Catching a Classic in Casablanca (1942)

Today I decided to watch the classic of all classics, Casablanca. I figured it was a fitting way to end my B.C. vacation by having my memory of this famous film merged with my memories of the Canadian west coast. I was surprised to learn how short it was (only 1 1/2 hours), as I've gotten used to older films being very long. Luckily a shorter movie fits in with my tight schedule of packing and flying home today. (If you're curious, I'm writing this during the trip back.) The things I was most interested in concerning Casablanca was hearing some of the most famous lines in cinema used in the proper context of this famous flick, and also whether or not, as a first time viewer, it felt like it still held up after so many years. All of that and a dash more after the jump.


This is embarrassing to admit. Believe it or not, I was so clueless to this movie, that I didn't even know what "Casablanca" meant. For anyone out there also wondering, it's the name of a city in Morocco, Africa. In the film, it is one of the last French cities unoccupied by the Nazis. Many people head there to try to escape the encroaching German forces spreading across Europe, as there seems to be nothing stopping them. Rick Blaine, played by the ever cool Humphrey Bogart,  runs a saloon in Casablanca and has made a place for himself in this bustling place. The corrupt French police allow him to stay open because he lets the Captain win at the illegal gambling within the club. One day a couple, who have been on the run from the Nazis, come to Casablanca looking to escape to America. They've reserved a table at Rick's saloon to met Ugarte to acquire a pair of departure passes. But this is no ordinary night, and this is no ordinary couple, and it seems that Rick and the young woman, Ilsa Lund, have a history together.

Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine

While watching, I have to admit that I was kind of bored. It seemed like not much was really happening, and it was just people talking to each other in circular patterns to get these exit papers. However, what I found out later when I tried to explain the "simple" plot to my friend, was that it wasn't so simple after all. It took a surprising amount of time to explain all the relationships between the characters, and their connections to one another.

There aren't a ton of characters, but they all seem to have quite a lot going on, or they have various relationships with all the various other characters. Besides Rick, you also have Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), Sam the musician (Dooley Wilson), Captain Renault of the police (Claude Rains), Ugarte the pickpocket (Peter Lorre), a rival club owner Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet), and the visiting Nazi, Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt). While in most movies many of these characters would be the background supporting characters, there's actually a whole host of supporting roles on top of the ones I've mentioned. Even some of those have some little interesting thing going on too.

Rick, Captain Renault, Victor Laszlo and Ilsa, about to sit down for a drink together.

The thing I found the most interesting about Casablanca though, was that it was absolutely jam packed with some of the most famous lines ever.

"Here's looking at you kid!"
"Of all the gin joints, in all the towns,  in all the world, she walks into mine."
"If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."
"We'll always have Paris"
"I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

One line that I kept waiting the whole movie to hear, was "Play it again Sam." After all, the piano player was named Sam, and they already said "Play it, Sam". After the whole movie was done, no one ever said it. I found out after doing some looking, that the line "Play it, Sam" is one of the most misquoted lines ever in film! As weird as it was to hear that the real line is different from what I thought, in the end it just became an added snippet of history I wouldn't have known had I not watched this classic.

"Here's looking at you kid"

I originally had difficulty watching the movie, not only due to a lack of action, but also due to the rather thick accents and high rate of speech of many of the characters. Even so, I'm super glad I did get to see it. Reflecting back on the movie and realizing all the complex character relationships was a great moment. For me though, hearing all those famous lines was a priceless experience and even a little eye opening.

However, this is a hard movie to recommend. It's a classic, and it's cool to see Humphrey Bogart, but it really feels slow, and the romance felt mired by old film principles. It's definitely a classic, but if I'm honest with myself, it wasn't really "entertaining". In fact it felt more like a chore to get through that had extremely brief moments of "oh cool" when a famous line came up. I think this is just one of those movies that you'll have to decide for yourself if it's something you want to see. I'm glad I watched it, but I don't know if I'd ever watch it again except for some kind of classic film study.