Bogart's distinctive character in practically every scene

Rating: 9/10 (1 October 2005)

The film that made Bogart a major star is not what I expected the first time i saw it. After seeing him in the Maltese Falcon which I thought was a brilliant film I decided to give this a try, although I am not really into romantic films as this certainly is. The love story is truly one of the more memorable ones but it would have been contrived without the war time setting. Everything the characters do may have long lasting effects on their lives or in some cases may even claim their lives. The Rick character, who is supposed to be completely neutral, can't escape being an accomplice in what the Laszlo character is deeply involved in. It's not only because he loves Ilsa (Bergman) but you can see that he hates the Germans as much as anybody when he first meets Major Strasser. That aside the Bogart character would never send a decent man to his doom as Laszlo essentially is, even though he is a rather cold hearted bore.
The film could have done without the Renault character, who is simply there to make commentary about Bogart's character. Will he or will he not sacrifice Laszlo or his lady love? The comic relief is minor and I suspect that even people who love the film will find anything novel in Rains' appearance.
Then finally there is Bergman. Except for being beautiful she must have had some other qualities as well and that is extremely underused in this film. To see her crying every five minutes is not what you would expect a modern woman character to do and indeed her character is simply a hanger-on and besides being the object of affection for both Rick and Laszlo she is supposed to stay in her place.
The whole film can be described as being more entertainment than of actual historical importance and on that level it delivers but it is still funny to think that it was being made at a time when the whole world could have been crushed by the forces of evil and that this could have very well been the last time you would ever see a movie that criticised Nazism.