Rick's Cafe and the Moral Maze: Love, War, and Choices in “Casablanca”

Guest blog post written by Stephen Galen Estevan

We all know the lines, we've probably seen the tearful goodbye a hundred times, but what truly sets this 1942 classic apart? It's not just the trench coat drama or the Bogie-Berman magic. Casablanca's secret sauce is its unique ability to cook up a storm of moral complexity in a wartime setting. Buckle up, cinephiles, because we're diving into the heart of what makes this movie so darn special.

Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart

First off, Casablanca throws you right into the grimy underbelly of a war-torn Europe. Rick's Cafe Americain, our Casablanca hotspot, isn't some swanky Hollywood hangout. It's a pressure cooker of refugees, gamblers, and desperation. Everyone's got a story, everyone's running from something. This backdrop instantly throws out a challenge: how do you define "good" and "bad" in a world gone sideways?

Here's where Rick Blaine, the cynical nightclub owner with a heart of gold (or maybe tarnished silver), takes center stage. Humphrey Bogart doesn't play Rick as a superhero. He's a guy who's seen the worst humanity has to offer, and it's hardened him. He prioritizes self-preservation, neutrality above all else.  But then Ilsa Lund walks in, a blast from his romantic past, and suddenly Rick's carefully constructed moral gray area starts to crack.

Dooley Wilson, Bogart, and Bergman

Ilsa, played by the stunning Ingrid Bergman, is another wrinkle in this moral tapestry. She's torn between her love for Rick and her duty to her husband, Victor Laszlo, a Czech resistance leader.  Laszlo embodies the fight against tyranny, the clear-cut "good" in this conflict.  Yet, Ilsa's love for Rick is real, and it forces us to confront the fact that good guys don't always get the girl, and love can be a powerful motivator, even if it complicates the fight against evil.

Casablanca doesn't shy away from the messy bits of human decision-making. We see characters wrestle with their conscience. Renault, the cynical police captain who seems to be in cahoots with the Nazis, throws a wrench into the works with his own moral dilemma.  Even Sam, the piano-playing confidante, wrestles with the line between loyalty and doing the right thing. There are no easy answers, and the film doesn't try to spoon-feed them to us.

This ambiguity is what makes Casablanca's climax so powerful. The iconic scene where Rick lets Laszlo escape with Ilsa is a masterclass in emotional storytelling. Rick sacrifices his own happiness for a cause he initially wanted nothing to do with. It's a selfless act born out of love, a love that transcends personal desires.  In that moment, Rick sheds his cynicism and chooses a side, a decision that resonates because it feels real, not forced.

Paul Henreid, Bergman, and Bogart

Casablanca's moral complexity extends beyond the central love triangle. The film doesn't shy away from the horrors of war. We see refugees desperate to escape, the cruelty of the Vichy regime collaborating with the Nazis.  It reminds us that war isn't just fought on battlefields; it's a fight for the soul in every corner of the world.

This brings us to the final ingredient in Casablanca's recipe for moral complexity: cynicism versus hope. Rick's initial cynicism reflects the disillusionment of a world at war.  But as the film progresses, a flicker of hope emerges.  Laszlo's unwavering belief in the fight against fascism becomes a spark that ignites Rick's sense of purpose.  The ending, while bittersweet, leaves us with a sense of optimism.  Even in the darkest of times, good can prevail, and individuals can make a difference.

Casablanca isn't a film that gives easy answers. It forces us to confront the complexities of human nature, the sacrifices we make for love and for what we believe in. It's a film that stays with you long after the credits roll, prompting you to ponder the murky waters between right and wrong.  That's why, even after all these years, Casablanca remains a cinematic masterpiece, a timeless reminder that the lines between good and bad can be as blurry as the smoke hanging over Rick's Cafe Americain.

Stephen Galen Estevan is the founder and operator of FrameTrek.

Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid have a date with fate in “Casablanca”

Casablanca, the 1942 classic directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid is the third film to be shown in this continuing monthly series. Winner of three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Casablanca has become part of the American consciousness, its dialogue (“Here's looking at you kid.”) part of our lexicon.

Just another movie?

What started as just another movie during Hollywood’s golden age became an instant classic. It made  Bogart a credible leading man and pushed him out of the shadows of fellow contract players James Cagney, George Raft, and Edward G. Robinson. In only her fourth American film, Bergman became a superstar and one of the most popular movie actresses of the 1940s. For Hungarian-born director Curtiz, Casablanca was his only Best Director win in a career that spanned more than four decades.

Michael Curtiz (1886 -1962) was a Hungarian-American film director who worked during Hollywood’s Golden age, directing some of the best loved classics from that era including The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Casablanca (1942), and Mildred Pierce (1945). He directed James Cagney and Joan Crawford to Best Actor/Actress Oscar wins; he put Doris Day and John Garfield on the screen for the first time, making them major movie stars in the process. He’s also responsible for the pairing of Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland, one of Hollywood’s most famous screen teams. Other films directed by Curtiz include Angels with Dirty Faces (1938), The Sea Wolf (1941), Yankee Doodle Dandy (1942),  Life with Father (1947), and White Christmas (1954).

Humphrey Bogart (1899 – 1957) was an American film and stage actor. He is one of the most famous and popular movie stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Nicknamed Bogie, the actor toiled in supporting roles in both A and B pictures for a decade before his breakout role as Roy Earle in High Sierra (1941). Many more film roles followed including The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), Key Largo (1948), and The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948). His career continued with good roles in films like In a Lonely Place (1950), The Caine Mutiny (1954), and Sabrina (1954) co-starring William Holden and Audrey Hepburn. Bogart died from cancer in 1957.

Ingrid Bergman (1915 – 1982) was a Swedish actress who became an international star upon her Hollywood debut in Intermezzo (1939). Few actresses were as popular as Bergman during the 1940s. In fact, she was the number two box office draw (after Bing Crosby) in 1946. She starred opposite Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) opposite Gary Cooper, Gaslight (1944) for which she won the Best Actress Academy Award. She starred opposite newcomer Gregory Peck in Spellbound (1945) which was her first collaboration with director Alfred Hitchcock. Bergman would go on to win another Best Actress Academy Award for Anastasia (1956) and a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Murder on the Orient Express (1974).

Paul Henreid (1909 - 1992) was an Austrian-British-American actor, producer, writer, and director. Henreid is probably best known for two films released in 1942: Casablanca and Now, Voyager. Henreid was under contract with Warner Bros. where he was a popular leading man starring opposite the studio's top actresses including Bette Davis, Ida Lupino, and Eleanor Parker. After he left Warner Bros. Henreid made a series of adventure films. He later directed films and television shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Maverick, and The Big Valley.

Casablanca trivia

• Many of the actors playing Nazis were German Jews who escaped Nazi Germany.
• The tears in the eyes of the extras singing “La Marseillaise” were real; many of them had escaped Nazi occupied Europe.
• Stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid didn’t want to make Casablanca. Bogart and Bergman were unhappy with a script that wasn’t completed before filming, and Henreid who had a big success starring opposite Bette Davis in Now, Voyager (1942) didn’t want to be the second male lead.
• Bergman was desperate to play Maria in For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943). Bergman got the role and a Best Actress nod. Bergman thought this would be the role that moviegoers would remember her for. Even though the film was a bigger box office hit than Casablanca, it hasn’t the reputation of that classic.
• The movie was filmed entirely on the Warner Bros. sound stages and backlot.

Click HERE to watch the film on YouTube.

 

Click HERE to join the discussion on December 18, 2023, 6:30 p.m. Central Time. Once you RSVP, you will receive an invitation and a link to join the discussion on Zoom.

 

Discussion questions

1. What is the basic plot of Casablanca? What is the central conflict? How is this conflict established?
2. What is the tone of the film? How is that tone established? What are some of the major themes of this film?
3. What role does music play? How do the attitudes of jazz fit into Rick’s club, and what we know about his character?
4. How are the characters framed in the film? What “tricks” does the director use to introduce characters, reveal their motives, or present their conflicts? How is this explored through lighting and camera angles?
5. What make this film timeless?

 

Field Trip: “Casablanca” November 12 at River East 21

Join the Chicago Film Club, on Sunday November 12 at 2:00 p.m., as we enjoy viewing the 1942 classic, Casablanca on the big screen at the AMC River East 21, 322 East Illinois, Chicago, IL. If you’ve never seen the movie starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid on the big screen, you’re in for a treat.
You may buy tickets day of screening or order them in advance. Click the link to order. 

Casablanca on the big screen

Date: November 12 at River East 21

Time: 2:00 p.m.

I'll be holding a red "Meetup" sign by the concessions at theater level

Set against the backdrop of World War II, Humphrey Bogart stars as Rick Blaine, the owner of a nightclub in Vichy-controlled Casablanca, whose life changes forever when his lost love, Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), walks into his club and back into his life. Also starring Paul Henreid and Claude Rains.

Viva la France

Top-ten posts of 2012

Here are the top-ten post, in descending order, from the past year. The interest in classic films, including the stars and directors who made them, seems to be as strong as ever. Two blogathons made the list as well as three posts promoting the special big-screen showings of three classic films.

10. A blogathon featuring the films produced by Val Lewton garnered some interest. Lewton is most famous for his horror films, but the blogathon featured other genres he worked in. This blogathon was presented and promoted with another classic movie fan, Kristina, who writes the amazing Speakeasy blog.

9. My review of the Academy Award winning film The Artist, which I saw almost a year ago today, attracted some readers. With it’s fictional recounting of the transition from silent to talking films, The Artist was a wonderful achievement. Classic movie fans should enjoy this film immensely.

8. Singing in the Rain was back on the screen for two days this summer. The classic musical included a taped interview with star, Debbie Reynolds, reminiscing about her participation in the film alongside Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor.

Jeanne Crain and Ethel Waters in Pinky

7. The feature, “Classic Films in Context” is somewhat self-explanatory. The reviews of classic movies puts each film in the context of when it was conceived and produced. Sometimes a little background information is required in order for us to fully appreciate a classic film. The post on Pinky, a 1949 melodrama starring Jeanne Crain as a light-skinned black women, enjoyed wide readership. Hardly remembered today, it was one of Elia Kazan’s early directorial efforts and a big box office hit for its film studio, Twentieth Century Fox. It also earned Crain a Best Actress nod (she lost to Olivia De Haviland).

6. The announcement for the much-anticipated Dana Andrews blogathon let me know that once it was launched it would be a success. And it was. See below.

5. The Dana Andrews blogathon started on July 28 and contributions and comments came fast and furious. Andrews biographer Carl Rollyson joined in on the fun, contributing a blog post, as well as commenting on everyone’s posts! Thanks, Carl, for taking the time and for making such thoughtful comments.

4. The Birds on the big screen! Yes, the Alfred Hitchcock classic had a one-night-only showing on movie screens across the country in September. I had the pleasure of seeing the film on the big screen for the first time ever and really enjoyed it. Somehow seeing a classic film in a theater with an audience is like seeing it for the very first time. The digital transfer looked great and the sound was amazing. Totally fun popcorn eating movie. I’m so glad I got a chance to see it.

3. Speaking of classic films on the big screen, Casablanca had a special showing in March to commemorate the 70th anniversary of its release. The restored digital transfer was impeccable. The black and white cinematography really popped and I found that I couldn’t take my eyes off of Dooley Wilson’s (Sam) white jacket that seemed to shimmer under the lights in Rick’s Café American. That showing was so popular that they included another one-night-only showing in April, which resulted in this post.

2. I was interested in the “Titanic” disaster before I was interested in classic films. So it was no surprise that I decided to tackle the “Titanic” disaster on film in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the disaster. I featured several of the most popular films detailing the tragedy, as well as other films and TV shows that included the disaster as part of the storyline.


1. The post with the most reads was one I did on Angela Lansbury when she was the TCM star of the month last January. With over 6,000 reads, this post is on track to be one of Classic Movie Man’s most popular posts of all time.

Well, that does it for 2012. Here’s hoping that 2013 is a prosperous, healthy, and happy new year for everyone. And thank you for visiting the Classic Movie Man blog. Look for some exciting new posts in 2013!

“Play it Again, Sam”: Screen classic “Casablanca” has an encore screening this Thursday

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Cassablanca

Due to the success of last month’s one-night-only screening of Casablanca, Turner Classic Movies and Warner Brothers have added another special showing this Thursday, April 26, 2012, at theaters around Chicago.

TCM and Warner Brothers are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the 1943 Best Picture Academy Award winner. Released in 1942, Casablanca stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. Produced during the height of World War II, the film has endured, making it one of the most beloved American films ever made. The themes of love, loyalty, and self-determination still resonate.

Although Humphey Bogart never uttered the line “Play it again, Sam,” (He actually said, “Play it, Sam”) the film is jam-packed with memorable lines—“This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”—that have become part of the American lexicon.

The film has been completely restored. If you’ve seen the movie before, you’ll be amazed at what this new restoration reveals. Viewers will experience the classic in a whole new way.

For information on locations and showings near you, click here.

“Casablanca” celebrates 70th Anniversary with special screenings tonight in Chicago

Casablanca had its world premier in New York City on November 26. 1942. The film was a critical and popular success, eventually winning three Academy Awards, including Best Picture. That was 70 years ago. Tonight in Chicago and in cities around the U.S., the classic will have special screenings featuring a digitally remastered and restored print. We’ll be going to ShowPlace ICON at Roosevelt Collection tonight at 7 p.m. and report back on the experience. Casablanca is also being screened at several other theatres in Chicagoland, including AMC East 21, Regal Webster Place 11, and Regal City North Stadium 14 & RPX. For ticketing and other information, click here.

Casablanca stars Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henried. So many lines from the film have become part of the American lexicon, including “Here’s looking at you kid” and “I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”. That last quote is used by just about every politician on both sides of the aisle, when referring to something obviously bad or corrupt.

For an interesting history on the film, click here.

Remembering Irene Dunne in “I Remember Mama”

In 1948, Irene Dunne was a very youthful looking 50-year-old actress. When she made I Remember Mama, Dunne was fitted with padding to make her appear overweight and makeup was applied to make her look older. It’s hard to believe that Dunne wasn’t the first choice for Marta Hanson because her performance as the matriarch of a clan of Norwegian Americans is one of the great screen characterizations of all time.

I Still Want To Be Left Alone
Before Dunne signed on to the project, the property had been bought with hopes of coaxing Greta Garbo out of retirement. Garbo had also turned down Alfred Hickcock around the same time she was being considered for I Remember Mama. Hickcock wanted Garbo to play a murderess in The Paradine Case (1948). She supposedly said “No murderesses, no mamas” and remained in retirement. Marlene Dietrich expressed interest in the role, but producers didn’t think she had enough warmth to portray the character effectively. When Dunne was onboard, everything fell into place.

Director, George Stevens

George Stevens at the Helm
I Remember Mama was director George Stevens’s first major production since The More The Merrier (1943). Having served overseas during World War II, observing and filming the liberation of several Nazi death camps, Stevens wanted to return to a simpler time. Stevens was one of the top directors of his day. He directed Gunga Din (1939), Penny Serenade (1941), and Woman of the Year (1942).

The Most Perfect Picture in Years
Based on the play by John Van Druten, which was based on the short story, Mama’s Bank Account by Kathryn Forbes, it recounts the trials and tribulations of the Hanson family in the San Francisco of the 1910s. For her role, Dunne studied with a dialogue coach to get her accent just right. Supposedly, she stayed in character while she was filming, speaking to friends and family in her newly acquired Norwegian accent. On screen, Dunne is completely lost in her characterization. There is no artifice or anything untrue in her portrayal of Marta. In his New York Times review, Bosley Crowther said this about Dunne’s performance: “As Mama, the wheelhorse of the family, Irene Dunne does a beautiful job, in a blonde, braided wig and in dresses which actually appear to be worn. Handling with equal facility an accent and a troubled look, Miss Dunne has the strength and vitality, yet the softness, that the role requires.” Michael Curtiz, the Academy Award winning director of Casablanca said I Remember Mama was “…the most perfect picture in years…”

Last Great Role

Philip Dorn, Barbara Bel Geddes, Steve Brown, and Dunne

For this, her last great screen role, Dunne received her fifth Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. The film was nominated for four more awards, but was shut out in every category.The Best Actress race of 1949 was a competitive one. The other actresses in the running included Ingrid Bergman in Joan of Arc, Olivia de Haviland in The Snake Pit, Barbara Stanwyck in Sorry Wrong Number, and eventual winner, Jane Wyman in Johnny Belinda.

Lasting Legacy
Dunne would end her career without that coveted Oscar, but she left us with an extraordinary film legacy as a testament to her unique talents.

Classic Film of the Week: "Life With Father"

Hot Property
During the late 1940s, one of the most sought-after properties was the film rights to Life With Father, the longest-running non-musical play on Broadway. The play written by Howard Lindsey and Russel Crouse, based on stories by Clarence Day, opened in 1939 and ran for seven years. The story has a relatively simple plot: a wife, after discovering her husband hasn’t been baptized, does her best to convince him he needs to, if he wants to see his family in heaven.

From the earliest days of its run, Hollywood was interested in obtaining the film rights. William Powell, after seeing the play, wanted his home studio, MGM, to buy the property for him. He thought the part of Clarence Day (Father) would be the role of a lifetime.

America's Sweetheart No More
While the play was still on Broadway, sisters Lillian and Dorothy Gish both portrayed Lavinia (Mrs. Day) in out-of-town productions. Lillian, who was headlining the Chicago production, thought the role of Lavinia would be perfect for her friend, Mary Pickford. Pickford, the silent-film icon, was looking for a property to make a movie comeback. Gish advised her friend to buy the film rights, but Pickford didn’t act swiftly enough. Soon all the major studios were actively negotiating with the playwrights and members of the Day family. With all this competition, the price skyrocketed and the contract stipulations were too much for most. Warner Bros. eventually bought the rights with a down payment of $500,000 plus half of the film’s profits. Warner Bros. thought Life With Father had the potential to be as big as Gone With The Wind, so they were willing to pay the price.

Powell is Clarence Day

When William Powell found out that Warner Bros. obtained the rights, he asked MGM to consider loaning him out for the role. They did, Warner Bros. accepted, and Powell was in. The choice of Powell to play Clarence Day proved popular with the movie-going public, but the casting of Lavinia would prove more troublesome.

Davis Drops Out
Bette Davis, the top female star on the Warner Bros. lot at the time, was offered the role of Lavinia Day. Davis struggled to adequately portray the character’s gentleness and decided not to take the role. Mary Pickford, who missed out on buying the film rights, was in the running. Apparently, her screen tests were good, but director Michael Curtiz (Casablanca) didn’t think she had any box office appeal. She had, after all, been away from the screen for thirteen years.

From Anna to Lavinia: Irene Dunne Takes a Chance

From most accounts, Curtiz wanted Irene Dunne to play Lavinia. Dunne said she had no interest in playing a woman who seemed to cry when things didn’t go her way. But Curtiz thought she would be perfect in the role. Curtiz admired Dunne’s talent as an actress, but he also wanted her because she was a top box office draw. Dunne’s recent success in Anna and the King of Siam was one of the reasons the director pursued her. Curtiz kept asking Dunne to reconsider and he eventually wore her down. In a 1978 interview, Dunne revealed that Curtiz motivated her on the set “because I didn’t like the role very much and he had to placate me to make it more palatable.” Dunne’s acceptance of the role meant there would never be a movie comeback for Mary Pickford.

The supporting players were easier to find. Elizabeth Taylor, (who was barely 15 years old) was loaned out by MGM to play Mary Skinner, a role created on the stage by Teresa Wright. Zasu Pitts, Jimmy Lydon, and Edmund Gwenn rounded out the rest of the cast.

Impeccable Production

Life With Father was one of Warner Bros.’s most important and costly films during the late 1940s. The set decoration and costume designs were impeccable. A huge outdoor set was built to recreate New York City’s Madison Ave. during the 1880s. Elaborate indoor sets for Delmonico’s restaurant and McCreery’s Department Store were built, adding to the historical accuracy. The set decorators and the Warner production crew went to great lengths with even the small details. For example, there is a scene where Powell’s character takes a horse-drawn trolley to work. As he enters the trolley to sit down, you notice, in the background, advertisements inside the trolley, but only for a fraction of a second. You can argue whether that detail was necessary, but it shows the seriousness with which Warner Bros. handled the material.

Star Billing at the Flip of a Coin

Both Irene Dunne and William Powell were major movie stars when Life With Father went into production. Dunne, never regarded as a diva, but a shrewd negotiator and businesswoman where her career was concerned, insisted on receiving top billing. It could be argued that, at this time, she was the bigger box office draw. Powell on the other hand had the title role, the movie was Life with Father. A compromise was struck. Fifty percent of the movie prints would give Dunne top billing and fifty percent would have Powell’s name in front of Dunne’s! This held true for the movie posters (illustrated at left and below) and publicity releases as well. Supposedly, for the New York premiere, they flipped a coin to see which print would be used.

A Success for All
Life With Father premiered in August 1947 and was an immediate critical and financial success. Not quite the blockbuster the Warner Bros. studios had expected or hoped, but one that was profitable enough to make all the accountants happy. For Powell, it did turn out to be the role of a lifetime and he received his third Best Actor Academy Award nomination (Ronald Colman won for A Double Life). For Dunne, one of her best roles would come two years later in the George Stevens production, I Remember Mama.

Neglected Classic
Due to the unusual contractual arrangements between Warner Bros. and Lindsay and Crouse, the movie, after its initial release and re-release in 1948, pretty much vanished into obscurity. And for reasons not known to this writer, it fell into the public domain. Since Life With Father went into the public domain, there have been numerous inferior prints of the movie classic. With most, the color and sound are degraded. One can hope that someday a restored version will be available so modern viewers can see this wonderful American classic the way audiences did in 1947.



Sources used for this post: Romantic Comedy in Hollywood: From Lubitsch to Sturges (1987) by James Harvey; Life With Father Audience Guide (2008) compiled and edited by Jack Marshall;
Irene Dunne: First Lady of Hollywood by Wes D. Gehring

Bogart, Bergman, and Henreid...none wanted to be in "Casablanca"

Today, Casablanca is one of the best-loved movies of all time, so it's hard to believe that its three main stars didn't want to be in it.

Bergman, still relatively new to Hollywood, had her sights set on the role of Marie in Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls.  Gary Cooper and Vera Zorina had been cast, which disappointed Bergman who had been author Hemingway's choice to play Maria. For Bergman, filming Casablanca was an ordeal to get through as quickly and pleasantly as possible. Although she had no real conflicts with Bogart, Bergman didn't sense any real camaraderie with her chain-smoking costar. Another problem for Bergman and the other actors was that the script wasn't completed when filming started. No one knew what was happening, which caused Bergman some anxiety. She didn't know which actor she would end up with in the end. She assumed it would be Bogart because he had the male lead, but we all know how that turned out.

Zorina dropped out of For Whom the Bell Tolls, so Bergman eventually got the role she wanted, the one she thought was the role of a lifetime.  For Whom the Bell Tolls was a big hit and one of the biggest productions of 1942, and Bergman received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her performance, but it hasn't weathered the years nearly as well as Casablanca. For years, the popularity of Casablanca alluded Bergman until she finally viewed the film objectively for herself. She realized that it really was a great film and audiences had been right to praise it as such

Henreid started out his career in America as Paul Von Henreid, appearing in Goodbye Mr. Chips and several other films under his given name. By 1940, he was being billed as Paul Henreid and earnestly pursuing a career in Hollywood as a leading man. When he was offered the role of Victor Lazlo, Henreid thought playing the second male lead would do nothing for his career, especially after all the buzz from his costarring performance opposite Bette Davis in Now Voyager. It was Davis, a close friend of Henreid's, that convinced him to take the role. Davis told him there was more to the role than what was written in the script and it would be good for his career. Henreid finally agreed with Davis, but only after the studio promised him star billing equal to that of Bogart and Bergman. Davis's advice was confirmed after the film's release and Henreid went on to play male leads opposite some of Hollywood's most popular leading ladies.

Bogart's reasons are not as clear as Bergman's and Henreid's, but from all accounts, Including Bergman's, he wasn't thrilled with the idea of playing Rick. Bogart, who was just emerging as a major star in his own right, could not have anticipated the impact Casablanca would have on his career. Almost overnight, he became a romantic lead, something that had seemed impossible with his far-from-handsome face and years spent playing second leads and gangsters killed in the second reel. It didn't hurt that he had Bergman, arguably one of the screen's great beauties, convincingly acting as if she really loved him. After Casablanca, Bogart went on to become one of the biggest movie stars of all time. He is ranked number one male movie star of all time by the American Film Institute, topping fan favorites Cary Grant, James Stewart, Henry Fonda, and Spencer Tracy.

Only during the golden age of Hollywood could a film, regarded as just another movie that its contract players had to endure, remain so popular over 65 years after its initial release.

"Casablanca" An American Film Classic

An American film classic

Casablanca, the 1942 classic directed by Michael Curtiz and starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid is the third film to be shown in this continuing monthly series. Winner or three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Casablanca has become part of the American consciousness, its dialogue ("Here's looking at you kid.") part of our lexicon.

Just another movie?

What started out as just another movie during Hollywood's golden age, turned into an instant classic. It made  Bogart a credible leading man, and pushed him out of the shadows of fellow contract players James Cagney, George Raft, and Edward G. Robinson. Bergman in only her fourth American film, became a superstar and one of the most popular movie actresses of the 1940s. For Hungarian-born director Curtiz, Casablanca was his only Best Director win in a career that spanned more than four decades.

Click here to see the original movie trailer.