A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.
- Won 3 Oscars
- 14 wins & 11 nominations total
S.Z. Sakall
- Carl
- (as S.K. Sakall)
Madeleine Lebeau
- Yvonne
- (as Madeleine LeBeau)
Abdullah Abbas
- Arab
- (uncredited)
Enrique Acosta
- Guest at Rick's
- (uncredited)
Ed Agresti
- Bar Patron
- (uncredited)
Arnet Amos
- French Soldier
- (uncredited)
- …
Best Picture Winners by Year
Best Picture Winners by Year
See the complete list of Best Picture winners. For fun, use the "sort order" function to rank by IMDb rating and other criteria.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMany of the actors who played the Nazis were in fact German Jews who had escaped from Nazi Germany.
- Goofs(at around 37 mins) When Rick is getting drunk he ask Sam, "It's December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?" After Sam replies, "My watch stopped," he goes on to say, "I'll bet they're asleep in New York. I'll bet they're asleep all over America." However, Rick is not referring to the actual time (noted by giving a month and year rather than a time) and is actually making reference to, in pre-Pearl Harbor America, most Americans are "asleep" when it comes to the war and fighting the Axis powers. This is an intentional attempt at a poetic reference, not a statement of fact.
- Quotes
Captain Renault: What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.
- Alternate versionsAs late as 1974, the references to an extra-marital affair were banned in Ireland. The Irish cut got rid of two important sequences. First, after Ilsa tells Rick that she had left him after finding out that Viktor was still alive, the embraces and dialogue that followed were cut. Second, the emotional dialogue at the end of the film from Ilsa's line "You're saying that only to make me go" to Rick's line "What I've got to do, you haven't any part of". This led to Irish audiences' being bemused by the relationship between Rick and Ilsa, and often interpreting Rick's final speech beginning "I'm no good at being noble" as a reflection on the debilitating effects of war.
- ConnectionsEdited into 77 Sunset Strip: The Secret of Adam Cain (1959)
- SoundtracksLa Marseillaise
(1792) (uncredited)
Written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
Arranged by Max Steiner
Played during the opening credits
Sung by Madeleine Lebeau and others at Rick's
Variations played often in the score
Featured review
Wartime Themes
Love and sacrifice during WWII underlie the story about a café owner named Rick (Humphrey Bogart), and his link to two intellectual refugees from Nazi occupied France. Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) seek asylum here in politically neutral Casablanca and, like other European refugees, gravitate to Rick's upscale café, near the city's airport, with its revolving searchlight.
Rick is a middle-aged cynic who also has a touch of sentimentalism, especially for people in need, like Ilsa and Victor. The film's story is ideal for romantics everywhere.
Much of the plot takes place inside Rick's café, an ornate nightclub with archways and high ceilings. Rick's is a gathering place for an eclectic mix of patrons, from locals to those who have arrived from countries throughout Europe. It's this deliciously international ambiance of Rick's café that renders this film so appealing, with a variety of interesting accents, clothes, and uniforms. And, of course, there's Sam, the piano player, who plays all the favorites, including "As Time Goes By".
All of the film's technical elements are excellent including the script, with its colorful characters, like the debonair Captain Renault (Claude Rains); and Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet), the articulate and portly "leader of all illegal activities in Casablanca". And a minor character that made an impression on me was the guitar playing female singer at Rick's (Corinna Mura), whose beautifully operatic voice was an unexpected delight in this smoke filled saloon.
The film's dialogue, though substantial, is clever and lively, like when Captain Renault observes Rick escorting an intoxicated woman out of the bar: "How extravagant you are, throwing away women like that; some day they may be scarce".
High-contrast B&W lighting renders a noir look. And that pounding score at the film's beginning is stunning; it evokes a feeling of far-off adventure.
"Casablanca" differs from traditional noir films, mostly as a result of its ending. Rick must make a choice between his own interests and the interests of others. The choice he makes enjoins viewers to a sense of courage and optimism, an individual's example of proper collective behavior in the war against Nazi Germany.
Rick is a middle-aged cynic who also has a touch of sentimentalism, especially for people in need, like Ilsa and Victor. The film's story is ideal for romantics everywhere.
Much of the plot takes place inside Rick's café, an ornate nightclub with archways and high ceilings. Rick's is a gathering place for an eclectic mix of patrons, from locals to those who have arrived from countries throughout Europe. It's this deliciously international ambiance of Rick's café that renders this film so appealing, with a variety of interesting accents, clothes, and uniforms. And, of course, there's Sam, the piano player, who plays all the favorites, including "As Time Goes By".
All of the film's technical elements are excellent including the script, with its colorful characters, like the debonair Captain Renault (Claude Rains); and Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet), the articulate and portly "leader of all illegal activities in Casablanca". And a minor character that made an impression on me was the guitar playing female singer at Rick's (Corinna Mura), whose beautifully operatic voice was an unexpected delight in this smoke filled saloon.
The film's dialogue, though substantial, is clever and lively, like when Captain Renault observes Rick escorting an intoxicated woman out of the bar: "How extravagant you are, throwing away women like that; some day they may be scarce".
High-contrast B&W lighting renders a noir look. And that pounding score at the film's beginning is stunning; it evokes a feeling of far-off adventure.
"Casablanca" differs from traditional noir films, mostly as a result of its ending. Rick must make a choice between his own interests and the interests of others. The choice he makes enjoins viewers to a sense of courage and optimism, an individual's example of proper collective behavior in the war against Nazi Germany.
helpful•181
- Lechuguilla
- Nov 28, 2007
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Everybody Comes to Rick's
- Filming locations
- Waterman Drive, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA(airport runway)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $950,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $4,219,709
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $181,494
- Apr 12, 1992
- Gross worldwide
- $4,656,207
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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![Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Peter Lorre, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Paul Henreid, and Conrad Veidt in Casablanca (1942)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BY2IzZGY2YmEtYzljNS00NTM5LTgwMzUtMzM1NjQ4NGI0OTk0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNDYyMDk5MTU@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,1,90,133_.jpg)