FILM 2260: CASABLANCA (1942)

TRIVIA: In the famous scene where the "Marseillaise" is sung over the German song "Watch on the Rhine", many of the extras had real tears in their eyes; a large number of them were actual refugees from Nazi persecution in Germany and elsewhere in Europe and were overcome by the emotions the scene brought out.

Some years ago in a shop dealing with historical documents, a photo still from this film was found, showing Rick sitting at the chess board. Accompanying the photo was a letter from Humphrey Bogart to a friend in New York, indicating a specific chess move. The document dealer explained that the chess game in the movie was a real game Bogart was playing by mail with his friend during the course of filming.

Rick never says "Play it again, Sam." He says: "You played it for her, you can play it for me. If she can take it, I can take it so Play it!". Ilsa says "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By"'. The incorrect line has become the basis for spoofs in movies such as A Night in Casablanca (1946) and Play It Again, Sam (1972).

Director Michael Curtiz's Hungarian accent often caused confusion on the set. He asked a prop man for a "poodle" to appear in one scene. The prop man searched high and low for a poodle while the entire crew waited. He found one and presented it to Curtiz, who screamed, "A poodle! A poodle of water!"

Film debut of Joy Page. NOTE: She was the stepdaughter of studio head Jack L. Warner. She played the young Bulgarian wife. She, Humphrey Bogart and Dooley Wilson were the only American-born people in the credited cast.

In 2006 this film's script was named the best screenplay of all time by the Writers Guild of America.

Casey Robinson, who re-wrote the romantic scenes between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, was offered screen credit but turned it down because at the time he was only taking credit for scripts he wrote entirely by himself. By declining credit, he did himself out of an Academy Award.

The film had six quotes on the American Film Institute's list of top movie quotes, more than any other movie on the list. The quotes with their ranks are: (5) Here's looking at you, kid. (20) Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. (28) Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.' (32) Round up the usual suspects. (43) We'll always have Paris; and (67) Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.

Gone with the Wind (1939) and The Wizard of Oz (1939) came in tied for second place, with three quotes apiece (including the #1 quote for Gone With the Wind).

Rick and Ilsa standing over Sam's piano in Paris was the first scene to be shot. Filming a tender love scene with two actors who had just met was not planned, but the filming of Now, Voyager (1942) had gone over schedule, so Paul Henreid and Claude Rains were not available.

With the death of Madeleine Lebeau on May 1, 2016, there are no surviving members of the credited cast.

Humphrey Bogart was 5'8". At no point is there a close-up shot of his full body including the shoes he wore, which included inserts to make him look about six feet tall, nor the "seat" of any chair he sat in. They had pillows/pads on them to make him look taller at the table.

When Julius J. Epstein and Philip G. Epstein won an Oscar for their script, they became the first (and as for 2016 the only) Academy Award-winning twins.

The film is renowned for the international diversity of its cast and crew. Only three of the main players (Humphrey Bogart, Joy Page and Dooley Wilson) were American-born. Conrad Veidt and Curt Bois were from Germany, Peter Lorre from what is now Slovakia, S.Z. Sakall and director Michael Curtiz were from Hungary, Ingrid Bergman from Sweden, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet and editor Owen Marks from England, Paul Henreid, Helmut Dantine and composer Max Steiner from Austria, Madeleine Lebeau and Marcel Dalio from France, Leonid Kinskey from Russia, John Qualen from Canada (along with Warners chief Jack L. Warner). In addition, of the 93 uncredited extras, 71% were not American-born.

In the German version, the immortal line "Here's lookin' at you, kid", became, "Ich seh' Dir in die Augen, Kleines" which translates as "I look in your eyes, honey".

Due to its strong anti-Nazi themes, the film was not released in then-Western Germany until 1952, after the war was over. It was shown in a heavily censored version with all references to Naziism taken out; this version runs about 25 minutes shorter and characters are re-written via dubbing: Resistance fighter Victor Laszlo became a Norwegian atomic physicist who discovers mysterious delta rays and is on the run from Interpol, and several famous sequences, including the "La Marseillaise" sequence, were deleted. A re-dubbing and re-release in 1975 allowed German audiences to finally see the film in its original integrity.

The rear half of the movie prop plane that Ilsa and Victor flew out of Casablanca can be seen as plane wreckage on the Jungle Cruise ride at Walt Disney World.

The film is included on Roger Ebert's "Great Movies" list.

In 2007, the American Film Institute ranked this as the #3 Greatest Movie of All Time.

Was voted the 3rd Greatest film of all time by Entertainment Weekly.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

I’m making my way through the book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider. See my blog post about my copy of the book here…

You can buy an updated version (which I will get after I’ve made my way through this edition) here…

I really hope you can come on this journey with me – if you do I’d love to know which films you’ve enjoyed the most!

Watch this here…