Marval Movie

"You must remember this, a kiss is still a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh." 

Of all the movies, in all the countries, in all the world Casablanca will always be considered one of the greatest. There are few that can transcend the time in which they were made and based in and be able to connect with you beyond the simple details and truly make you and the screen one.

The movie opens with a news reel telling us the important details about our situation. It is the nineteen forties, World War II is in full swing, many people throughout the world are fleeing to America (then still neutral), only it cannot be reached through normal routes due to the war, so people have to work around the main coast to the Moroccan city of Casablanca, where there is a chance of them getting a plane or boat ride. Next we learn that "letters of transit" have been stolen, the police round up suspects.

Then we enter a kafe simply titled "Rick's", inside music is played by a spirited musician named Sam (Dooley Wilson), drinks are served to civilians and soldiers and a good time is had. The camera guides us through before we meet Rick himself. The first thing we see of Rick (Humphrey Bogart) is him signing a check "OK Rick" then playing chess. The chess was Bogart's idea, he was a very enthusiastic chess player and preferred it over poker because "You can't cheat at chess." The signing of the check shows that he is the man in-charge and the chess decision serves as so much more, it tells us that Rick is a thinker and a planner, something that we will see later.

Humphrey Bogart was the purest example of a screen legend, his years of regular drinking and smoking had granted his face real and distinctive lines and his eyes conveyed all the glittering emotion and passion that lurked within a very caring heart. His voice was purely him, no other actor had that Bogart voice, others would imitate it in the years to come but it all started with the original.

Rick is then joined by Signor Ugarte, played the the always delightfully weird Peter Lorre. He tells Rick that he has to keep something safe for him in the club, letters of transit, he has a buyer coming to the club tonight. Rick obliges but its not long before Ugarte's actions catch up with him and is taken away. Now Rick is stuck with the letters. Even though Lorre is only in the movie for roughly five minutes he is always remembered.

As we see Rick maneuver around his kafe and deal with business he is being pursued by a French woman, Yvonne (Madeleine LaBeau), here we can see what kind of a man Rick is and the lines come back later on. Only through repeated viewing do you truly grasp all of the wonderful touches and hints about the depths of these characters. He then gets into a conversation with Sigor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet) that is interested in buying Sam but Rick tells him "I don't buy or sell human beings." Ferrari represents the corrupt in Casablanca, while Rick does what he can to remain a decent human being (at least in terms of business) Ferrari fully embraces the black-market dealings.

Another such character is Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), a French officer very comfortable in his position. Renault is welcoming a new German Major to Casablanca, Strasser (Canrad Veidt). Later at Rick's Renault tells Rick that Victor Laszlo is coming to Casablanca. Victor Laszlo is some kind of freedom fighter that speaks out against the Germans and sparks rebellions wherever he goes. The Germans plan to trap him in Casablanca, but the plot thickens when we learn he needs two papers of transit because he's traveling with a lady. Rick isn't that invested in the news but Renault thinks that there is more to Rick than that, so the two make a wager, Renault's money on Laszlo not escaping and Rick on him getting away.

And on the same night Laszlo (Paul Henried) and the woman in question do indeed enter Rick's. And the lady is Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), while she walks through the club one worried look Sam gives her is all we need to know that the two have met before.

At Ilsa's request Sam comes to play and he obviously has a gripe with her. She asks him the "Play it once for me Sam" he acts like he doesn't know what she means, she names the song "As Time Goes By", he claims not to remember it, so she hums it for him. And then he cannot resist and simply has to play it, then she says "Sing it Sam" and he is still powerless against the urge.

This scene always moves me. This is one of the most flawlessly executed scenes in movie history. The masterful cutting between Ilsa, Sam and then we see Rick enter the kafe and how he recognizes the song and what it means to him. And when he sees Ilsa and she sees him it's like they were both hit by a lightning bolt.

"And when two lovers woo, they still say I love you." 

As Ilsa says "There's still no one that can sing As Time Goes By like Sam." Indeed, Dooley Wilson was in fact a drummer, not a piano player, but he was hired for his unique singing voice and none have ever been able to match his sincerity. Even Sinatra comes off less emotional by comparison.

Max Steiner wanted to write an original song for the movie, for the simple reason that it meant he would have gotten more money. But Ingrid Bergman was so keen to get off the set of Casablanca and onto her next project (For Whom the Bell Tolls) that she wasted no time in cutting off her hair. So re-shoots were out of the question and all they had were her saying "As Time Goes By" and her listening to Dooley Wilson singing it. So what was Steiner to do? Be a professional and work with what he had. He very skillfully worked the song into the main theme. Strange because no other song is so perfect for the movie and its themes.

Ingrid Bergman (just like Bogart) was another true example of a screen legend. She was very beautiful and able to inject all kinds of nuances into her performance. Like the way she would hold a glass or even though when the scene called for her to be still she would still give a performance of what was going on under the surface. A nice little fact is that she was mostly shot from the left side because that was considered her "good side", I think she looks good on either side but you can't argue with results.

When they sit down the earlier scene with Yvonne becomes something new altogether, when they talk Rick remembers the dress Ilsa was wearing when the Germans marched into Paris. It shows the kind of man he was and who he is now.

One of the great pairings in movies was Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. They just have chemistry together. Chemistry between actors is like love, you can't really describe it but you know it when you see it and they have it here. They never worked together before or would after, but we got to see them together once and that's enough.

Almost by exact contrast Bergman and Henreid have little to no chemistry. They really do seem like people that have been paired together and now have to read lines to one another. But in context it works. If you believe the romance is more one way, on Laszlo's side, then it means that Ilsa stays and supports him because she inspires him to go on and continue with his work.

When the club closes and Rick is left alone and only Sam remains. Rick unwinds by getting thoroughly drunk and remembers when times were different. We are taken back to when they first met in Paris and the pure love that these two had for each-other.

According to the AFI film list of 100 greatest movie quotes Casablanca is the most quotable movie of all time. It didn't get the number one spot, that goes to Gone with the Wind, but no other movie is on the list as frequently as Casablanca. I would have to agree that Casablanca is indeed one of the most quotable movies ever, I can't think of a script where I can constantly remember, have seen parodied and can apply to real life situations as these lines. Lines like "We'll always have Paris", "Play it Sam", "Of all the gin joints, in the towns, in all the world. She had to walk into mine", "Here's looking at you kid" and others still. Fun fact: that gin joints line was apparently improvised by Bogart.

The most incredible thing about the movie is that just like its characters, nobody wanted to be there. This was just another movie that Warner Brothers was making at the time. The screenplay was based off an un-produced play and everyone who was there wanted to be somewhere else. It really was a total accident of a magic formula.

So Laszlo and Ilsa have to find a way out of Casablanca but there seems to be no way without the letters of transit. But after they get the news Sigor Ferrari tells them that he does not know but suspect that the letters of transit are with Rick. 

I never realized before, and apparently neither have a great number of people either but the movie has a huge plot hole. It wasn't until I watched the movie with Roger Ebert's commentary that the letters of transit don't make any sense. Even if such papers would exist in real life then the Germans would simply revoke their power. But this only shows the effectiveness of the movie. There are problems or inconsistencies in any story ever told, what holds it together or makes the audience look past them are the emotional connections. The letters of transit are indeed a MacGuffin, but we don't care because of the characters that are working towards them.

Finally Rick puts it all together. As Ilsa says, he has to think for both of them. So he pulls it all off, he makes Renault think that he's turning Laszlo in so him and Ilsa can get away while at the same time making Ilsa think that she will be leaving with him. As he tells her it will be easier to break the news at the airport, that's true, but it is her who he'll have to break it to.
It's a famous Hollywood legend that Ingmar Bergman didn't know who she would be leaving with at the end of the movie because the script wasn't finalized, even while they were filming. Well sorry, as good a story as that is its impossible. Back in the early forties the censors would have never allowed a married woman to leave with another man. But it is possible that she didn't know who her character was suppose to be truly in love with, so there's still that.

Ilsa of course doesn't want to abandon the man she truly loves but as Rick tells her that what they have or even will have doesn't mean anything to all the work Laszlo will go on to do and she is a part of that. "The problems of two people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

Major Strasser catches up to them at the airport and is about to call the guards to shoot the plane down or something before Rick, warning him at every point to step away from the phone, guns him down. Fun fact: in the trailer you can hear Rick shout "Alright major you asked for it!" but it is left out of the movie. The guards quickly arrive on the scene and Renault tells them that the major has been shot and to "Round up the usual suspects."

Another one of the great things to the movie and probably the part that makes is so widely appealing to everyone is that in the end everyone is redeemed. Everyone who is bad has a moment of redemption that turns them to the good side. Ferrari tells Ilsa and Laszlo who might have the papers of transit even though "It cannot possibly benefit me", Renault lets Rick go free and will be his companion for the next part of his journey. The only one who doesn't is Major Strasser and for his commitment to evil he doesn't make it out in the end.

The plane takes off with Ilsa and Laszlo in it, off to do good work somewhere. Rick has won the wager with Renault and as they walk off together he says that the winnings will cover their expenses. As they walk off Rick remarks "Louie, I this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

So the two lovers are separated again, to meet at a different time, never again, or both meet with tragedy? Who knows, but the next step is there for them to take. The end but also the beginning.

There are other movies that change on repeated viewing. The movie doesn't really change of course, its you, but through your changing you can see a movie entirely differently. Something that was once charming is now purely naive, what was once a simple story can become a grand masterpiece. But with Casablanca, even with all the analysis and hype around it, even after all the parody's of its material and the many times that I and you will watch it "It's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, a case of due or die. The world will always welcome lovers. As times goes by."