The film begins in December 1941, where American expatriate,
Rick Blaine (Bogart) is the proprietor of Rick’s Café Americain, a nightclub
and gambling den in the Moroccan city of Casablanca. The café attracts a variety of people: Vichy Frency,
Itallian, and German officials alongside refugees who are desperate to reach
the United States. Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, but ran guns to
Ethiopia during the war with Italy and fought against the Nationalists during
the Spanish Civil War.
The petty criminal Ugarte (Peter Lorre) shows up one day and
shows Rick letters of transit he gained by murdering two German couriers. The
papers allow the bearer to freely travel around German-controlled Europe and to
Portugal. He plans to sell them at the club later that night but is arrested by
Capt. Louis Renault (Claude Rains), a corrupt official. He dies in custody
without revealing he entrusted the letters to Rick.
Soon, Rick’s former lover and the source of his bitterness,
Ilsa Lund walks into the bar and sees Rick’s friend and house pianist, Sam. She
asks him to play “As Time Goes By.” Rick is furious that Sam disobeyed his
order to never perform that song but is stunned to see Ilsa. Her husband,
Victor Laszlo (Henried) the Czech Resistance leader, is with her as well. They
need the letters Rick has to escape to America where he can continue his work.
German Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) has come to Casablanca to prevent it.
Laszlo makes inquiries and Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet),
Rick’s business rival and black market figure, believes that Rick has the
letters. But he refuses to sell at any price, telling Laszlo to ask his wife
the reason. They are interrupted when Strasser leads a group of officers in
singing “Die Wacht am Rhein,” a German patriotic anthem. Laszlo orders the
house band to play “La Marseillaise” and starts singing along. He is alone at
first, but the crowd soon joins in and drowns out the Germans. Strasser has
Renault close the club under any means necessary. He chooses gambling.
That night Ilsa confronts Rick in the café. He refuses to
give her the letters and she threatens him with a gun, but confesses she still
loves him. She explains that when they first met and fell in love in Paris in
1940, she believed Laszlo had been killed in attempting to escape a
concentration camp. However, when she was preparing to flee with Rick from the
fall of Paris to the German army, she learned he was alive and in hiding and
left Rick without explanation.
Rick’s cynicism and bitterness dissolve and he agrees to
help her. Laszlo shows up unexpectedly having escaped a police raid on a
Resistance meeting. Rick has his waiter take Ilsa away and Laszlo, now aware
that Ilsa loves Rick, tries to persuade him to use the letters to take her to
safety. The police turn up to arrest Laszlo on a minor, exaggerated charge, but
rick convinces Renault to release him by promising a set up for the more
serious crime of possession of letters of transit. When trying to arrest Laszlo
as arranged at the airport, Rick holds Renault at gunpoint to assist in their
escape. But at the last moment, he makes Ilsa board the plane to Lisbon with
Laszlo, explaining that she would regret it if she stayed.
Strasser drives up alone and is killed by Rick when he tries
to intervene. The police arrive, but Renault tells them to round up the usual
suspects. The film ends as Renault suggests to Rick they join the Free French
and walk away into the fog with Rick saying that it was the beginning of a
beautiful friendship.
Rick’s character development is a big part in making this
film what it is. Rick is introduced as a stubborn cynic who really wants no
part in anybody’s affairs but his own. But when his past comes back in the form
of Ilsa, he’s faced with the reality of why it all happened. He releases his
grudge and does everything he can to get Ilsa and Laszlo out of Casablanca. It’s
true and realistic development too, as he doesn't turn into a complete idealist
as the film ends, but is slowly developing into a better person.
The music is done exceptionally well too. Written by Max
Steiner, who also wrote the score to Gone
with the Wind, he based the entire score on “As Time Goes By” and “La
Marseillaise” and had the latter and the opening bars of “Deutschlandlied” as leitmotifs.
This gave greater depth to the setting and characters. Also, the duel of songs
between Strasser and Laszlo is one of the best parts in the film and sets up
arguably the funniest line.
It should also be noted that the script was continually
going through re-writes, even during filming. The screenwriters essentially made
the film up as they went along. Yet it was still cleverly written and continues
to be one of the most quoted films. However, at no time is Sam told “Play it
again, Sam.” Blame Woody Allen for that.
Why did this get Best Picture: Because it involved the Czech
Resistance most likely.
Final Call: An enjoyable and unforgettable film with great
characters, music and writing. It jumps to #1.
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