Thanks for the recap of a truly great film. I never realized when it was made—1941! All the more fascinating to realize what the film was doing to the audience at the time. I’ve always believed that art is crucial in any civilization for the many ways it inspires the good in us. Casablanca has done this for millions. It is an old film, but it never gets old. Long live democracy!
Thanks, Peggy. As TC says, it was made in 42, but is set in December 41...either way, it was during the war. I'm always amazed at war films that came out as the war was raging, its outcome uncertain.
Oh, Greg, I have to stop crying to write and thank you for today’s post. Ingrid Bergman staring soulfully at Rick during the “battle of the bands” (or singers anyway) blew me away. And, like you, I have seen the movie quite a few times. Always loved it. And your connection of the time period to our present debacle is priceless.
Thanks, Katharine. I tried to temper it a bit for the actual piece, but it is the best movie ever made, full stop. I don't even know what #2 is, but this is as good as a movie can be, it says here.
Yes, there's a lot going on. I think it's a movie you really have to watch more than once to fully appreciate all the details. But it's so worth the investment!
I too have watched Casablanca dozens of times, but your analyses brought eye-opening perspectives and satisfying pains. Not only have you gifted a far deeper (and funnier) understanding of an all-time great film, but also you have written an engrossing essay with an ending which is lyrical, heartfelt, and brought me to tears. Thank you so much for this piece - it’s a keeper.
Thanks so much, Andrea! I am amazed at how, with each viewing, my understanding of it deepens. Part of it is my age when I've seen it, and part of it is the politics swirling around me now.
Okay, Greg. Now you've gone and written about THE best film of all time. Yes, Casablanca is perfection. I first saw it in 1977 in a crowded university theater. Since then, I've easily seen it 50 times. My wife and I watch it at least once a year. I even filmed my own spoof version of it complete with a Swedish beauty and whether I would leave the ashram to go with her - "but I have a job to do, too" (wrong choice in this case). For a time, I was so into it that I collected versions of the screenplay until I finally found the real shooting script (this was pre-internet).
Casablanca is everything you say - romance, politics, comedy, tragedy, loyalty, and about seizing the moment to put aside personal pain and interests to take action for a bigger cause. I love the way you write about this moment now, today. This is what we must all do now. I only wish that the hearts of those who are not seeing this moment for what it is can be stirred...
Not only is the last line great, but in the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest movie quotes, six of those quotes are from Casablanca. No other movie is really close. My youngest daughter has a poster with AFI's list, which I hunted down: https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-movie-quotes/ It's hard enough to write and speak something that's memorable a year later, much less over decades. Seen Casablanca many, many times. Greg finds some nuggets.
Great review. Sadly, when reading about Conrad Veidt's flight from Nazi Germany, my first thought was about when it would be time to do so here. If Trump wins, before he takes office, I guess.
Thank you! I'll let Victor Laszlo reply: "And what if you track down these men and kill them, what if you killed all of us? From every corner of Europe, hundreds, thousands would rise up to take our places. Even Nazis can't kill that fast."
Wowie. Other than the fact that you inserted 10 spoilers, you wrote up the best movie review ever. Thanks. Can’t wait to see it again one soon day. You made my morning.
And you pointed out the relevance to our current situation. Long live your new brand of journalism! Billserle.com
This is just brilliant, Greg. I think Casablanca is the most perfect movie ever made. You've expressed my observations and opinions perfectly. I might add, however, that it is also the most romantic movie ever made and Rick never takes his suit coat off. Thank you for this essay.
Thanks, Kathleen. You're right! He never takes off his jacket! or, at least, we don't see him do so. It is ambiguous, but it sure seems like they hooked up one last time, when we cut away to the tower at the end.
One of the rare perfect films ever made. I first saw "Casablanca" in Italy when I was 16 on a trip with my grandfather to the "old country," and I watched it because during one of our very few downtimes, it was the only thing I could find on TV that was in English. I admit to not really getting it at the time, and because of that, waited 20 years or so to watch it again. Since then, I've seen it many times, but not recently, so I'm thinking it's going to be Sunday afternoon viewing. When I woke up this morning, I was convinced it was Monday, I don't know why, so to celebrate it NOT being Monday, a gift like "Casablanca" seems in order. Great essay, Greg, I love your insight into films, books, and even poetry. Sundays wouldn't be the same without you!
Thanks, Steve! I feel like I'm quoting it all the time, with regard Nazis and etc, but it had been a few years since I watched it. I'm so glad I did. It's always worth it.
I like the idea of "perfect movie." This one, for sure. "Chinatown." "The Godfather." "Silence of the Lambs." "Some Like It Hot." "Sunset Blvd." And "Breakfast at Tiffany's" doesn't make the cut only because of the Mickey Rooney problem.
I find myself currently on a Truman Capote kick, so I need to READ "Breakfast at Tiffanys." The movie put me off so much I had no desire to read it. The whole Mickey Rooney thing was such an early '60s trope -- just slag off anything that isn't American. USA! USA! USA! Ugh.
ETA: And "Vertigo!" For me, it's another perfect film. No, Greg, it REALLY is! 😜
Thank you for this, Greg. Today is the day of my Mother's wake. It will be a gathering of all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, neighbors - we will gather and remember my Mother and the wonderful impact she had on us all. It will be a day of celebration. I cried as I read your words. Not for my Mother but for my Father. My Father was named Laszlo. He was born in Hungary in 1943 during WWII. I try to imagine what it was like for my Grandmother to be pregnant and have two infants (my uncle was born in 1941) during this absolutely dark time. Your description of Casablanca brought me back to that time and reminded me of all of the sacrifices people made to survive. Just to survive and try to live for another day.
Thank you, Gail. I hope that the wake and the celebration of her life brings you some comfort.
I can't imagine having little kids at that time. It's all such a crapshoot, where we are born and when. EB White once said, "The worst time to have a child is 18 years before a war."
In 1993, I interviewed Julius Epstein (took several months for him to find the time, he was so busy writing, at age 94; an example to all of us). He told me a very funny story about how he and his brother Philip came up with the most famous line in the movie.
It was a Sunday and Monday would see the beginning of the last week of production. As usual, the writers were a day ahead of what was happening. The Epstein brothers were driving down Sunset Blvd, arguing about how to end the movie. They got stopped by the traffic light on Cherokee, a block east of Highland, right before the Hollywood Athletic Club, where they were headed to "lubricate" the argument. Philip looked around the street, at the people there (the only difference between then and now being hair styles and clothing styles), and got a mile on his face. He turned to Julius and said...
"Round up the usual suspects!" (They had used the line earlier, so it was known to the audience to mean the authorities would do nothing)
When Robert McKee had his class in Screenplay Story Structure (the best weekend and $250 I spent as a writer) back 40 years ago (I think he stopped sometime in the late 90s - he appears in "Adaptation" having an argument about structure with the screenwriter character), the script that was studied, taken apart and analyzed, was "Casablanca." And the funny thing is, the Epstein Brothers and Howard Koch were "winging it" from the beginning. The original script Warner's said "yes" to was a close adaptation of "Everybody Goes To Rick's," which the Epsteins hated from the moment they read the first sentence after "Fade In." So they were rewriting from Day 1, telling Warner that what they were doing was making it move faster and easier, which would save him money.
One minor squabble with your timeline, Greg. the movie came out in 1943 - they hung the title on the fact the Casablanca Conference (big news then) had just been held, also that the name was known to American audiences due to the North African invasion in November 1942.
The main reason why the scene with "La Marseillaise" is so powerful is that every one of the actors in the scene - including "Major Strasser" - was a European refugee from the Nazis.
Conrad Veidt (Major Strasser) had been Genmany's leading movie actor before he was forced to flee in 1934 because his wife was Jewish. Throughout the war, he only played Nazi "scum" as his contribution to the war effort.
S.Z. Sakall (Carl) had been the leading comedic actor in Hungary, until he was forced to flee when the Hungarian government - allied with Germany - enacted anti-Jewish laws.
Madeleine Lebeau (Yvonne) had fled France in 1940 in an event very close to her story in the movie (the writers used her story).
Leonid Kinskey (Sascha) had been a leading comedian in German film in the 20s and early 30s before the Race Laws forced him to flee, first to France, then the US.
None of them had to dig particularly deep to find their "motivation" for the scene.
So far as Warner's was concerned, "Casablanca" was a "B movie," a "programmer" (It was based on a semi-successful play, "Everybody Goes To Rick's") and they were always under pressure from Jack Warner to save money and speed production. The Epstein brothers had an epic argument with Curtiz over how to shoot the ending - he was willing to listen to Warner and save time by shooting the scene in three wide shots. The Epsteins won by telling him the actors had all read the script they had done of the ending, and promised it could be done from first takes of each shot, probably faster than wht Cutiz was willing to do to please the studio.
Consider watching the movie with Ronald Reagan as Rick and Ann Southern as Ilsa. They were the studio's original choices. Bogart was a "typecast" character actor, not even close to a star so far as the studio was concerned. Ingrid Bergman was an "unknown" just arrived from Sweden. They got the roles when the agents for Reagan and Southern demanded more money than Jack would offer.
Of course all that changed, since huge success - the film won Best Picture of 1943 - does that in Hollywood.
Thanks for including all of this. It's amazing to me, that a film like this was made during the war.
I believe it was released in late 1942, but wide release was early in 43. At least, that's what Wikipedia tells me, and that is the date on the Max stream of the movie.
I feel like if Ronald Reagan were in this movie, the world would have come to a screeching halt. It is much more appropriate that he make films with chimps.
I grew up with this film, having first seen it at the age of ten, old enough to be thrilled by it but too young to grasp it. Even then, however, I was aware of the menacing thrust of fascism, and as a Jewish kid conscious of grandparents lost to the holocaust, aware of a certain inborn vulnerability. Since then I've seen it again a dozen or so times, and like Greg have taken still more away each time, maturing thereby with it. Also like Greg, I find it more applicable today than before the MAGA outbreak which threatens us now. As with him, so with me does Rick's emergent humanism touch me as well, with Rick's emerging as an individual responsible for more than his own narrow well-being when the broader human community is at stake.
Thanks, Paul. And thanks for sharing that about your grandparents...another reason the rise of Nazis here now stuns me, that all of that was so recent.
Ten is definitely too young to grasp it. I had my kids watch it two years ago. They were, at the time, 17 and 15, and they were bored to tears. Sigh...
Thanks for the recap of a truly great film. I never realized when it was made—1941! All the more fascinating to realize what the film was doing to the audience at the time. I’ve always believed that art is crucial in any civilization for the many ways it inspires the good in us. Casablanca has done this for millions. It is an old film, but it never gets old. Long live democracy!
No, it was made in 1942.
Thanks, Peggy. As TC says, it was made in 42, but is set in December 41...either way, it was during the war. I'm always amazed at war films that came out as the war was raging, its outcome uncertain.
Vive la France!
Oh, Greg, I have to stop crying to write and thank you for today’s post. Ingrid Bergman staring soulfully at Rick during the “battle of the bands” (or singers anyway) blew me away. And, like you, I have seen the movie quite a few times. Always loved it. And your connection of the time period to our present debacle is priceless.
Thanks, Katharine. I tried to temper it a bit for the actual piece, but it is the best movie ever made, full stop. I don't even know what #2 is, but this is as good as a movie can be, it says here.
Saw the movie so long ago when I was too young to "get it". Now I must find it and watch it again.
A wonderful post and the last line says it all.
Yes, there's a lot going on. I think it's a movie you really have to watch more than once to fully appreciate all the details. But it's so worth the investment!
I too have watched Casablanca dozens of times, but your analyses brought eye-opening perspectives and satisfying pains. Not only have you gifted a far deeper (and funnier) understanding of an all-time great film, but also you have written an engrossing essay with an ending which is lyrical, heartfelt, and brought me to tears. Thank you so much for this piece - it’s a keeper.
Thanks so much, Andrea! I am amazed at how, with each viewing, my understanding of it deepens. Part of it is my age when I've seen it, and part of it is the politics swirling around me now.
Okay, Greg. Now you've gone and written about THE best film of all time. Yes, Casablanca is perfection. I first saw it in 1977 in a crowded university theater. Since then, I've easily seen it 50 times. My wife and I watch it at least once a year. I even filmed my own spoof version of it complete with a Swedish beauty and whether I would leave the ashram to go with her - "but I have a job to do, too" (wrong choice in this case). For a time, I was so into it that I collected versions of the screenplay until I finally found the real shooting script (this was pre-internet).
Casablanca is everything you say - romance, politics, comedy, tragedy, loyalty, and about seizing the moment to put aside personal pain and interests to take action for a bigger cause. I love the way you write about this moment now, today. This is what we must all do now. I only wish that the hearts of those who are not seeing this moment for what it is can be stirred...
BTW - great great last line.
Thanks, Joel! And I agree, it is, unequivocally, the best film of all time. That's so cool you collected all that stuff! Feel free to send photos.
And I'm glad you liked the last line, which I'm pleased with.
Not only is the last line great, but in the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest movie quotes, six of those quotes are from Casablanca. No other movie is really close. My youngest daughter has a poster with AFI's list, which I hunted down: https://www.afi.com/afis-100-years-100-movie-quotes/ It's hard enough to write and speak something that's memorable a year later, much less over decades. Seen Casablanca many, many times. Greg finds some nuggets.
Great review. Sadly, when reading about Conrad Veidt's flight from Nazi Germany, my first thought was about when it would be time to do so here. If Trump wins, before he takes office, I guess.
Thank you! I'll let Victor Laszlo reply: "And what if you track down these men and kill them, what if you killed all of us? From every corner of Europe, hundreds, thousands would rise up to take our places. Even Nazis can't kill that fast."
Wowie. Other than the fact that you inserted 10 spoilers, you wrote up the best movie review ever. Thanks. Can’t wait to see it again one soon day. You made my morning.
And you pointed out the relevance to our current situation. Long live your new brand of journalism! Billserle.com
Thanks, Bill. I tried to keep the spoilers to a minimum. And there is an 80-year term limit on spoilers... ; )
Animals, human or not, always have to fight the bullies ✌🏻 The good news is that bullies are losers.
Amen to that, all of it.
“Here's looking at you, kid.” 🫶🏻
Brilliant take on one of my favorite films. As you say, there is so much depth that reveals itself as you settle into another viewing.
I think I will watch it again today.
Thanks, Geoff. I hope you do!
This is just brilliant, Greg. I think Casablanca is the most perfect movie ever made. You've expressed my observations and opinions perfectly. I might add, however, that it is also the most romantic movie ever made and Rick never takes his suit coat off. Thank you for this essay.
Thanks, Kathleen. You're right! He never takes off his jacket! or, at least, we don't see him do so. It is ambiguous, but it sure seems like they hooked up one last time, when we cut away to the tower at the end.
I never thought about that. After he said he'd have to do the thinking for all of them.
One of the rare perfect films ever made. I first saw "Casablanca" in Italy when I was 16 on a trip with my grandfather to the "old country," and I watched it because during one of our very few downtimes, it was the only thing I could find on TV that was in English. I admit to not really getting it at the time, and because of that, waited 20 years or so to watch it again. Since then, I've seen it many times, but not recently, so I'm thinking it's going to be Sunday afternoon viewing. When I woke up this morning, I was convinced it was Monday, I don't know why, so to celebrate it NOT being Monday, a gift like "Casablanca" seems in order. Great essay, Greg, I love your insight into films, books, and even poetry. Sundays wouldn't be the same without you!
Thanks, Steve! I feel like I'm quoting it all the time, with regard Nazis and etc, but it had been a few years since I watched it. I'm so glad I did. It's always worth it.
I like the idea of "perfect movie." This one, for sure. "Chinatown." "The Godfather." "Silence of the Lambs." "Some Like It Hot." "Sunset Blvd." And "Breakfast at Tiffany's" doesn't make the cut only because of the Mickey Rooney problem.
I find myself currently on a Truman Capote kick, so I need to READ "Breakfast at Tiffanys." The movie put me off so much I had no desire to read it. The whole Mickey Rooney thing was such an early '60s trope -- just slag off anything that isn't American. USA! USA! USA! Ugh.
ETA: And "Vertigo!" For me, it's another perfect film. No, Greg, it REALLY is! 😜
Thank you for this, Greg. Today is the day of my Mother's wake. It will be a gathering of all of my aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, neighbors - we will gather and remember my Mother and the wonderful impact she had on us all. It will be a day of celebration. I cried as I read your words. Not for my Mother but for my Father. My Father was named Laszlo. He was born in Hungary in 1943 during WWII. I try to imagine what it was like for my Grandmother to be pregnant and have two infants (my uncle was born in 1941) during this absolutely dark time. Your description of Casablanca brought me back to that time and reminded me of all of the sacrifices people made to survive. Just to survive and try to live for another day.
Thank you, Gail. I hope that the wake and the celebration of her life brings you some comfort.
I can't imagine having little kids at that time. It's all such a crapshoot, where we are born and when. EB White once said, "The worst time to have a child is 18 years before a war."
In 1993, I interviewed Julius Epstein (took several months for him to find the time, he was so busy writing, at age 94; an example to all of us). He told me a very funny story about how he and his brother Philip came up with the most famous line in the movie.
It was a Sunday and Monday would see the beginning of the last week of production. As usual, the writers were a day ahead of what was happening. The Epstein brothers were driving down Sunset Blvd, arguing about how to end the movie. They got stopped by the traffic light on Cherokee, a block east of Highland, right before the Hollywood Athletic Club, where they were headed to "lubricate" the argument. Philip looked around the street, at the people there (the only difference between then and now being hair styles and clothing styles), and got a mile on his face. He turned to Julius and said...
"Round up the usual suspects!" (They had used the line earlier, so it was known to the audience to mean the authorities would do nothing)
And they had the ending.
Oh, that's fantastic! I love this. Thanks for sharing.
From a writerly perspective, this script is such so top drawer. It's not possible to write something better than this.
When Robert McKee had his class in Screenplay Story Structure (the best weekend and $250 I spent as a writer) back 40 years ago (I think he stopped sometime in the late 90s - he appears in "Adaptation" having an argument about structure with the screenwriter character), the script that was studied, taken apart and analyzed, was "Casablanca." And the funny thing is, the Epstein Brothers and Howard Koch were "winging it" from the beginning. The original script Warner's said "yes" to was a close adaptation of "Everybody Goes To Rick's," which the Epsteins hated from the moment they read the first sentence after "Fade In." So they were rewriting from Day 1, telling Warner that what they were doing was making it move faster and easier, which would save him money.
One minor squabble with your timeline, Greg. the movie came out in 1943 - they hung the title on the fact the Casablanca Conference (big news then) had just been held, also that the name was known to American audiences due to the North African invasion in November 1942.
The main reason why the scene with "La Marseillaise" is so powerful is that every one of the actors in the scene - including "Major Strasser" - was a European refugee from the Nazis.
Conrad Veidt (Major Strasser) had been Genmany's leading movie actor before he was forced to flee in 1934 because his wife was Jewish. Throughout the war, he only played Nazi "scum" as his contribution to the war effort.
S.Z. Sakall (Carl) had been the leading comedic actor in Hungary, until he was forced to flee when the Hungarian government - allied with Germany - enacted anti-Jewish laws.
Madeleine Lebeau (Yvonne) had fled France in 1940 in an event very close to her story in the movie (the writers used her story).
Leonid Kinskey (Sascha) had been a leading comedian in German film in the 20s and early 30s before the Race Laws forced him to flee, first to France, then the US.
None of them had to dig particularly deep to find their "motivation" for the scene.
So far as Warner's was concerned, "Casablanca" was a "B movie," a "programmer" (It was based on a semi-successful play, "Everybody Goes To Rick's") and they were always under pressure from Jack Warner to save money and speed production. The Epstein brothers had an epic argument with Curtiz over how to shoot the ending - he was willing to listen to Warner and save time by shooting the scene in three wide shots. The Epsteins won by telling him the actors had all read the script they had done of the ending, and promised it could be done from first takes of each shot, probably faster than wht Cutiz was willing to do to please the studio.
Consider watching the movie with Ronald Reagan as Rick and Ann Southern as Ilsa. They were the studio's original choices. Bogart was a "typecast" character actor, not even close to a star so far as the studio was concerned. Ingrid Bergman was an "unknown" just arrived from Sweden. They got the roles when the agents for Reagan and Southern demanded more money than Jack would offer.
Of course all that changed, since huge success - the film won Best Picture of 1943 - does that in Hollywood.
Thanks for including all of this. It's amazing to me, that a film like this was made during the war.
I believe it was released in late 1942, but wide release was early in 43. At least, that's what Wikipedia tells me, and that is the date on the Max stream of the movie.
I feel like if Ronald Reagan were in this movie, the world would have come to a screeching halt. It is much more appropriate that he make films with chimps.
Can’t fathom Ronnie in Casablanca. The stars aligned…
Bravo
I grew up with this film, having first seen it at the age of ten, old enough to be thrilled by it but too young to grasp it. Even then, however, I was aware of the menacing thrust of fascism, and as a Jewish kid conscious of grandparents lost to the holocaust, aware of a certain inborn vulnerability. Since then I've seen it again a dozen or so times, and like Greg have taken still more away each time, maturing thereby with it. Also like Greg, I find it more applicable today than before the MAGA outbreak which threatens us now. As with him, so with me does Rick's emergent humanism touch me as well, with Rick's emerging as an individual responsible for more than his own narrow well-being when the broader human community is at stake.
Thanks, Paul. And thanks for sharing that about your grandparents...another reason the rise of Nazis here now stuns me, that all of that was so recent.
Ten is definitely too young to grasp it. I had my kids watch it two years ago. They were, at the time, 17 and 15, and they were bored to tears. Sigh...
It is mind boggling that people old enough to remember family loses will buy the Nazi crap. America First all over again, except it’s anything but