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Casablanca (motion
picture), popular drama about two star-crossed lovers in occupied French
Morocco during World War II (1939-1945). Released in 1942, this film won Academy
Awards for best picture, best director, and best screenplay. Humphrey
Bogart stars as Rick, the cynical owner of a café in Morocco’s Free Zone
where underground and military characters converge. His old flame Ilsa (played
by Ingrid Bergman) appears one night, rekindling bitter memories
and old passions between them. Although Ilsa has a new beau, she and Rick make
plans to run off together.
Director
Michael
Curtiz
Cast
Humphrey Bogart
(Richard "Rick" Blaine)
Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa Lund
Laszlo)
Paul Henreid (Victor Laszlo)
Claude Rains (Captain Louis Renault)
Conrad Veidt (Major Heinrich Strasser)
Sydney Greenstreet (Senor Ferrari)
Peter
Lorre (Ugarte)
S. Z. Sakall (Carl,
Headwaiter)
Madeleine LeBeau (Yvonne)
Dooley Wilson (Sam)
Joy Page
(Annina Brandel)
John Qualen (Berger)
Leonid Kinskey (Sascha)
Helmut
Dantine (Jan Brandel)
Curt Bois (Dark
European)
Marcel Dalio (Emil, The Croupier)
Corinna Mura (Singer)
Ludwig
Stossel (Mr. Leuchtag)
Ilka Gruning (Mrs.
Leuchtag)
Charles La Torre (Senor Martinez)
Frank Puglia (Arab vendor)
Dan
Seymour (Abdul)
Oliver Blake (German banker)
Gregory Gaye (German banker)
George Meeker (Friend)
William Edmunds
(Contact)
Torben Meyer (Banker)
Gino Corrado (Waiter)
George Dee
(Casselle)
Norma Varden (Englishwoman)
Leo Mostovoy (Fydor)
Dick Ryan
(Heinz)
Martin Garralaga (Headwaiter)
Olaf Hytten (Prosperous man)
Monte Blue (American)
Michael Mark
(Vendor)
Leon Belasco (Dealer)
Paul Porcasi (Native)
Hans von Twardowski
(German officer)
Alberto Morin (French
officer)
Creighton Hale (Customer)
Henry Rowland (German officer)
Louis
Mercier (Smuggler)
Lou Marcelle (Narrator)
Awards
Academy Award for
Best Director (1943): Michael Curtiz
Academy Award
for Best Writing—Screenplay (1943): Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard
Koch
Academy Award for Best Picture (1943): Hal B.
Wallis—Producer
Quotes
Rick (regarding
Ilsa): “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into
mine.”
Rick (toast to Ilsa): “Here’s looking at you,
kid.”
Rick (to Ilsa): “We’ll always have
Paris.”
Rick (to Renault): “Louis, I think this is
the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Trivia
The film’s
producers couldn’t afford a real plane in the background at the airport.
Instead, they used a small cardboard cutout, with midgets portraying the crew
preparing the plane for takeoff.
Studio head Jack
Warner wanted actor George Raft to play Rick, a part that helped Humphrey Bogart
break out of his typecast as a gangster.
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