Casablanca (1942) Review

To put it as succinctly as I can, Casablanca is one of the greatest American films that have ever been made and is, in my estimation, second only to Gone with the Wind.

In World War II Casablanca, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), self-exiled American and former freedom fighter, runs the most popular nightspot in town (everyone comes to Rick's). The cynical Rick comes into the possession of two valuable letters of transit, taken from two murdered German couriers by Signor Ugarte (Peter Lorre). When Nazi Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) arrives in Casablanca, the obsequious Captain Renault (Claude Rains) does what he can to please him, including hindering underground rebellion leader Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) from escaping to America. Much to Rick's frustration and disbelief, Lazslo arrives with Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), Rick's one time love, who ran out on him in Paris years earlier.

The screenplay (written by Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch) is possibly the best that has been written with Claude Rains getting the majority of the great lines (for example, "I like to think that you killed a man. It's the romantic in me." and "round up the usual suspects"). The lines have become so popular that when AFI did a list of the top 100 greatest movie quotes, Casablanca appeared on that list more (a total of six times) than any other film.

One thing you can look closely at is the cinematography. The framing of Ilsa deserves particular mention. By filming Bergman from largely the left side with catch lights, to lighten her eyes, Arthur Edeson manages to enhance the look of ineffable sadness that Bergman conveys in every scene she is in. It should come as no surprise that the performances in the film are pure perfection. Perhaps the fact that the characters are so relatable is why people attach themselves to Casablanca. Somehow, Bogart manages to have great chemistry with every other actor he appears with and not surprisingly Ingrid Bergman is perfect in this film. When wasn't she?

I'd love to give the film a four-star rating. However, I think that the film actually surpasses what my current rating system allows so I won't be assigning a star rating. This is not, I repeat, not a bad thing.

No Star Rating