The year was 1942; Franklin Roosevelt was president, and the average salary was $1,880 (a year). America consisted of 48 states, and one of the most iconic films of all time was released.
“Casablanca,” starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and produced by Warner Brothers, is consistently ranked near the top or at the very top of the greatest films of all time by film historians and movie buffs. It’s ironic; before the film was released, executives at Warner Brothers thought the film wouldn’t stand out from the hundreds of films Hollywood produced each year.
Not only was “Casablanca” a blockbuster and a must-see film, but it also ended up winning several Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
There are many reasons why “Casablanca” is considered a cinematic masterpiece, including the perfect cast. It is suspenseful. The script combines the right amount of romance, sacrifice, betrayal, hope, and comic relief. “Casablanca” is exquisitely filmed and plays upon light and shadows to create a sense of mystery and uncertainty.
The result is a very tight and well-oiled film that transitions from scene to scene seamlessly and makes the most of every second. Every shot helps move the film forward and create an interesting and emotional film.
Here are a few interesting facts about “Casablanca” you might not have known.
– The entire film was produced at the Warner Brother’s Studio in Burbank, California, except for the climactic airport scene that was filmed at the Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles.
– The film was based on the unproduced stage play “Everybody Comes to Rick’s.”
– In 1989, the Library of Congress selected “Casablanca” as one of the first classic films for preservation in the National Film Registry.
– After the film’s release, “As Time Goes By,” written in 1931, enjoyed a revival, spending 21 weeks on The Hit Parade.
– Ilsa never says the iconic line, “Play it again, Sam.” What she actually says is, “Play it once, Sam, for old times’ sake.” Later in the same conversation, Ilsa also says, “Play it, Sam. Play ‘As time goes by.’”
– “As Time Goes By,” performed by Dooley Willson (Sam), was voted No. 2 on the AFI’s 100 Best Songs in Film. “Over The Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz” was ranked number 1.
· Although Dooley Wilson was cast as Sam, Wilson could not play the piano. To correct this, Wilson sang but only pretended to play the piano while an actual piano player performed the piece off-set.
– Conrad Veidt, the actor that portrayed Major Heinrich Strasser, had an actual connection to the war. Veidt was a strong vocal opponent of the German regime and needed to flee the country in the 1930s with his Jewish wife.
– For unknown reasons, before the filming of “Casablanca” began, Warner Brothers released a publicity release stating actor Ronald Reagan would portray Rick. Although Reagan would miss out on playing one of the most popular characters in film history, he would go on performing in films that fit his acting skills, and in 1952 Reagan would star in his most well-known film, the cinema classic “Bedtime for Bonzo.” This iconic film (for all the wrong reasons) in which Reagan shares the screen with a chimpanzee. Less than three decades after performing with monkeys, Reagan would become the nation’s 40th president.
– Several of the actors had worked together in previous films, including Ingrid Bergman and Claude Raines in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1946 film “Notorious,” another film involving Nazis in which they portrayed husband and wife.
Most films feature a line or two from the script that becomes popular, and “Casablanca” is no exception. In fact, “Casablanca” has many famous quotes, including these.
– “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
– “Round up the usual suspects.”
– “The problems of three little people in this crazy world don’t amount to a hill of beans.”
– “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”
– “Louis, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
– “Go ahead and shoot; you’ll be doing me a favor.”
– “I’ve often speculated why you never return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Runoff with a senator’s wife? I like to think you killed a man. It’s the romantic in me.”
– “I don’t mind a parasite; I object to a cut-rate one.”
· “We’ll always have Paris.”
– “If that plane leaves the ground and you’re not with him, you’ll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”
By Jeffrey Allen Federowicz
