Best Picture: #16
Original Release Date: January 23, 1943
Rating: PG
Runtime: 1 hour, 42 minutes
Director: Michael Curtiz
Quick Impressions:
When I woke up this morning, I thought in shock, “Oh that’s right! I’m supposed to write a review of Casablanca!” What a strange undertaking! As I told my daughter, of all the usual suspects—movies vying for the honor of being “the greatest film of all time”—Casablanca is my personal pick. To be clear, Casablanca is not my favorite movie, but if I’m forced to choose among Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The Godfather, and 2001: A Space Odyssey, then Casablanca easily wins. (If anybody wants to argue seriously that Titanic is the greatest film of all time, then, for me, Casablanca wins there, too. It would also probably top Gone with the Wind simply because of its economy. (I mean, of course you feel like you’ve really seen something after watching Gone with the Wind. It’s forty-seven-hundred-thousand hours long!)
Actually, Casablanca’s economy is what I first admired it for, back when I began to appreciate the film. (You see, when I was a child, I hated it, but more on that later.) I remember also admiring the economy of the 2006 film The Queen. At the time, I remember comparing The Queen to Casablanca in that aspect when I praised it to my mother. (“It makes the most of every second, no line wasted, no element that doesn’t contribute to the film’s overall effectiveness!”)
The dialogue is unusually good, full of feeling, obviously memorable, and crackling with wit. My daughter, who ranks Casablanca #2 after Wings, cited the film’s humor as its strong point for her. Not only does Casablanca frequently attempt humor, she said, but the jokes are still funny in the way that they are meant to be today. My mother, who loves this movie (though not quite as much as The Maltese Falcon) frequently praises Claude Rains for his hilariously perfect delivery of his humorous lines. (She particularly loves the, “We’ll be there at six,” “I’ll be there at ten,” exchange.)
In my childhood, both my mom and my grandma loved classic movies, but they did not necessarily like the same movies. Mom’s favorites were Pollyanna, The Story of Ruth, and State Fair, Grandma’s favorites The Godfather, The Cotton Club, and Victor/Victoria. But they both loved Casablanca (and Death on the Nile, the film that has become a running joke I share with my sister). But my point is, Mom and Grandma agreed on Casablanca, so they watched it fairly often. As a young child, I was not a fan. In fact, the only part of the movie I did like was the scene when everyone at Rick’s drowns out the Germans by passionately singing “La Marseillaise.” When that happened, I would usually run dramatically into the viewing area to join in the moment. So for a really long time, the only character I really liked in the movie was Madeleine Lebeau’s Yvonne. She’s so passionate in that moment. I usually wasn’t even paying attention and didn’t know what was going on with the main plot, but I liked that part so much. Actually, it is still my favorite part. When I was young, I thought I hated Ingrid Bergman. Years passed, and I realized I actually just hated Ilsa Lund. Now that I’m older, I have a slightly different take on the character, but I still don’t like her very much.
The Plot:
In Casablanca, everybody comes to Rick’s. (That’s really the only thing to do in Casablanca besides leave. I mean, you could go to The Blue Parrot, I guess…) With World War II in full swing, people from all over Europe hoping to escape from the Nazi regime head to Casablanca in French Morocco, for the moment, still a part of free France. In most cases, their ultimate plan is to fly to Lisbon, and from there to leave Europe entirely. American expatriate Rick Blaine owns a café and looks out for himself.
Thanks partially to the talents of Rick’s piano player and friend, Sam, and partially to the liquor and gambling, Rick’s Café Américain is an extremely popular spot, often frequented by the head of the local authorities, Captain Renault, a delightfully corrupt official who loves women and one-liners. When Rick suddenly finds himself in possession of some shadily obtained letters of transit, he stashes them in Sam’s piano and puts them out of his mind until a string of surprise visitors appears. First comes Major Strasser, a menacing Nazi official, and then the man he is hunting, Victor Laszlo, the famed resistance fighter who escaped a concentration camp and continues to evade the Nazis, keeping the spark of hope alive for all who dream of freedom. Laszlo needs Rick’s hidden letters of transit to get out of Casablanca alive, but there’s a complication in the form of Ilsa Lund, the shockingly beautiful and unnecessarily mysterious lover of “As Time Goes By” travelling with Laszlo. The beloved freedom fighter will not leave Casablanca without Ilsa, but unfortunately, she and Rick have a past.
The Good:
Once I got old enough to watch Casablanca properly, I did agree that it was an excellent film. Watching it used to stress me out so much, though. From my point of view, it was like a horror movie. I kept trying to explain to my mother, “What if you’re called on to be noble, and when the moment comes, you aren’t? What if you fail that test of character? What if you don’t have it in you? What if it’s trial by fire, and you’re unworthy or unready? What if the circumstances are dire, and you can’t make a quick, sound decision, and you just don’t know what to do? You could be in Paris one moment, happy and carefree, and then suddenly, the Nazis are in Paris, and the world goes to hell, and people look to you to fix it. Your decisions matter. What if you choose wrong?”
For years, I’ve stressed out about this and marveled at Rick’s ability to make quick, sound decisions under such duress. It seems especially difficult to pull all of this off while drinking so heavily. Once as an experiment, I tried watching Casablanca while drinking as often as Humphrey Bogart drank. It was a terrifying nightmare.
But then one day, I made a stunning realization. (My mother may have pointed it out to me. I can’t remember now.) Suddenly I understood, “In this story, I wouldn’t have to make any difficult decisions. I wouldn’t be Rick Blaine or Victor Laszlo. I would be Ilsa Lund.” That makes the whole scenario much more palatable and less terrifying.
I do think Ilsa needs to work on her communication skills, but Bergman is a great actress. I also highly prefer Humphrey Bogart as a leading man to most of the others we’ve seen so far in these Best Picture winners. Bogart not only has a compelling screen persona, but he’s also very good actor, quite emotive. He’s particularly good at revealing unspoken complexity through his eyes. And the supporting cast is so deep and delightful. It’s always a pleasure to see Peter Lorre, S.Z. Sakall, and Sydney Greenstreet. As Sam, Dooley Wilson gives us priceless facial expressions as he reacts to the developing situation between Rick and Ilsa. Conrad Veidt makes a great Nazi. My daughter was particularly impressed by the menacing way he delivers his threats. And Paul Henreid brings quiet courage to Victor Laszlo. Henreid lets us see that Laszlo’s strength is the way in which he quietly inspires and emboldens others. As Captain Renault, Claude Rains gets some of the funniest lines in the movie and manages to make them even funnier through his delivery. Honestly, at moments, he seems likely to run away with the whole film.
The story here is simple but packs a punch. The dialogue works in the same way. People don’t make long, flowery speeches. Everyone gets right to the point with lines that are simple, effective, and memorable. This simplicity fits in with the storybook feel of the sets, the recreation of streets and clubs in French Morocco. This movie does look like it’s filmed on sound stages in a studio. We get the idea that we’re being told a tightly controlled, highly crafted story.
And it’s a good story. I like the way everyone makes the noblest, most selfless choice. (When I saw The English Patient in high school, I said, “Ah, so it’s like Casablanca, except everyone makes the selfish choice.” I haven’t seen The English Patient in decades, though, so I’m not sure if that reading really holds up under any scrutiny. When I was in high school, I had a lot of opinions.) There’s something else I like, too. The line, “We’ll always have Paris,” is so often quoted, but in the context of the film, it means so much. I’m always a fan of the concept that life is transitory and made up of moments. To me, the idea of a sustaining memory of a meaningful moment shared is the most compelling aspect of Rick and Ilsa’s romance (which is, otherwise, not compelling to me at all). But I also like the notion that even if the Nazis should somehow win the war, the idea of the Paris everyone loved will endure as long as they sustain it. I think of how passionately those people resisting Nazi rule broke into “La Marseillaise,” the tears in every eye as they joined their voices as one.
Max Steiner (whose name comes up again and again when you watch 1930s and 40s Best Picture winners) has written the perfect score, and “As Time Goes By” has become so iconic, it’s impossible to separate it from this film or to have any original thoughts about it (at least for me). The film looks good, too, the light, the shadows, the fog.
Best Scene:
Casablanca contains so many iconic scenes. My favorite is the moment when the crowd (with the encouragement of Victor Laszlo) breaks into “La Marseillaise,” drowning out the Germans. Even out of context, this scene is rousing, moving. The tears in the eyes of Yvonne (Madeleine Lebeau) look genuine, and probably are (since the actress herself had just left France to escape the Nazis). That’s why I liked it so much as a child. Who knows what’s going on with that inscrutable Ilsa and her poorly expressed web of confused feelings, but one thing’s for sure, Yvonne loves France! I love the passion and triumph of that moment. Sometimes I watch this and think to myself, “What’s so great about Victor Laszlo?” and then I remind myself that he had the courage and cleverness to engineer this moment of patriotic resistance.
Aside from this, I tend to prefer the less iconic scenes in the film. To be honest, I really like The Blue Parrot. Not only is Sydney Greenstreet pretty delightful as Signor Ferrari, but his role in the movie is never highlighted in clips packages. You see bits and pieces of Casablanca everywhere. So often, we see the iconic interactions between Rick and Ilsa, the airport in the fog, Sam playing it again and again. Unless you actually watch the movie, you pretty much lose Greenstreet and his rival establishment, which is apparently crawling with flies. (Plus, The Blue Parrot gets bonus points for reminding me of Raiders of the Lost Ark, which I loved as a child.)
Best Action Sequence/Best Scene Visually:
Casablanca does have a perfect ending. The scene at the airport in the fog looks amazing. Whether you’ve seen the film or not, surely you’ve seen (at least most of) this scene. Still, it looks great. And if you haven’t seen it before, the suspense of the ending is the best. Some of the greatest lines happen here, too. Thanks to Claude Rains, it even manages to be funny.
Runner Up Best Scene:
When young newlywed Annina Brandel (Joy Page) comes to Rick to ask for his advice, the story is at its most captivating. Not only does this episode paint Rick in a very positive light and cause joy in so many of his employees, but it also gives Bogart the opportunity to show us the internal struggle Rick is going through as he tries to sort through his now extremely complicated feelings for Ilsa.
The Negatives:
When I was young, what always baffled me about Casablanca was that not one but two heroic men fall madly in love with Ilsa, who seemed to me a poor communicator at best. From my point of view then, Ilsa created needless complications by being unnecessarily secretive and choosing to reveal information in the way least likely to foster understanding. Honestly as an adult, I still kind of feel that way.
I always want to shout at the screen, “Hey, there’s this new thing now called talking!” Watching with my daughter, I did (finally) see Ilsa’s point about why she kept so many secrets from Rick in the first place. She has solid reasons, but I still think she’s a woman of rather poor judgment. I don’t think she’s entirely honest ever, not even with herself. Watching last night after that scene when she visits Rick upstairs, my daughter wondered in frustration, “But which one of them does she love?” And I replied, “You’ll never find out from her.”
As an adult, I do enjoy Bergman’s performance as Ilsa. Her acting is top notch, and she creates a fascinating character. It just happens to be a fascinating character I don’t like.
As a child, I always preferred Lauren Bacall paired with Bogart. (As an adult I still prefer her.) When I was little, I loved Lauren Bacall for two reasons. 1) She usually talks a lot, even in movies, which (from a child’s point of view) makes it much easier to understand what’s going on. 2) I knew that in real life, she did love Humphrey Bogart, so I preferred to see them paired together. I mean, even in the movies, Bogart always gets the girl when the girl is Bacall. You can trust her (even when she’s lying) because she really does like him.
I appreciate directness, and Ilsa just seems incapable of it. You have to guess what she’s feeling, and she doesn’t seem to know herself. I think the most charitable view of her is to believe that although she did love Rick, she loves her husband more and continues loving him more the entire time at every moment. If this is true, Ilsa really isn’t so bad, just a loving, pragmatic wife. (But it’s probably not the case. Who knows?) She sort of makes you guess. Bogart’s character only manages to figure it out because somebody has written a screenplay which lets him witness parallel events, providing him with food for thought. I don’t know. For me, she’s just a character who causes needless confusion and misunderstandings, complicating everything by not seeming to understand that sometimes we would rather risk death than be so confused about the feelings of someone so important to us. I think Rick chooses well in the end. He manages to do a noble thing and win the companionship of someone plain-speaking and witty who is surely fun at parties.
Overall:
This isn’t exactly a review of Casablanca. I’ve seen it dozens of times before. I do agree that it’s an excellent film, perhaps the greatest of all time. But the film does need me to defend its merits, nor am I really qualified to do so. This is just a rundown of my impressions. I do, actually, really like Casablanca, despite the fact that I’ve never warmed to Ilsa and probably never will.