Casablanca (1942) / Z-View

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Casablanca (1942)

Director: Michael Curtiz

Screenplay: Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch and Casey Robinson (uncredited) from the unproduced play Everybody Comes to Rick’s by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison

Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, and Dooley Wilson.

The Pitch: “Hey, why don’t we make a romance picture with Bogie?”

Tagline:  “They had a date with fate in Casablanca!”

The Overview:  Beware of Spoilers…

Casablanca in 1941 is a popular last stop to escape Nazi Germany which is taking over countries throughout Europe.  Rick Blaine [Bogart] runs the most popular nightclub in Casablanca and has let it be known he “risks his neck for nobody”.  Everyone is welcome in his “Cafe Americana” club so it is not unusual to find escaping refugees (hoping to secure letters of transit), those preying on the refugees, Nazis, partisans, pickpockets, and gamblers there.

Rick’s life is complicated when Lazlo [Henried] a world renowned Nazi resistance fighter shows up in Casablanca one step ahead of the Nazis.  Lazlo is accompanied by his wife, Ilsa [Bergman] who we discover was Rick’s love in pre-war Paris.  On the day they were to leave Paris (before the Nazis takeover), Ilsa mysteriously left Rick.  She was the love of his life and now she’s back… but with another man.  And not just any man.

Rick has two letters of transit which could be used to save Ilsa and Lazlo at great risk to his own life… but Rick “risks his neck for nobody”.  Rick is bitter over Ilsa leaving without a word but he still loves her.  Perhaps Rick could save Ilsa and himself…

It’s rare to find a movie as perfect as Casablanca.  Every scene sings.  It’s perfectly cast, expertly directed and improves with each new viewing.

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