Madeline
Casablanca goes down in history as one of the greatest films ever made. When discussing the ultimate and greatest old fashioned romance films, this film will almost always be the first to be mentioned. Watching this film is a must watch for any movie lover. As I have recently been watching more classic movies, it only made sense to include Casablanca into the mix.
Premise of Casablanca
The story of Casablanca takes place during Nazi occupation of France. Many people are attempting to escape France by crossing the Mediterranean into Northern Africa, going as west as they possibly can, to Casablanca, Morocco, and then up to Lisbon, Portugal, where they can escape to America. But because Casablanca is also French territory, the Nazi has also occupied it as well and a traveler must get a travel visa to get to Lisbon. And that is where “Rick’s Cafe Americain” comes into the story.
A majority of this film takes place in this cafe owned by Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart, an expatriate American who has found himself in Casablanca, Morocco after the Nazi occupation of Paris. This cafe has drinking, gambling, and famously has petty crooks, including Ugarte, played by Peter Lorre of “M” fame, who can provide visas to cross into the neutral land of Lisbon for escape. The Moroccan police have turned a blind eye to these occurrences of selling illegal visas. Until Captain Louis Renault, played by Claude Rains, warn that they will not allow it for someone who is expected to come into the cafe to look for a visa, Victor Laszlo, played by Paul Henreid.
When Laszlo finally does come into the cafe, he is not alone. He is joined by his lovely wife, Ilsa, played by Ingrid Bergman. It would be simple for Rick to shut down Laszlo’s request for a visa, except he knows Ilsa. As the story unravels, not only does Rick know Ilsa well, but when he escaped Paris he planned to escape it with Ilsa, but in a split decision decided to leave her behind. Being reunited with his love causes a lot of feelings to boil up, making the decision to allow his love to escape safely with her husband a difficult one.
The Famous Lines
Regardless of having seen Casablanca or not, the famous lines that appear in media is endless. It seems as though every other line in this film is one regularly heard outside of this film. For recognition sake, here are just a few of the famous lines from this film that are regularly heard:
- “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
- “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.”
- “Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
- “I stick my neck out for nobody!”
- “We’ll always have Paris.”
- “Round up the usual suspects.”
- More
Final Thoughts
Casablanca is the star studded, old fashioned romance film with numerous quotes and awards galore. It received multiple Academy awards including outstanding motion picture. Since its release in 1942, it is still regularly referenced eighty years later, and for that reason alone it is worth the watch.
