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During World War II, the city of Casablanca in French Morocco (which, unlike France itself, is unoccupied by the Nazis) is a waiting point for throngs of refugees fleeing Europe. Many desperately try to obtain exit visas to the United States. This is why when two German couriers carrying signed letters of transit are murdered and the letters stolen, Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains) has the police gather up anyone and everyone of suspicion, the usual suspects, as he says. Renault is visited by Major Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt) and his brigade, and Renault seems willing to help the Nazis find the criminal(s) even though Casablanca remains unoccupied. Renault tells Strasser that the murderer will be arrested when he shows up at Rick's Café Américain tonight. He's sure the murderer will show up because "Everybody comes to Rick's."
In the club, Sam (Dooley Wilson) entertains the masses from his piano. The club owner is Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), who stays in a private area with selected/approved others. He chooses to stay out of political issues and has a very cynical outlook overall about things. One of those others is Ugarte (Peter Lorre), who Rick finds harmless enough to tolerate even though he knows Ugarte is a shady dealer in exit visas. Ugarte asks Rick to hold some letters of transit that he has obtained until Friday, when he plans to leave the country. Rick makes mention of the murder of two German refugees and Ugarte plays it off like its the first he's hearing of it. Rick does hold onto the letters, hiding them in Sam's piano.
Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet) owns another bar, the Blue Parrot. He visits Rick trying to buy his club, or even Sam, but Rick isn't selling. Renault also visits, discussing how tonight he expects Rick to witness the arrest of the murderer of those German refugees here at the club. Strasser wishes to be present for this as well, so he visits the club. Renault wants Strasser to see the arrest to curry favor. Strasser is particularly concerned that the letters must not be sold to Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a well-known Czech resistance leader who was in a concentration camp and is now rumored to be on his way to Casablanca to obtain a visa. Renault alerts Rick to Laszlo's pending arrival, and he's traveling with a lady as well.
Ugarte is asked by the police to come with them. He attempts to escape, even shooting at the police, then runs to Rick asking for help. Rick stays uninvolved, and the police arrest Ugarte for the murder of the German refugees. Once things settle down, Rick tells everyone at the club that the issue is over with and to carry on. He then sits with Renault and Strasser. Strasser asks Rick questions about the Reich and Rick answers in his usual neutral fashion, even when questioned about why he chooses to stay in Casablanca and not flee to the States as well. (The reason is never actually given in the movie as to why Rick "can't" return to the U.S.) Strasser explains why Laszlo is a wanted man, and soon enough, he arrives with his lady, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman). Sam recognizes her immediately. Renault and Strasser see that he has arrived as well.
A man comes to Laszlo pitching to sell a ring. In showing the ring off, Laszlo sees it contains the Cross of Lorraine, signifying that this man is a member of the Free French Forces movement. Laszlo tells the man he'll meet him at the bar later. Renault comes to Laszlo's table and introduces himself. Ilsa asks Renault about Sam, and Renault says that Rick brought him to Casablanca with him from Paris, and they fled just before the city wound up occupied by the Reich. Ilsa asks who Rick is, but then Strasser comes to the table as well to confront Laszlo. He wants Laszlo to come to Renault's station to be questioned. Laszlo says he will follow only the request of Renault since he is on his turf and not Strasser's. Renault respectfully requests that he come to the station. Laszlo says he will do so the next morning, and then goes to meet the man at the bar. His name is Berger (John Qualen), and he's a part of the underground resistance movement. Laszlo asks Berger about Ugarte, who he's supposed to meet to receive a transit letter from. Berger says there will be a meeting of the underground movement tomorrow. Berger leaves the bar quickly when Renault approaches them.
Sam goes to Ilsa and they exchange pleasantries, obviously knowing who each other is. Ilsa asks where Rick is, and Sam attempts to say he isn't there tonight, or he went home. Ilsa then says "Play it once, Sam. For old time's sake." Sam pretends he forgot the song, but is talked into it. Sam plays and sings "As Time Goes By". Rick hears the song and comes out of the private area, beginning to tell Sam he had told him never to play that song again. Rick interrupts himself upon seeing Ilsa, who sees him as well. Laszlo introduces himself to Rick, and Rick joins them at their table for a short while until everyone has to leave since the curfew is approaching. Rick stays at the bar well after closing time. Sam stays with him, refusing to go until Rick does. Rick then delivers another iconic line: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." He then asks Sam to play the song again, and he thinks back to Paris...
Rick and Ilsa were totally in love while they lived in Paris. He would often toast her with "Here's looking at you, kid" before they would drink champagne. As they receive word that the Germans are starting to take over France, they realize that Paris will be occupied rather soon. Ilsa says that Rick, because of his record, should flee the country. The two, along with Sam, all share a toast when they hear from the streets that Paris will be occupied tomorrow. They all decide to meet at the train station and head to Marseilles. Rick even says when they get there, he and Ilsa should get married.
The train is packed with people trying to flee. In the rain, Rick looks for Ilsa and Sam. Sam does arrive and he has a note for Rick from Ilsa. Rick reads it and then dejectedly crumples it and throws it to the ground as he and Sam leave on the train...
We return to present day. Ilsa shows up at the club as Rick expected her to. They have a tense conversation where Rick drunkenly chides her for ditching him at the station, and then questions who she left him for. After she leaves, Rick puts his head down on the table.
Laszlo and Ilsa meet with Renault and Strasser the next morning at the station. Strasser says that they have every intention of keeping him in Casablanca, but he can get a visa immediately if he'll give up the names and addresses of those leading the resistance movement. Laszlo said they couldn't get that out of him at the concentration camps and they surely won't get it out of him here and now. Renault casually mentions that Laszlo's meeting with Ugarte would be one-sided since Ugarte is dead, either by suicide or trying to escape. The inference is that Ugarte was killed by the forces, and Laszlo catches onto that since obviously Ugarte told them he was set to meet with Laszlo.
Rick goes to Ferrari at the Blue Parrot to get supplies that have arrived for his club. Ferrari talks about the letters of intent being hunted for, and whoever has them, Ferrari offers to take care of the hassle for a percentage of the profits. He says he believes Rick knows where the letters are. Rick says he thinks Renault and Strasser think so too, and they're searching his club right now. He came to see Ferrari to allow them to search without interruption. Rick decides to leave when he sees Laszlo arriving. He goes to Ilsa, who remains outside at a vendor's cart. Ilsa says Rick isn't who she once knew, which is someone who fought against the wrong mentality of the Reich. Now he's a cynical and apathetic shell of himself. Rick asks why Ilsa left him at the station. Ilsa says it was because Victor is, and was then, her husband.
Laszlo meets with Ferrari since he can obtain exit visas for a profit. Ferrari says he can get Ilsa to the States but there is too much scrutiny on Laszlo so he should stay behind for now. Ferrari also says he believes Rick has the missing letters of transit. Laszlo then goes to meet Rick at his club, offering large sums of money for the letters. Rick continues to say no and then says to Laszlo that he should ask his wife why he refuses. The Germans are singing in the club. Laszlo goes to the band and starts up the French national anthem, which everyone joins in on to signify they are against the Nazi occupation. Angered, Strasser orders that Renault shut down the club. Renault isn't too fond of the idea but he follows the command.
After being closed down, Rick remains at the club. He finds that Ilsa is waiting in his office. She asks for the letters of intent. Rick says no continually, even when Ilsa pulls out a gun and points it at Rick. Rick walks up to the gun and tells her to go ahead, but she can't do it. Ilsa finally breaks down, saying Rick has no idea how much she has always loved him and still does. Rick finally relents as well, and the two embrace and kiss before Ilsa tells the full story to Rick. She had been married in secret to Laszlo before she met Rick, but she was told he had been killed. On the day she was to leave Paris with Rick, she found out Laszlo was still alive. However, she now realizes she still loves Rick, and vice versa. She says she can't leave Rick again, and offers to stay here with him if Rick can send Laszlo to safety in the States.
Laszlo and club bartender Carl (S.Z. Sakall) are on the run from the police and hide at the club. Carl tells Rick that the forces broke up the underground meeting and are rounding up suspects. Carl will take Ilsa home as per Rick's request. Laszlo tells Rick he knows that he and Ilsa love each other, so please use the transit letters to get her out of Casablanca. Just then, the police bust in and arrest Laszlo.
Rick meets with Renault later to reiterate he did not offer to help Laszlo escape, he does indeed have the transit letters in his possession and he's going to use them himself. He offers Renault the chance to arrest Laszlo and keep him here in Casablanca as opposed to letting Strasser take him. He'll set up Laszlo to receive the stolen letters at his club. Renault just has to release him now. The deal is made.
Before executing the deal, Rick goes to Ferrari and sells him his club. Laszlo meets Rick there later and upon the letters being transferred, Renault (who was hiding in Rick's office) comes out and arrests Laszlo for possessing them. However, Rick then pulls out a gun and tells Renault to sit down. He commands that Renault call the airport to prepare a plane out of Casablanca. Renault does so, but in reality calls Strasser and relays that information.
At the airport, Rick tells Renault to fill out the letters with the names of Victor Laszlo and Ilsa Lund. Ilsa objects but Rick tells her this is what should happen. He confirms to both Ilsa and Laszlo that they love each other and belong together, so they should get into the plane with their papers. They do so. Just as the plane is leaving, Strasser arrives. Renault tells him that Laszlo is on the plane that is leaving. Rick warns Strasser that he was willing to shoot Renault and he's just as willing to shoot him too. Strasses nonetheless begins to make a phone call to his brigade. Rick shoots him dead. When Renault's troops arrive, he tells them that Strasser has been murdered. He and then Rick exchange a glance before he continues. Renault orders that his men round up the usual suspects. The two men then leave Casablanca for the Free French garrison at Brassaville and Rick tells Captain Louis Renault that this is "...the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
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Bogart and Bergman actually rarely spoke to each other during or even after filming other than when performing. Part of that was likely because of Bergman's then-wife, Mayo Methot, believing the two of them were having an affair.....Dooley Wilson was a drummer, not a pianist, and in fact he doesn't play any of the music heard, he's just mimicing it. His singing was almost replaced as well as producers toyed with the idea of casting a female singer such as Ella Fitzgerald in the role.....Six lines from the movie made the AFI's 100 Best Movie Quotes of all-time list, far more than any other film.....Director Michael Curtiz had a very thick Hungarian accent and this caused confusion at times. For one scene, he requested a puddle on set. He was brought a poodle instead.....George Raft was initially offered the main role but turned it down. He changed his mind later but the role was already given to Bogart.....A sequel was in the works with Geraldine Fitzgerald taking over the Ilsa role (Bergman was unavailable), but the project was ultimately killed off.....It is widely believed that Jack Benny has an uncredited cameo in the film. He is never clearly visible but over the years this rumor has been more and more accepted. Apparently Benny went stage-hopping at the Burbank studio one day and visited the Casablanca set while a café scene was being shot. There are a number of waiters scurrying about in the scene. Benny borrowed a white coat from one of them and apparently mingled in the background all during the scene.....Bogart's final line was dubbed in after filming as it was not in the initial script but thought up later by Bogart and producer Hal Wallis.....This was Bogart's first role as a romantic leading man. Up to this point, he was more or less typecast as a tough guy/gangster.....Probably the most famous movie misquote in history is "Play it again, Sam." That line is never in the film. Ilsa says to Sam at one point, "Play it once, Sam. For old time's sake." Rick later says, "You played it for her, you can play it for me. If she can stand it, I can! Play it!" Where the misquote came from is anybody's guess.
Upon its initial release, Casablanca was a success, but not a rousing one. Reviews were good, but few great. Box office was decent, but not blockbuster. It's a film that took awhile to gather steam, and the fact that it was released in January of 1943 helped because it gave the film that entire year to build said steam by the time the Academy Award nominations would be announced for the following year's 16th Annual ceremony. Casablanca received 8 nominations and won 3. Losses came for Original Score (Max Steiner), Film Editing (Owen Marks), Cinematography (Arthur Edeson), Supporting Actor (Rains) and Lead Actor (Bogart). Oscars won were for Screenplay (Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch), Director (Curtiz) and Best Picture. Producer Hal Wallis wound up blocked from going up on stage, however, by Jack Warner and his family of moguls, even though Warner had zero to do with the movie. Jack took all the on-stage credit. Wallis would bolt Warner Brothers soon afterwards for life and work elsewhere. The Best Picture victory came over For Whom the Bell Tolls, Heaven Can Wait, The Human Comedy, In Which We Serve, Madame Curie, The More the Merrier, The Ox-Bow Incident, The Song of Bernadette and Watch on the Rhine. To be honest, there aren't many memorable films in that list. I've seen exactly two of them.
Now, in the beginning paragraph I remarked how when I first saw this film, I liked it but didn't love it. After a second viewing, I can firmly pronounce that...well, nothing's changed. I still don't love it. It's good, yes, but I just don't get what about Casablanca makes it SO revered. The lines are iconic and the music memorable, but the film itself? I don't know, maybe it's me. I see characters dressed in the same outfits for two hours despite the time frame of the movie going over many days. I know Casablanca isn't a small city but apparently everyone only hangs out at Rick's café or the area just outside it. I suppose the story is easy enough to follow, but I still found myself having to mentally fill in some blanks at times. Let me just say that Casablanca has a unique look and style to it, and while I can accept and respect its place in the pantheon of all-time great movies, it's just not a place I fully understand.
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