[86] The "Deutschlandlied", the national anthem of Germany, is used several times in minor mode as a leitmotif for the German threat, i.e. [63][64] Koch highlighted the political and melodramatic elements,[65][66] and Curtiz seems to have favored the romantic parts, insisting on retaining the Paris flashbacks. [140][141][142][143] Umberto Eco wrote: Thus Casablanca is not just one film. [48], Later, there were plans for a further scene, showing Rick, Renault and a detachment of Free French soldiers on a ship, to incorporate the Allies' 1942 invasion of North Africa. "[59] It was certainly impossible for Ilsa to leave Laszlo for Rick, as the Motion Picture Production Code forbade showing a woman leaving her husband for another man. When the colorized film debuted on WTBS, it was watched by three million viewers, not making the top-ten viewed cable shows for the week. The story of Rick Blaine, a cynical world-weary ex-patriate who runs a nightclub in Casablanca, Morocco during the early stages of WWII. [85], Particularly memorable is the "duel of the anthems" between Strasser and Laszlo at Rick's cafe. [157] (A newspaper article at the time mentions that Bogart and Greenstreet "will continue their characterizations from the first film, and it's likely that Geraldine Fitzgerald will have an important role".[158]). Filmed and set during World War II, it focuses on an American expatriate (Bogart) who must choose between his love for a woman (Bergman) and helping her and her husband (Henreid), a Czech resistance leader, escape from the Vichy-controlled city of Casablanca to continue his fight against the Germans. [136] Bright Lights Film Journal stated in 2007, "It is one of those rare films from Hollywood’s Golden Age which has managed to transcend its era to entertain generations of moviegoers...". Ilsa confronts Rick in the deserted café. Other colleges have adopted the tradition. They need the letters to escape to America to continue his work. For we sense dimly that the clichés are talking among themselves, and celebrating a reunion. Instead "Die Wacht am Rhein" was used. A German version of Casablanca with the original plot was not released until 1975. [159] Attempts to recapture the magic of Casablanca in other settings, such as Caboblanco (1980), "a South American-set retooling of Casablanca",[160] and Havana (1990)[161] have been poorly received. [133], In 1989, the film was one of the first 25 films selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". [102] However, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences stated that since the film went into national release in the beginning of 1943, it would be included in that year's nominations. The French subtitles on the official DVD read Weygand; the English ones specify de Gaulle. [94], On March 19, 1943, the film was banned in Ireland for infringing on the Emergency Powers Order preserving wartime neutrality, by portraying Vichy France and Nazi Germany in a "sinister light". [109], On the film's 50th anniversary, the Los Angeles Times called Casablanca's great strength "the purity of its Golden Age Hollywoodness [and] the enduring craftsmanship of its resonantly hokey dialogue". Laszlo starts singing, alone at first, then patriotic fervor grips the crowd and everyone joins in, drowning out the Germans. [118][119][120], Many subsequent films have drawn on elements of Casablanca. [39] Filming was completed on August 3, at a cost of $1,039,000 ($75,000 over budget),[40] above average for the time. The other characters, in Behlmer's words, are "not cut and dried" and come into their goodness over the course of the film. AFT completed the colorization in two months at a cost of $450,000. Casablanca had been my creation; Jack had absolutely nothing to do with it. Casablanca Schauspieler, Cast & Crew. He suggests to Rick that they join the Free French in Brazzaville. "[100] "Film is splendid anti-Axis propaganda, particularly inasmuch as the propaganda is strictly a by-product of the principal action and contributes to it instead of getting in the way. [180], A line closely associated with Casablanca—"Play it again, Sam"—is not spoken in the film. (uncredited), Moor Buying Diamonds [149] Sidney Rosenzweig argues that such readings are reductive and that the most important aspect of the film is its ambiguity, above all in the central character of Rick; he cites the different names which each character gives Rick (Richard, Ricky, Mr. Rick, Herr Rick and boss) as evidence of the different meanings which he has for each person. [146] It was this theme which resonated with a wartime audience that was reassured by the idea that painful sacrifice and going off to war could be romantic gestures done for the greater good. Der Film ist eine Parodie auf den Film Casablanca mit Humphrey Bogart und Ingrid Bergman aus dem Jahr 1942. [87][23], Very few films in the early 1940s had portions of the soundtrack released on 78 rpm records, and Casablanca was no exception. Warner Bros financial information in "The William Shaefer Ledger". Indirectly, it provided the title for the 1995 neo-noir film The Usual Suspects. Casablanca lost to In Which We Serve. The top-billed actors are:[17]. [126] In Casablanca, a novella by Argentine writer Edgar Brau, the protagonist somehow wanders into Rick's Café Américain and listens to a strange tale related by Sam.