Casablanca - The Movie

You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by
Dooley Wilson(1942)

Everybody is doing reviews of recent movies and waxing eloquent on themes, cinematography and music, et al. Hence, I thought I would go back in time and reminiscence on one of the finest movies of all time – Casablanca.

Casablanca was made in 1942, and for a movie which has WWII as the backdrop, it is amazing how well the nuances and deep passions created by the War has been captured, as it must be kept in mind that the war had just entered its significant phase and with all the rumors floating in Hollywood, it must have been difficult to get an accurate picture of the situation in the war torn region.

The story is about Rick Blaine, a Nightclub owner and his love for Ilsa who is married to a prominent resistance leader. Acclaimed as one of the finest romantic movies of all times, what makes the movie a legend is the out-of-their-skins performances by all the leading characters in the film.

Humphrey Bogart, as Rick Blaine, is simply phenomenal. With a casual, languid grace and his nasal ‘here’s looking at you kid’, he has played probably the best role of his career. I watched his much touted ‘Maltese Falcon’ as well as ‘Key Largo’ and found him very ordinary in these films.
Ingrid Bergman, as Ilsa, is my alltime favorite movie character. The statuesque beauty and the long, long legs . . . whew! I have never watched any other movie of hers simply because I don’t want to spoil this incredible image which Casablanca has created of her.

Paul Henried is another actor from the movie that I haven’t seen more of. But he carries the role of the on-the-run Resistance leader with dignity and strength. There is a scene in the café, when a group of German Soldiers start singing the Sieg Heil, and he moves to the downcast French band and starts singing the Marseillaise, after which the whole café starts singing and drowns out the Germans. The strength and will of all the Resistance leaders across Europe simply oozes out of Henried (as Viktor Lazlo) in that sequence. One of the magical scenes from the movie and one which still makes me break out in goose pimples!

Each of the other characters are legendary – Conradt Veidt as the German Strasser, Sydney Greenstreet (with the fly swatter!!) and Peter Lorre have all played immortal roles. (Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre also acts with Bogie in Maltese Falcon). Claude Rains as Captain Renault plays the role of a Frenchman caught in the Vichy France period of subservience to the Germans masking a fierce patriotic spirit so well and his last scene of throwing the bottle of Vichy water into the dustbin is supremely disdainful.

Michael Curtiz directed the movie and one of the trends that he set in this unforgettable movie is a central black character – Sam, the Pianist. Dooley Wilson who plays Sam, was a popular blues/jazz singer who was made immortal with his song ‘As times go by’ and more with his sensitive acting. The song is a legend and covers of it was made by a host of latter day singers including people like Frank Sinatra.

If you haven’t watched the movie, do watch it; if you have, watch it again. Let in some Black and White magic traipsing through your day!!


Some Trivia that I picked up about the movie over the years

a. The line by Bogie ‘Of all the Gin Joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine’ was voted the Best Cinema Line of all time when a poll was made on the top ten lines uttered in movies. (Guess what made No. 2??? ‘My name is Bond, James Bond!’). I came across this a long time back, so it is pretty unauthenticated.
b. The plane in the last scene (as Ilsa and Viktor leave to Lisbon) is a plywood cutout and not a real plane. (This is documented . . . somewhere!!)
c. The line ‘Play it again, Sam’ is never mentioned in the Movie. The closest is ‘Play it once, Sam. For old times sake’ – Ilsa to Sam in the Café.
d. The Rick Blaine role was originally supposed to be played by Ronald Reagan. He dropped out at the last moment; Humphrey Bogart took the role and was transformed from a good actor to an immortal Legend!!!