Ricky, I’m going to miss you. Apparently, you’re the only one in Casablanca with less scruples than I. – Casablanca (1942) Today on the Classic Movie Review Podcast, we are taking on one of the greatest movies ever made and a truly great love story with Casablanca (1942). This movie has everything, great actors and actresses, black and white film, damn Nazis, people struggling to breathe free, and love. This movie has a special place in my heart. After the Army, I went to university, and one weekend they showed Casablanca (1942) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) on the side of the stadium. I thought, hey, this college stuff is going to be a lot better than the Army. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, by the Japanese, America was drawn into World War II. Warner Bros. went looking for something patriotic that could be put out quickly. They found an unproduced play, “Everybody Comes to Rick’s” written by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison. The film was directed by the versatile Michael Curtiz and in many ways is the quintessential American film. I will have more thoughts about this during the summary. This film has a strong 8.5[1] on IMDB.com. This film has a 98[2] percent rating on the Tomatometer and 95 percent audience approval on rottentomato.com. This movie is included in ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die 7th Edition’ edited by Ian Haydn Smith and Steven Jay Schneider. It is also number 3 on the great film critic Roger Ebert’s ‘Great Movies’ list[3]. This film is currently 2nd on the AFI.com 100 Years…100 Movies list, behind Citizen Kane (1941) and ahead of The Godfather (1972)[4][5]. New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther wrote: “The Warners … have a picture which makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap.”[6] Film critic Roger Ebert said Casablanca (1941) makes more lists because it is beloved, while Citizen Kane (1941) is considered to be a better film. Ebert continued that while individual elements of the film can be criticized, he has never seen a negative review of the film[7]. This film was nominated for eight Oscars, winning three in 1944. They are: Nominated Best Actor in a Leading Role – Humphrey BogartBest Actor in a Supporting Role – Claude RainsBest Cinematography, Black-and-White – Arthur EdesonBest Film Editing – Owen MarksBest Music, Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture – Max Steiner Winner Best PictureBest Director – Michael CurtizBest Writing, Screenplay – Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, and Howard Koch So, let’s get to the actors, many of which are returning. Actors – Casablanca (1942) Returning Humphrey Bogart led the show as American expatriate Rick Blaine. The great Humphrey Bogart was covered Sahara (1943). Paul Henreid was very good as Resistance leader Victor Laszlo. He was covered early in his career in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). Claude Rains was one of the high points of the movie as Captain Louis Renault. This versatile actor was first covered in The Wolf Man (1941). Sydney Greenstreet as Signor Ferrari and Peter Lorre as Ugarte were both covered in The Maltese Falcon (1941). John Qualen played Resistance man Berger. Qualen was covered in The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence (1962). New Ingrid Bergman is amazing in this film, she fits in well as Ilsa Lund playing a refuge from the Nazis and a woman that is torn between two men. Bergman was born in Sweden in 1915, as a half Swede/half German. By the time she was 12, both her parents were dead, and she was sent to live with an uncle. Around the time she finished school, she became interested in acting and had an uncredited, non-speaking role in Landskamp (1932). Around the age of 18, she began studying at the Royal Dramatic Theatre School in Stockholm but soon decided she did not want to act on the stage. Three years later, in 1935, she got her next acting role. She continued in several more movies before appearing in Intermezzo (1936). This film was seen by David O. Selznick, and it was not long until she signed a contract with United Artists. Intermezzo (1936) was remade as Intermezzo: A Love Story (1939), and Bergman was on her way to stardom. She made a couple of more films in Sweden before returning to the US. She made three movies that were released in 1941, including a version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941). However, it was the World War II quickie that made her a star, with Casablanca (1942) with Humphrey Bogart and Paul Henreid and that made the public love her. Her career was a model path from then on out. She received an Oscar nomination for For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), she was in Gaslight (1944), a movie title that was added to the English language, and for which she received a best actress Oscar, she made Spellbound (1945), and The Bells of St. Mary’s (1945) that latter of which gave her a third Oscar nomination. She was in the Alfred Hitchcock directed Notorious (1946), fighting Nazis in South America and co-starring with Carey Grant and Claude Rains. In played Joan in Joan of Arc (1948) and received a fourth Oscar nomination. In 1949, while in Italy working on Stromboli (1950) she met and fell in love with Roberto Rossellini. She left her husband, and the scandal hurt her career in the US, but only for a short time. In 1956, she starred in Anastasia (1956) as the last survivor of the Russian Czars. She continued to make films during the 1960s and 1970s which gave us Autumn Sonata (1978) where she was again nominated for an Oscar. She did an amazing job playing Golda Meir in the television mini-series “A Woman Called Golda” 1982 for which she won an Emmy. However, she passed away before the show aired. She died in 1982, at the age of 67. Conrad Veidt was very well cast as Nazi Major Heinrich Strasser. Veidt was born in Berlin in 1893. He finished his education in 1912. He began making films in Germany in 1917 and became a star when he played the murdering noctambulist Cesare in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920). Since his third wife was Jewish, he began citing his ethnicity as such on required work forms. With the rise of the damn Nazis, Veidt fled Germany in 1933. He changed his citizenship to British in 1939. Although he had 119 film and television credits, his most well-known roles are in Dr. Caligari mentioned above and in this film, Casablanca (1942). He died early in 1943 at the age of 50.   S.Z. Sakall played the German bartender Carl. He was another European that had to flee because of those damn Nazis. He was generally cast in comedic roles, and two of his best were Casablanca (1942) and Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942) with James Cagney. Sakall died in 1955. Arthur ‘Dooley’ Wilson played the role of Sam, the piano player, as in a line, never said “Play it again, Sam.” Wilson was born in Texas in probably 1886. He began working in minstrel shows by the age of 12 and by 1908 he was working in black theaters in Chicago and New York. At the Pekin Theatre in Chicago, he would play the Irish song “Mr. Dooley” in whiteface. Was that wrong? Wilson worked in bands and vaudeville in Europe and America. Wilson began working in films in 1939, and he was often on Broadway. He also received work from the Federal Theater Project. As a result of this work, he became a contract player for Paramount Pictures. However, they were only using him in subservient roles, and he was getting ready to abandon Hollywood. That was before he was lent out to Warner Bros. for Casablanca (1942). Wilson remained successful in movies, on Broadway, television, and especially working on movie soundtracks. Wilson died in 1953 at the age of 67. Joy Page had a small but important role as Annina Brandel. Page was the daughter of a silent-era star, Don Alvarado. When her parents got divorced, her actress mother Ann Boyar remarried Jack L. Warner, the chief of Warner Bros. Starting with one of the best movies ever does not leave much headroom. Page had 22 film and television credits. Nothing came close to her first role in Casablanca (1942) which included fare like Kismet (1944), Man-Eater of Kumaon (1948), the not too bad Bullfighter and the Lady (1951), and Disney’s Tonka (1958). She died in 2008 at the age of 83. It’s important to have talent, but it’s better to related to the head of the studio. Story – Casablanca (1942) Pre-Movie Information The damn Nazis overran France from May 10 – 25 June 1940. The German mainly took over the northern part of France. In the south, a Vichy government was set up. They ruled the south from the town of Vichy and controlled Morocco, Algiers, and Tunisia. They “collaborated with Nazi Germany from November 1942 onwards” and “many more had participated in the deportation of Jews for internment in Nazi concentration camps, abuses of prisoners, and severe acts against members of the Resistance.[8]” One of the routes of escape for Jews and other refugees was through southern France into northern Africa. Movie Narration tells of how World War II led to people fleeing towards America. This put many on a path that leads to the city of Casablanca in French Morocco. From Casablanca, if they could get a letter of transit, a completely made-up plot device, they could travel to Lisbon, Portugal, and then to England or America. Of course, it only works if you don’t run out of money or get arrested by the local police. This left a large group of refugees in Casablanca waiting.   A Vichy radio operator tells that two German couriers were murdered on a train and some important documents were stolen. They believe the murderer or murderers are on the way to Casablanca. The police are ordered to round-up all suspicious people and search them. A city-wide crackdown is roughly carried out. They gun down one man when he flees. He is found to be carrying a flyer for the Free French which has the symbol of the Cross of Lorraine. The cross represents an area of France that had been annexed by Germany. It is also the same design that was on the team rings worn by Thomas Magnum (Tom Selleck), T.C., (Robert Mosley), and Orville ‘Rick’ Wright (Larry Manetti)[9], as well as other members of the Vietnam combat team in “Magnum, P.I.” 1980-1988. Other wears of the ring include a role played by Robert Loggia and Magnum’s wife Michelle Hue played by Marta DuBois. Rick for a time on the show ran a bar called “Rick’s Place” and was affiliated with a gangster named ‘Ice Pick’ played by Elisha Cook, Jr. So long story short, this was all done as an homage to this film. The riffraff are herded into a police station, and a waiter tells that a few beautiful women are arrested for Captain Louis Renault. When a plane flies over all the refugees stop to look. The plane passes over ‘Rick’s Café Americain.” On the incoming plane is Nazi Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt). He is introduced to Captain Renault (Claude Rains) police prefect of Casablanca. Louis takes a dig at the Nazi, welcoming him to Free France. Strasser is worried about the stolen letters of transit. Louis says the killer will be a Rick’s tonight as ‘everybody comes to Rick’s.’ This phrase being the title of the play that the movie is based on. That night, a great mix of people are pouring into Rick’s where Sam (Arthur “Dooley” Wilson) is signing and playing the piano. People are bored, plotting, and selling valuables, under the noes of the Nazis and French. There are gambling tables being run in the back room. A lady asks bartender Carl (S.Z. Sakall), who may have been a college professor before becoming a refugee if Rick will have a drink with them. Carl says that Rick never drinks with the customers. The hand of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is shown signing a check. The date is December 2, 1941. Rick is concerned with a chessboard he is studying, but he has to nod approvals and disapprovals for potential gamblers. Rick is dealing with an unsavory character when Ugarte (Peter Lorre) slips in the door. Ugarte is very nervous when he talks to Rick. Ugarte sells exit visas as does Louis. Ugarte shows Rick the stolen letters of transit. He asks Rick to keep the documents for a short time. Ugarte expects to make the sale in Rick’s place later in the night. Out front, Sam leads a sing-along of “Knock on Wood.” Rick cool as ever drops the letters of transit inside of the piano top while the whole crowd is watching. Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet) comes in and sits will fellow Arabs. Ferrari owns the Blue Parrot. He offers to buy Rick’s, but Rick is not interested. He also offers to hire Sam at double his rate. Sam is not interested. At the bar, Sascha (Leonid Kinskey) is serving Yvonne (Madeleine Lebeau). Yvonne has a resting bitch face on. When Rick comes over, she questions him about his wear about the previous night and if she will see him this evening. Rick gives her a hard brush off. He then cuts her drinks off and sends her home in a cab. Rick is on the front patio of the club smoking when Louis, who is sitting in the shadows, says Rick should not be discarding women so easily as one day they may be scarce. Louis says he will call on her and try to catch the rebound. Rick tells him that when it comes to women, he is a true democrat. The two men see a plane leave for Lisbon. Louis questions Rick about why he doesn’t go back to America. A man from the casino comes to tell Rick that they need more money because someone has won. As they walk through the bar, Louis says there will be some excitement because they are making a big arrest in the bar that night. He also says don’t try and warn him. Rick gives out his philosophy – “I stick my neck out for nobody.” Louis says Major Strasser will be in the bar to watch the arrest. Rick asks why the Nazi is really here, and Louis tells him that Victor Laszlo is coming to Casablanca. Rick is impressed because Laszlo has escaped from the Nazis and is important to the Resistance. Louis says the man is traveling with a woman and will be looking for two exit visas and that he must not be allowed to leave Casablanca. Rick has never engaged in the visa business although many are sold in his bar. Louis thinks Rick is a sentimentalist because he has fought on the losing sides of two struggles for freedom and would like to help Laszlo. Louis post guards at the door and goes to join Major Strasser. Two French police go to the roulette table to arrest Ugarte. They allow him to cash in his chips. He makes a break and shoots a couple of French policemen. Ugarte runs to Rick and begs for help, but there is nothing that can be done. The police drag Ugarte away. Louis invites Rick to sit down. In response to the Nazis, Louis says he takes what comes. Strasser questions Rick about his background. Rick is evasive. They mention that Rick cannot return to America for some reason. Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) enter the bar and are seated. Sam looks at Ilsa and has a distressed look on his face. Berger (John Qualen) who is at the bar perks up when he sees Laszlo. Laszlo is looking for Ugarte so they can buy the letters of transit and Ilsa is very nervous. Berger comes to the table, pretending to sell a ring. However, the ring has the Cross of Lorraine meaning Berger is with the Resistance. Louis comes to introduce himself to Laszlo and Ilsa. Ilsa asks about Sam, and Louis tells her that he came from Paris with Rick. Strasser comes over and has a hostile conversation. Laszlo only recognizes Louis’ authority. Laszlo goes to talk to Berger while Strasser and Louis watch. Berger tells that Ugarte has been arrested. He also tells that there is a Resistance meeting the next night. Ilsa asks that Sam be brought to her table. Ilsa is happy to see him, but she is very tentative. Ilsa asks for some old song and Sam begins playing while they talk. Finally, Sam says to leave Rick alone because she is bad luck for him. She says play it for me for old-time sake Sam. He demurs. She then utters the 28th ranked line according to AFI.com; Play it, Sam. Play ‘As Time Goes By.’ She finally starts humming the tune. Sam begins playing and singing. Ilsa is remembering a past time as she listens to the song. Rick hears the song playing and says, “Sam, I thought I told you to never play…” Sam nodes his head towards Ilsa and Rick looks like someone hit him with a bat. Louis starts introducing Rick to Laszlo and Ilsa when she says I already know Rick. Laszlo asks Rick to join them for drinks, and Louis says Rick never, but then Rick says I will. Louis is amazed. Rick and Laszlo respect each other very much. Ilsa asks Rick if he remembers the last time they met. He does and says it was on the day the Germans marched into Paris. He says he remembers every detail, “the German’s wore Gray, and you wore blue” which I consider one of … Continue reading Casablanca (1942)