Often cited now as one of the best films ever made, Casablanca (1942), in contrary fashion had a very lackluster origin when it was made. The cast and crew who worked on it just considered it one of the hundreds of films Hollywood rolled off the conveyor belt each year. Casablanca was good, but nothing special. Audiences disagreed. The film won the Best Picture Oscar that year and went on to become one of the most beloved and quoted movies of all time. The screenplay, written by the Epstein Brothers, Julius and Philip, is near-perfect and is now a template, as well as required reading for prospective filmmakers. Put simply, Casablanca is, perhaps, the greatest love story ever captured on film.
American expatriate Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is a somewhat sullen guy, living in Casablanca and running a bar called "Rick's Cafe Americain". The area is a hotbed, with both refugees and Nazis in the same vicinity. Transit Papers are required to travel, and are extremely rare. When Rick comes into possession of two blank letters of transit, he knows they will be immensely valuable to the highest bidder...
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| Casablanca. 1942: Humphrey Bogart |
Meanwhile, the cause for Rick's bitter attitude shows up in the form of his former lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband, fugitive Resistance leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid)...
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| Casablanca. 1942: Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman |
Laszlo has escaped from a concentration camp and is wanted by Nazi Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) as well as Vichy Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains)...
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| Casablanca. 1942: Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman |
Rick still has feelings for Ilsa, despite her leaving him in Paris. She claims to still be in love with him as well...
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| Casablanca. 1942: Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman |
The transit papers Rick possesses mean freedom for just two individuals...
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| Casablanca. 1942: Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman |
Rick has a difficult choice to make. He must decide what the best thing to do is... for all involved...
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| Casablanca. 1942: Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman |
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| Casablanca. 1942: Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman |
