grounds?

Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]

Croupier: Your winnings, sir.

Captain Renault: Oh, thank you very much.

 

Captain Renault:  What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?

Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.

Captain Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.

Rick: I was misinformed.

 

Ilsa:  Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time.

 

Ugarte:  You despise me, don't you?

Rick: If I gave you any thought I probably would.

 

German Major Strasser:  You give him credit for too much cleverness. My impression was that he's just another blundering American.

French Captain Renault:  We musn't underestimate "American blundering". I was with them when they "blundered" into Berlin in 1918.

 

Rick:  Well, there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.

 

Captain Renault:  Major Strasser's been shot.

[Renault looks at Rick, Rick gives him a look]

Captain Renault: Round up the usual suspects.

 

Annina:  Monsieur Rick, what kind of a man is Captain Renault?

Rick: Oh, he's just like any other man, only more so.

 

Rick:  You want my advice?

Annina: Oh, yes, please.

Rick: Go back to Bulgaria.

 

Captain Renault:  We are very honored tonight, Rick. Major Strasser is one of the reasons the Third Reich enjoys the reputation it has today.

Major Strasser: You repeat Third Reich as though you expected there to be others!

Captain Renault: Well, personally, Major, I will take what comes.

 

Ilsa:  Who is Rick?

Captain Renault: Mamoiselle, you are in Rick's! And Rick is...

Ilsa: Who is he?

Captain Renault: Well, Rick is the kind of man that... well, if I were a woman, and I were not around, I should be in love with Rick. But what a fool I am talking to a beautiful woman about another man.

 

Captain Renault:  By the way, last night you evinced an interest in Señor Ugarte.

Victor: Yes.

Captain Renault: I believe you have a message for him?

Victor: Nothing important, but may I speak to him now?

Major Strasser: You would find the conversation a trifle one-sided. Señor Ugarte is dead.

Ilsa: Oh.

Captain Renault: I am making out the report now. We haven't quite decided yet whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.

 

Rick:  It's December 1941 in Casablanca.  What time is it in New York?

Sam: What? My watch stopped.

Rick: I'll bet they're asleep in New York. I'll bet they're asleep all over America.