Casablanca (1942)

Director:

Michael Curtiz

Writers:

Julius J. Epstein (screenplay) and
Philip G. Epstein (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

23 January 1943 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | War

Tagline:

They had a date with fate in Casablanca!

Plot:

Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

Plot Keywords:

Casablanca | German | American Expatriate | Police | Nightclub

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 6 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 28

6:00 PM

TCM

Cast

Humphrey Bogart	...	Rick Blaine
Ingrid Bergman	...	Ilsa Lund
Paul Henreid	...	Victor Laszlo
Claude Rains	...	Captain Renault
Conrad Veidt	...	Major Strasser
Sydney Greenstreet	...	Signor Ferrari
Peter Lorre	...	Ugarte
S.Z. Sakall	...	Carl (as S.K. Sakall)
Madeleine Lebeau	...	Yvonne
Dooley Wilson	...	Sam
Joy Page	...	Annina Brandel
John Qualen	...	Berger
Leonid Kinskey	...	Sascha
Curt Bois	...	Pickpocket
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Enrique Acosta	...	Guest at Rick's (uncredited)
Ed Agresti	...	Bar Patron (uncredited)
Louis V. Arco	...	Refugee at Rick's (uncredited)
Frank Arnold	...	Overseer (uncredited)
Leon Belasco	...	Dealer at Rick's (uncredited)
Nino Bellini	...	Gendarme (uncredited)
Trude Berliner	...	Baccarat Player at Rick's (uncredited)
Oliver Blake	...	Waiter at the Blue Parrot (uncredited)
Monte Blue	...	American (uncredited)
Dick Botiller	...	Native Officer (uncredited)
Maurice Brierre	...	Baccarat Dealer at Ricjk's (uncredited)
Anita Camargo	...	Woman Companion (uncredited)
George M. Carleton	...	American (uncredited)
Melie Chang	...	Oriental at Rick's (uncredited)
Spencer Chan	...	Guest at Rick's (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Waiter at Rick's (uncredited)
Franco Corsaro	...	French Police Officer (uncredited)
Marcel Dalio	...	Emil - Croupier at Rick's (uncredited)
Adrienne D'Ambricourt	...	Concierge (uncredited)
Helmut Dantine	...	Jan Brandel (uncredited)
Jean De Briac	...	Orderly (uncredited)
George Dee	...	Lieutenant Casselle (uncredited)
Jean Del Val	...	Police Officer (uncredited)
Joseph DeVillard	...	Moroccan (uncredited)
Arthur Dulac	...	News Vendor (uncredited)
William Edmunds	...	Second Contact Man at Rick's (uncredited)
Herbert Evans	...	Englishman Questioning Casino's Honesty (uncredited)
Fred Farrell	...	Singing Frenchman (uncredited)
Adolph Faylauer	...	Gambler at Rick's (uncredited)
O.K. Ford	...	Conspirator (uncredited)
Martin Garralaga	...	Headwaiter at Rick's (uncredited)
Gregory Gaye	...	German Banker Refused by Rick (uncredited)
Gregory Golubeff	...	Cashier at Rick's (uncredited)
Ilka Grüning	...	Mrs. Leuchtag - Carl's Immigrating Friend (uncredited)
Creighton Hale	...	Customer (uncredited)
Winifred Harris	...	Englishwoman (uncredited)
Jamiel Hasson	...	Muezzini (uncredited)
Arthur Stuart Hull	...	Elderly Admirer (uncredited)
Olaf Hytten	...	Pickpocketed Prosperous Man (uncredited)
Paul Irving	...	Prosperous Tourist (uncredited)
Charles La Torre	...	Italian Officer Tonnelli (uncredited)
George J. Lewis	...	Haggling Arab Monkey Seller (uncredited)
Max Linder	...	Elegant Gambler (uncredited)
Manuel Lopez	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Jacques Lory	...	Moor Buying Diamonds (uncredited)
Lou Marcelle	...	Narrator (voice) (uncredited)
Michael Mark	...	Vendor (uncredited)
Tony Martelli	...	Bartender (uncredited)
George Meeker	...	Rick's Friend (uncredited)
Lal Chand Mehra	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Louis Mercier	...	Conspirator (uncredited)
Torben Meyer	...	Dutch Banker at Cafe Table (uncredited)
Alberto Morin	...	French Officer Insulting Yvonne (uncredited)
Leo Mostovoy	...	Fydor (uncredited)
Corinna Mura	...	Singer with Guitar (uncredited)
Barry Norton	...	Gambler at Rick's (uncredited)
Lotte Palfi Andor	...	Woman Selling Her Diamonds (uncredited)
Paul Panzer	...	Paul - Waiter at Rick's (uncredited)
Manuel París	...	Guest at Rick's (uncredited)
Alexander Pollard	...	Croupier (uncredited)
Paul Porcasi	...	Native Introducing Ferrari (uncredited)
Frank Puglia	...	Arab Vendor (uncredited)
Georges Renavent	...	Conspirator (uncredited)
Dewey Robinson	...	Bouncer at Rick's (uncredited)
Henry Rowland	...	German Officer (uncredited)
Richard Ryen	...	Colonel Heinz -, Strasser's Aide (uncredited)
Dan Seymour	...	Abdul (uncredited)
Lester Sharpe	...	Refugee (uncredited)
Dina Smirnova	...	Woman Customer (uncredited)
Gerald Oliver Smith	...	Pickpocketed Englishman (uncredited)
George Sorel	...	Native Officer (uncredited)
Geoffrey Steele	...	Customer (uncredited)
Ludwig Stössel	...	Mr. Leuchtag (uncredited)
Mike Tellegen	...	Gambler (uncredited)
Jacques Vanaire	...	Frenchman (uncredited)
Ellinor Vanderveer	...	Woman Gambler at Rick's Next to Croupier (uncredited)
Norma Varden	...	Wife of Pickpocketed Englishman (uncredited)
Hans Heinrich von Twardowski	...	German Officer with Yvonne (uncredited)
Leo White	...	Emile - Waiter (uncredited)
Jack Wise	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Wolfgang Zilzer	...	Man with Expired Papers (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Curtiz

Writing credits
Julius J. Epstein		(screenplay) (as Julius J.) and
Philip G. Epstein		(screenplay) and
Howard Koch		(screenplay)
Murray Burnett		(play "Everybody Comes to Rick's") and
Joan Alison		(play "Everybody Comes to Rick's")
Casey Robinson		uncredited

Produced by
Hal B. Wallis	....	producer
Jack L. Warner	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Max Steiner

Cinematography by
Arthur Edeson		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Owen Marks

Art Direction by
Carl Jules Weyl

Set Decoration by
George James Hopkins

Costume Design by
Orry-Kelly		(gowns)

Makeup Department
Perc Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Al Alleborn	....	unit manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lee Katz	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Harper Goff	....	set designer (uncredited)

Sound Department
Francis J. Scheid	....	sound
Edward Ullman	....	sound recordist (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Lawrence W. Butler	....	special effects director (as Lawrence Butler)
Willard Van Enger	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Chris Crowell	....	digital compositor (restored version) (uncredited)

Stunts
Harvey Parry	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Stader	....	stunts (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Anthony Gasbarri	....	tailor: Mr. Bogart's tuxedo (uncredited)

Music Department
Leo F. Forbstein	....	musical director
Hugo Friedhofer	....	music arranger: orchestral arrangements
M.K. Jerome	....	songs
Jack Scholl	....	songs
Elliot Carpenter	....	musician: piano, dubbed Dooley Wilson's playing (uncredited)

Other crew
Robert Aisner	....	technical advisor
James Leicester	....	montages
Hugh MacMullan	....	dialogue director
Don Siegel	....	montages
Bob Williams	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures (A Warner Bros.-First National Picture)

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Criterion Collection, The (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (Germany) (video) (laserdisc)
• Warner Home Video (1991) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1992) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (1992) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1992) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1995) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS)
• Steeplechase Entertainment (1997) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Rhino Home Video (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• Creative Design (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Neue Visionen Filmverleih (2002) (Germany) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2003) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Park Circus (2007) (UK) (theatrical)
• Sociedade Importadora de Filmes (SIF) (1945) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• CBS/Fox (????) (USA) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (????) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• Varus Video (????) (Russia) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Lowry Digital Images  digital restoration (2003 re-release)

Also Known As:

Everybody Comes to Rick's (USA) (original script title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild violence.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | German

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Spain:T | USA:Approved (certificate #8457) | USA:TV-PG (TV rating) | Brazil:12 | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:G (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Quebec) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Chile:TE | Denmark:A | Finland:S | Germany:6 | Norway:10 (re-rating) (1992) | Norway:11 (re-rating) (2002) | Norway:16 (original rating) | Peru:PT | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | Sweden:7 (re-release) | UK:U | USA:PG (new rating) (1992)

Filming Locations:

Flagstaff, Arizona, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Director Michael Curtiz' Hungarian accent often caused confusion on the set. He asked a prop man for a "poodle" to appear in one scene. The prop man searched high and low for a poodle while the entire crew waited. He found one and presented it to Curtiz, who screamed "A poodle! A poodle of water!" See also The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936).

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rick gets on the train after standing in the rain, his coat is completely dry.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: With the coming of the Second World War, many eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas. Lisbon became the great embarkation point. But, not everybody could get to Lisbon directly, and so a tortuous, roundabout refugee trail sprang up - Paris to Marseilles...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Splendor (1989)

Soundtrack:

It Had to Be You

.....it's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, a case of do or die, the world will always welcome lovers, As Time Goes By."

It's one of the great Hollywood legends how George Raft helped make Humphrey Bogart a leading man by turning down in succession, High Sierra, The Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca. Maybe Raft showed some good sense in letting a better actor handle those roles. In any event we've got some proof in the case of Casablanca.

Check out some time a film called Background to Danger that Warner Brothers did with George Raft that also featured Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet. Had Raft ever done Casablanca the film would have been a routine action/adventure story just like Background to Danger. Instead with Bogey we get that, but also one of the great love stories of the century.

Humphrey Bogart set the standard for playing expatriate American soldiers of fortune in Casablanca. Right now he's between wars running Rick's Cafe Americain in Casablanca in Morocco, an area controlled for the moment by the Vicky French government. He's got his fingers in a whole lot of pies, but Bogey operates with his own code of ethics. He sticks his neck out for nobody.

Nobody except the great love of his life Ingrid Bergman who left him mysteriously in Paris as he was fleeing the oncoming German occupation. She walks back into his life with a husband, Paul Henreid who is a well known anti-fascist leader.

The rest of the film is a contest for Bogey's soul. Torn between his great love, his own anti-fascist beliefs, and certain practical necessities of operating a liquor and gaming establishment in a hostile environment.

So many things combine to make Casablanca the great film it is. Ingrid Bergman's lovely incandescence melding and melting Bogey's cynical screen persona. The indelible characterizations of Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt and the whole rest of a 100% perfectly cast film. And the revival of a great ballad which serves as Casablanca's theme song.

I say revival because As Time Goes By was introduced in 1931 in the George White Scandals on Broadway by Rudy Vallee. He made a record of it which sold quite a few disks back then. But by the merest of coincidences there was a strike that lasted two years that just began around the time Casablanca came out. The Musicians Union struck against the record companies. With no new records being made RCA Victor re-released Vallee's record and it became a monster hit on revival.

Also when Casablanca came out as if the White House had a personal interest in the film FDR and Churchill had the first of their wartime conferences in----Casablanca of all places. Jack Warner must have said a prayer for that to happen.

There are so many classic scenes and lines from Casablanca you can write a comment just by listing them. But my favorite has always been when the Germans have taken over Rick's place and are singing some of their songs, Paul Henreid goes to orchestra leader and asks him to lead La Marsellaise. With a nod from Bogey, the orchestra plays, Henreid leads them and the rest of the non-Germans in the cafe join in. Over 60 years later, one still gets a thrill from that act of defiance.

Bogart and Rains were nominated for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. Any of the others could have been as well. As I said before Casablanca is perfectly cast right down to minor roles like Curt Bois as a pickpocket, John Qualen as a fellow resistance leader, and S.Z. Sakall as a waiter at Rick's. If there was an award for ensemble cast, Casablanca would have won it. As it was it did win for Best Picture of 1943 and best director for Michael Curtiz.

Casablanca will be seen and loved by filmgoers for generations unto infinity, as time goes by.