A Little Something for Everyone

Rating: 10/10 (11 March 2013)

At one point or another, every film lover has heard someone utter one of the many infamous quotes from "Casablanca". Lines like "Here's looking at you, kid", or "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", have entered American culture and become part of the language. The reason the film is so popular, even among modern audiences, is because of how personal the subject matter was to audiences - and the cast, too - at the time the film was released. It truly is a film for everyone. The cast features Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the leading roles, and is supported by an array of incredible character actors including Claude Rains, Peter Lorre, Paul Henreid, and Dooley Wilson. These actors don't just put on a spectacle for the viewer to watch; they create an organic, multi-faceted, and culturally diverse community. Rick's nightclub is home to this community where secrets are kept hidden – or discovered – and people are forced to decide where there loyalties lie. "Casablanca" deserves a point all its own on the timeline of American film history. It's romance and it's drama; it is an uplifting comedy and a geopolitical thriller. No matter how you describe it, it is a piece of history.