CASABLANCA (1942)

CASABLANCA Review by Taylor Wright

Casablanca is often regarded as one of the best movies of all time, so it's funny to think that none of the incredibly talented people working on the film had much faith in what they were doing. The story takes place in December 1941, Casablanca, Morocco at "Rick's Cafe Americaine", a cafe owned and managed by a cynical American named Rick Blaine, played by Humphrey Bogart, who slips perfectly in the role of an embittered, wise-cracking self-proclaimed neutral ("I stick my neck out for nobody") with a checkered past. Ingrid Bergman plays Ilsa Lund, Rick's old flame who comes back into his life as she and her husband, important leader of the Czech Resistance, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) are on the run from the Nazis, she and Rick bear most of the weight of the story. Claude Rains gives a scene-stealing performance as the likable and cynical opportunist Vichy Captain Louis Renault, Beyond the crisp black and white photography, unforgettable lines and the haunting theme song "As Time Goes By", the characters are what make this film the beloved classic that it is. As the lyrics put it: "It's still the same old story, a fight for love and love and glory, a case of do or die. The world will always welcome lovers as time goes by."

Rick's neutrality and desire to escape his painful past are shaken by the return of Ilsa, who reunited with her husband upon discovering that he was alive. Rick and Ilsa are severely put to the test, Rick is revealed to have smuggled weapons to Ethiopia and fought for the loyalists in the Spanish Civil War, hence his exile from the United States. Ilsa had thought her husband dead during her time with Rick and ultimately, when Victor turned out alive, Rick was left at a train station in the rain, holding a goodbye letter, one of the most iconic moments in the film. One of the most powerful moments comes about when Ilsa and Victor enter Rick's cafe, she asks the piano player Sam, played charmingly by Dooley Wilson, to play the song "As Time Goes By", which Sam reluctantly obliges. Rick storms in angrily as he forbids the song ever be played. Upon Rick and Ilsa seeing each other, the music becomes dramatic and carries a feeling of regret and heartbreak that is expressed just as powerfully in their faces. Rick has a quiet moment after closing as he drinks away his sorrows and asks Sam to "play it again", sadly uttering: "Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine." Ilsa is compelling in her own right, struggling to aid her husband in his escape and obtain legal transit papers and confronting a man she loved.

Victor Laszlo is a noble character, almost flawless, but his true love appears to be his cause, and that makes him appear as a bit stiff. In a pivotal moment, several German soldiers begin singing a patriotic anthem, "Die Wacht am Rhein", which prompts Victor to defiantly sing the French National anthem. He at first starts alone until Rick beckons the band to play and sing. It becomes apparent that Rick is the stronger force in the story and perhaps the most noble. Captain Louis Renault, a man who appears to be all about self-preservation, must come to a choice between his survivalist philosophy and what the right thing to do is. The looming presence of World War II is an incredibly important factor in the story, several of the actors such as German Conrad Veidt, who plays the villainous Major Heinrich Strasser, and Austrian Peter Lorre who plays Signor Ugarte, a petty crook, fled the Nazis as they rose to power. Warner Bros. studios had taken their stand with the Allies and this film may be the best of their output during those dark times. At it's core, the film is a love story and a great one at that, it's about sacrifice, the choices people make, heroism in the face of hardship and redemption. It's a film about people that we care about and is full of the most iconic moments in cinematic history and a real emotionally powerful experience. It seems to only get better on repeated viewings, there are things that you might even not have noticed upon the first viewing. A Morrocan girl who seems to be rather close with Rick early in the film, Yvonne, has her own story arc if you pay attention. Casablanca is funny, romantic, exciting, moving and inspiring all at once. If you give the film a watch, well to quote Rick Blaine, "this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."