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What Is The Film Casablanca About?

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Mark Westbrook Profile
Mark Westbrook answered
Murray Burnett's play Everybody comes to Ricks, was unproduced when Jack Warner paid $20,000 for the script. Philip and Julius Epstein developed Ricks into the movie script for Casablanca. Howard Koch finished the script when the Epsteins were tempted off to work on another project. The film was made during the Second World War.

The film concerns Rick (Bogart), an American with a shady past who runs a bar, in Casablanca, Rick is an anti-hero, a man unwilling to help anyone. At the beginning of the film, a German courier has been murdered and transit visa stolen, the papers are in Casablanca and find their way to Rick. Rick is holding on to them when a famous resistance leader, Lazlo turns up in Casablanca, with his beautiful wife Ilsa (Bergman), with whom Rich has had a past passionate love affair in Paris, before she left him waiting at the train station. Ilsa and Lazlo need the transport papers, but there is much unfinished business between Rick and Ilsa.

I'm not going to spoil the plot, watch the movie if you need to know the rest.

Universal themes of love, national pride, sacrifice, lost love and redemption, make the film something for everyone.

The music is amazing, the environment is perfect.

Famous lines from the film:

'Here's looking at you, kid'
'Play it, Sam'.

The American Film Institute named Casablanca, number 2, of the greatest American films of all times. Not bad for a film that only took a week to make. Possibly one of the greatest movies ever made.

Casablanca was invaded at the time that movie came out.
Bil Nutt Profile
Bil Nutt answered
Just to add to what Epictetus wrote: CASABLANCA was voted by the Screenwriters Guild as the number one best screenplay of all times.

I think this is for two reasons: The structure of the story is terrific, because right up until the end you're not sure what will happen. The characters are developed beautifully.

The other reason is the wit of the dialogue. Besides the two lines Epictetus quoted, I would add

"We'll always have Paris."

"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

"The Germans wore gray. You wore blue."

"I'm shocked - shocked..."

"It doesn't take a genius to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."

And my favorite:

"Round up the usual suspects."

The last 10 minutes is one of the best scenes in an American movie.

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