Casablanca (1943)

1) Released in 1943, Casablanca hit theaters during a seven-year period from 1940 to 1947 described by our Flashback text as a time where it was “almost impossible to make a studio film that lost money” (p. 182).  These were the years of World War II’s impact on Hollywood that saw a massive bump in ticket sales as people came in droves seeking escapism from the harsh reality of wartime. Michael Curtis’ film, starring screens legends Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, came at a time of great uncertainty in the war as to who the victor would be. Casablanca turned out to be “one of the happiest accidents of the studio system,” (p. 182) predicting a victory against Germany by way of the lead characters Rick and Ilsa’s triumph over the German Major Strasser. The film also carried a message that struck a chord with American audiences: sacrifice. Bogart’s Rick made the noble decision to let the woman he loved, Ilsa, escape Casablanca with her husband Victor, a Czech Resistance leader on the run from German military. At the time, Americans were also being called on to make “personal sacrifices for the war effort” (p. 182) during its bleakest days. The film brought to life real struggles occurring in places that seemed like worlds away to Americans. Set in Casablanca, the Moroccan desert city served as a gateway to the Portuguese city of Lisbon and freedom from German pursuance. The tension and stakes presented in the film showed a side to World War II not seen before. The seedy, provocatively dangerous facet of the war dealing with espionage. At the center of this story was the commanding Bogart, displaying a “heroic tenderness and stoicism” (p. 182) hidden beneath a classic tough guy shell. Bergman was the woman to pierce his shell, a strong and passionate heroine in her own right. Together, they led what became an unexpected American classic that resonated with audiences in a way rarely seen. Casablanca was effectively topical, and its climax was a much needed morale boost for moviegoers fearful of Hitler’s Germany.

2) Article URL: http://www.emanuellevy.com/comment/casablanca-cultural-impact-4

This article comes from the website of film critic Emanuel Levy. Its focus is the cultural impact of Casablanca and the legacy of 1943’s surprise hit. Levy opens by reaffirming the timeliness of the film in regards to the World War raging across the ocean. The film opened in limited theaters on Thanksgiving Day, 1943, just 18 days after Allied forces landed in Casablanca. Its general opening was January 23rd; right in the middle of the Casablanca conference of the Allied Powers. For audiences, Casablanca made a case for American involvement in foreign affairs that set a tone for the future. “No longer could America stand idly by and permit undemocratic evil to overtake the earth.” The film championed a theme of “personal commitment” that was already being adhered to by Americans during the zeitgeist of wartime patriotism. The Second World War brought politics into millions of lives that had no concern for politics before, and with it came a self-imposed obligation for America to be a factor on the global scene. Casablanca had the same effect, “waking up Americans” to a new era of American involvement. Humphrey Bogart’s line, “I bet they're asleep in New York–I bet they're asleep all over America,” drove this point of awakening home. The article then briefly mentions Casablanca’s wins at the Academy Awards, taking home three of its eight nominated categories: best picture, screenplay, and director. The surprise was that Humphrey Bogart did not win Best Actor, but compared to the performance that did win, Bogart’s Rick is far and away the more iconic and cherished film character. AFI has solidified the reputation of Casablanca by placing it in their top five American films of all time. The final bulk of the article focuses on the personalities of the film’s characters and how they influenced later generations, particularly young people of the 1960s. The article ends commenting on the many famous lines of dialogue heard in Howard Koch and the Epstein brother’s script.

 3) The most interesting part of the article for me was the explanation of Casablanca’s resonation with the disaffected of the 1960s. I see the 1940s and the 1960s as two very different periods of time and values; style and culture. Yet, Levy says the counter-culture movement in America “used films like Casablanca as road maps.” Young people saw the character of Rick as a kindred spirit. He was “Hollywood’s first rebel hero,” an outsider liberated from American society. His character, Levy believes, is the most innovative aspect of Casablanca. Rick not only became “the prototype for a new kind of Hollywood hero, but also the prototype for a new kind of American.” Rick was a ‘real’ American who had found himself lost in a hostile place and attempting to establish a new reality for himself. Counter-culture youth connected to Rick’s strong individualism and embraced the film as an “expression of their nonconformity.” They read into the film a message that their own rebelliousness was acceptable given Rick’s outcast heroics. The themes presented in Casablanca also caught the attention of the youth who could see parallels to their own culture. The principle of individualism carried directly over, but other themes were supplanted. The World War II political tension transitioned to Vietnam era turmoil. Rick’s escape to Casablanca became escape via use of mind-altering drugs. The casualness of Rick and Ilsa’s love turned to 1960s free love. Rick’s cynicism became the youth’s criticism of the United States government and a general mistrust of the older generation. Prior to reading this article, I would not have been able to link a World War II themed romance-drama to the restless youth of the turbulent 60s. It speaks to the power of the film that it can mean so many things to so many people. The older generation saw it as a film of hope at a time when we were fighting for our own freedom. This article showed that the younger generation that followed also saw hope in Casablanca, and a reassurance that being removed from society could not keep a person from making a difference in the world.

 4) Unlike previous films we’ve seen, Casablanca did not have the same sweeping, epic nature that Gone with the Wind and Citizen Kane had. The film was actually quite small; the plot compact. Enough to warrant a running time less than two hours. A disillusioned American bar-owner in Casablanca during the Second World War comes into possession of two visas and must decide whether to give them to his ex-lover, the woman he still loves, and her husband so that they can escape the clutches of the German military and continue their resistance activities against the Axis forces. There are much greater themes at play that elevated what should have been a small movie to an all-time American classic. Casablanca did not need the lavish sets or costumes of Gone with the Wind or the technical innovations of Citizen Kane, not that it was lacking, to be a great film. It had the immense benefit of a sharp, intelligent, sophisticated, and poetic script. A script that has earned itself study and praise from aspiring scriptwriters for generations to follow. The dialogue contained within is some of the best ever put to screen. “The language of Casablanca became a part of American language,” and its language was one of “toughness combined with sentimentality.” A style that Levy believes has even influenced the speeches of American politicians today, including recent presidents. Concerning the meaning of Casablanca, Levy proposes that the film is a “meeting point between America's search for machismo and America's ‘kinder, gentler,’ softness that always looks fondly to the past.” I like this interpretation. Despite all of Rick’s cynicism and cold demeanor, he really was a sentimental man running from his own broken heart. His forlorn character uttered some of Hollywood’s most quoted lines. “Here's looking at you, kid” is one of the absolute classics. “Play it, Sam” from Bergman’s Ilsa is another gem, though often misquoted with the incorrect addition of the word “again.” Holding on to Ilsa at the airport, Rick spoke “sentimental words beyond belief,” but he delivered them with the “stiffest of upper lips.” He said: “We'll always have Paris. The problems of three people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.” There’s a poetry to those words that is fundamentally American in how bluntly they are said. Humphrey Bogart delivered the performance of a lifetime, epitomizing the stoic male with a good heart. Ingrid Bergman brought her own charm and seductive nature, adding a special aura to the film. She complimented Bogart to the degree that they became “the very definition of screen chemistry.” Casablanca is a classic that’s also classy. There’s a magnetism to it that’s purely 1940s. It can never be replicated though it has often been imitated. It conjures a mood brought on by the amazing cast of actors and the memorable lines we still repeat today. That’s why it will remain beloved and relevant. Because of that feeling you get inside when you watch it. It’s something that’s only captured once in a great while. Truly lightning in a bottle.