A Classic, Never Out-of-Date!

Rating: Null/10 (25 August 2003)

So much has been written about CASABLANCA that you can get the uneasy feeling that any comment you make about the film has been made before, and better! It is the most cherished classic in film history, number two on the AFI list of the '100 Greatest Films of All Time' (only CITIZEN KANE, arguably the most influential film ever made, topped it); it's leading man, Humphrey Bogart, has been declared by the AFI as the 'Greatest Star of All Time', and 'Rick Blaine' was Bogie's greatest role; it has more phrases that have become part of our lexicon than any other film ("Round up the usual suspects", "Here's looking at you, kid", "We'll always have Paris", "I stick my neck out for nobody", and the erroneous but immortal phrase, "Play it again, Sam" are just a few); it has influenced pop culture for three generations, making fedoras and trench coats (and, unfortunately, cigarettes) essential elements of 'cool'. CASABLANCA is the definitive film about sacrificing for the 'greater good', with characters who are clearly flawed, yet find redemption and a higher purpose. Oh, and it is maybe the best romance ever made, to boot, without resorting to 'R' rated dialog or nude love scenes (a lesson sadly lost on film makers, today!)
Despite paying a record sum for the unproduced play ("Everybody Comes to Rick's") that became CASABLANCA, the production itself was considered routine, just another of the 50 or so films the WB produced each year. Despite the presence of Ingrid Bergman (on loan from David O. Selznick) and Paul Henreid (from RKO), there was no finished script at the time of the shooting, and the cast would often not know what their lines would be until the cameras were about to roll. While this gave the film a kind of edginess that 'worked', it drove everyone crazy, particularly Bergman, who was anxious to finish and move on to the film she expected to be her 'classic', FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, with Gary Cooper. (CASABLANCA's ultimate place in film history, far greater than the Hemingway adaptation's, always stunned the actress!) Certainly, as filming 'wrapped', and Bogie returned to the sound stage for a last time, to record an added line, written by producer Hal Wallis to provide a warm, wry coda to the film ("Louis, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship"), all the participants moved on to their next jobs, unaware of what had been achieved.
Some films are born great; some are 'touched by the Gods', with the elements that created them combining with the timing of the release to make them 'classic'. CASABLANCA was such a film. When the finished production was assembled, the Epstein brothers' brilliant dialog (written, often, at the last moment) blended perfectly with Howard Koch's dramatic and Casey Robinson's romantic script elements. Under the sure hand of director Michael Curtiz, with a wildly romantic Max Steiner score, and Dooley Wilson singing 'As Time Goes By', the WB knew it had a hit...then, as the film was released, the invasion of North Africa began, and suddenly the word "Casablanca" was on EVERYONE'S lips! CASABLANCA went from being just a 'hit', to being THE film of 1942. That it won the Oscar for 'Best Picture' surprised no one; what surprised everyone was the fact that film gained in luster and popularity with each passing year, winning whole new generations of fans with it's timeless tale, and charismatic leading man. As John Huston told an interviewer, in the 60s, "Bogie is more popular today than he ever was", and the same can be said of CASABLANCA, today.
To borrow a quote from HIGHLANDER, "In the end, there can be only one"...to film lovers, around the world, CASABLANCA is the one!