Rick Makes the Heroic Choice: One of the Best Hollywood Films of All Time

Rating: 10/10 (5 April 2007)

Many a-great film or theatrical play is about a character (or characters) making a monumental choice. The results of that choice may be tragic, such as Oedipus' decision to pursue the mystery of his parentage, MacBeth's resolve to assassinate his sovereign, or even when Gene decides to cause Finneas' accident in "A Separate Peace". The choice can also be selfless, heroic, even transcendent. Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird" agrees to defend a black man that prompts ridicule by his white peers. The passengers of the doomed cargo plane in "The Flight of the Phoenix" determine not to lay down and die in the desert but rebuild something from the wreckage that could save them. And Rick Blaine, played by Humphrey Bogart in his most memorable role, also makes an heroic choice in the ageless and timeless American film "Casablanca".
The film is set against the potent backdrop of World War II at a small town in Morrocco, Casablanca, and the majority of the action takes place in a restaurant-bar-casino owned by Rick Blaine. Many different personages of differing background cross the threshold into Rick's: French police, German officers, Nazis, and even members of the French Resistance.
Rick at first appears to be a selfish loner. He even says that he "sticks his neck out for nobody". At yet there are hints, even at the beginning, that there is something inside of him that has concern for others. The film appears to be about how Rick sets the nobler part of himself free from the cynical veneer that he wears. In the first scenes, Rick rarely smiles. He is quick to lose his temper, doesn't expose his emotions, and appears only interested in the profitability of his restaurant-casino. A scene early on exposes the selfless part of Rick briefly, but he brushes it off and quickly re-dons his cynical persona like a worn overcoat. Victor Laszlo also begins to suspect there is more to Rick when he says that he is "a man who's trying to convince himself of something he doesn't believe in his heart."
The episode that begins to bring that part of Rick back to himself is a former lover, played with magnetic emotionalism by Ingrid Bergman, who enters Rick's place after a long absence, escorting an important leader of the Resistance against the Nazis. I believe this portrayal may be the best romantic performance by an actress in a leading role I have ever seen. While at once feminine and gentle, Bergman is also highly resolved and dedicated to her cause. She is no wall-flower by any stretch. At first Rick appears tormented by her reappearance and a flashback to their love affair in Paris cut short by German occupation affirms the reasons behind Rick's attitude toward her return. (For a movie made during the war in 1942 to adequately depict how the German regime changed peoples' lives is one of several miracles that permeate throughout Casablanca.)
Twists and turns throughout the story do not necessarily foreshadow the final choice that Rick Blaine makes in the end. And we find that Rick was always a hero, and every male in the world aspires to his heroism. This is one of the best reasons why, I think, Casablanca has become not only a classic but a cinematic masterpiece. We all want to make the transcendent choice that may not be best for ourselves, but best for others.