CASABLANCA Movie Reaction (100 Movie Bucket List - #10)

CASABLANCA Movie Reaction (100 Movie Bucket List - #10)
Today's movie is Casablanca, a film released in 1942, directed by Michael Curtiz. It's said to be a romantic story, but I see it more as a story of selflessness and sacrifice. The lead protagonist, Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart shows that a person doesn't need to hold on to a grudge forever, and that's the main message I took from this story.
What a fun watch, full of great lines I've "heard somewhere before". I'm glad I finally got to see the source of SO MANY references I've come across over my life.
Thank you for watching!
Drop a LIKE, SUB & Share with a friend! Much love!
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DON'T CLICK THIS LINK UNLESS IT'S AN EMERGENCY!! - / @theotothefuture

[@Bozolisand]

"He walked into a spotlight with the letters of transit..." and then waited until the spotlight moved and he was in darkness before planting the letters in the piano.

[@melenatorr]

Ilsa is not a flip-flopper: she was married; she was "widowed" and fell in love; she found out her husband was alive and properly went back to him; she is caught in Casablanca and finds Rick by accident; her aim in going to him that first night is to explain, but he isn't hearing her. Then she is with her husband all the way through to when circumstances get drastic and she must get the letters to save Victor. She is desperate in that scene with Rick, and is trying many different ways to break through his callous self-pity. Then she explains the story to him, confesses she loves him, but also loves Victor, and doesn't know what to do, only that Victor must be free. She is then assuming that she and Rick will be together, and I think that Victor is also halfway expecting this. Please explain where and how in this Ilsa is flip flopping.

[@Dej24601]

Excellent analysis! Too many folks today are overlaying their own negative experiences onto her, and are not fully aware of the demands that underground wartime activities put on relationships. As Rick so eloquently says - the problems of 3 little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. The main goal of both Rick and Ilsa was that Victor be saved in order to continue his work in safety and benefit thousands of people in many countries. Audiences in previous decades were more accustomed to situations that were not simply right or wrong, good or bad but had nuance and ambiguity, and that there could be more than one answer or way of looking at a situation or relationship. History is filled with occurrences when someone honestly loved more than one person, for different reasons, and that it was complicated to figure out what to do.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

She’s not so much flip flopping as she is giving into romantic love and her feelings for Rick which she was suppressing since the moment she laid eye on him in Rick’s bar. The dialogue between Rick and Lazlo about Ilsa pretending to be in love with Rick isn’t covering for Ilsa. Rick is telling Lazlo, “I banged your wife last night”. It’s a subtle act of petty revenge that most people miss. Obviously the movie couldn’t include the sex scene between Rick and Ilsa, but it’s suggested. There is a cut between when Rick and Ilsa embrace and kiss by the window and when they’re cuddling on the couch. Ilsa’s hair is mussed. And most importantly time has passed. How do we know? The resistance meeting has ended and Karl and Lazlo are downstairs at the bar. Given the time this film was made, it was pretty obvious to the more sophisticated people in the audience that Rick and Ilsa were knocking boots. But because it was concealed, the more innocent audience members would get it.

[@Dej24601]

The woman playing guitar in “Rick’s” was an actual cabaret-style singer/musician, born in Mexico, and even performed 3 times for President Roosevelt.

[@billolsen4360]

Franklin, not Teddy. Right? 🙂

[@Dej24601]

@@billolsen4360 yes. Teddy died in 1919.

[@melenatorr]

"La Marseillaise" is the French national anthem, and that's what Victor is leading them them through in the sing off. It was tremendously important, and Yvonne and others in the scene, who were actually refugees from France during the Nazi regime, are truly feeling and crying through this. It is not a medley of different songs, it is one. The song itself dates from the French Revolution, and has its roots in violence, blood, rage and ferocious sense of identity.

[@mikeeckel2807]

You also hear it in the opening refrains of "All You Need is Love" by The Beatles.

[@melenatorr]

@@mikeeckel2807 Very true - it's really one of the best known and used of all the world's national anthems. (We also hear it as Rick and Renault walk off into the end of the movie). Listen to this round from recently departed Peter Schickele for the theme again: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fn6sl56bjZuqlbc (That's a bit of "The William Tell Overture" in there too). Peter Schickele was a teacher, composer and satirist. He created the existence of PDQ Bach, "the twenty-first of JS Bach's twenty children", and probably the worst and drunkest composer who ever lived. Schickele and PDQ Bach are both lots of fun and worth getting to know.

[@mephitismephitis6825]

The song that the Germans are singing is "Watch On The Rhine". It had its origin in the 19th century when germans feared that France would annex german territory. Ironic, isn't it?

[@strongdecaf3729]

Remember when Ilsa told her story of meeting Lazlo as a young girl "with a feeling she supposed was love." She cared for Lazlo, but she wasn't in love with him. Ilsa and Rick had romantic passion. And they sacrificed it to fight the fascists. "We'll always have Paris." 💔💔

[@raymeedc]

Yes, the couple of times he tells her he loves her, she doesn’t return the sentiment….. “Yes, I Know”

[@slimjimnyc270]

@raymeedc. Does that mean she's Han Solo? ;-)

[@raymeedc]

~ Not a Science Fiction guy, consequently don’t know the Hans Solo reference ~

[@stevemiller6923]

@@slimjimnyc270 No it means Hans Solo is her

[@theotothefuture]

true. looking at some peoples comments, I realized that it's not a viewer's first instinct to watch this movie from the perspective of the characters. due to the time and their environment, there were a lot of other things weighing on the choices they made.

[@nicks.5552]

14:19 “This movie is so iconic, it reverberates through people who haven’t even seen it.” Well said.

[@Dej24601]

Yes, the guy at the beginning with the “letters” is Peter Lorre playing ‘ Ugarte’ and the actor actually had to escape the Nazis in real life.

[@robertmaez6706]

He was also in the movie "M", a German(?) film as a child killer. Top notch, two tier plot and great cinematography.

[@user-tr9de6gm8k]

No one ever says, "Play it again, Sam."

[@Dej24601]

Director Michael Curtiz was well-known for his dramatic use of high-contrast black&white, unique lighting, and stunning shadows in his films. Costumes were selected to highlight those contrasts and take advantage of lighting techniques; notice the sparkly blouse on Yvonne at the beginning and the almost glowing white fabrics that both Ilsa and Victor wore (and the white fabrics also make sense to wear in a desert-like climate.) Black & white film allows the focus to remain on the characters and the world they live in, and to create a tone or atmosphere that can have tension, can convey anxiety, mystery and conflicts of emotions. Color would not add anything to the story or plot, and would remove some of the suspense and stress, it might look pretty, but that was not the intention.

[@markvargus6519]

Ted Turner invented a process to add color to old black and white films. It was used on Casablanca and the outcry was so loud that after just a couple of plays it was quietly placed in a vault to never see the light of day again.

[@Dej24601]

@@markvargus6519 yes, it threw the balance out of whack. Since shots were designed to highlight specific lighting, and costumes and decor were selected to show up properly on a particular b&w film stock, the fill and accent lighting which were used on faces and to showcase particular elements - the color that was added (which was mostly muddy, shades of purple, gray, mustardy yellow and other dull or murky tones) not only did not add anything, but it made the visuals less crisp, less clear, less defined, and very unattractive and destroyed the atmosphere of fear and desperation that runs underneath the characters.

[@kirkdarling4120]

The dialog is sparkling throughout this movie. What's remarkable is that the writers were still working on the screenplay even as they were filming. The actors got their sheets only the night before they had to film them. The actors didn't even know how the movie would end until the night before they shot the ending. As quickly as they wrote it, they wound up with the most often quoted movie of all time. And the lighting in this and other such movies was indeed beautiful. It's still inspiring to photographers. It also made me really, really want a white shawl-lapel tuxedo jacket. Captain Renault had an ongoing scheme of providing exit visas for women in exchange for sex (which everyone in the cafe knew), and he didn't care if they were married. That's what he had demanded of the young woman Aninna. She was asking Rick if Renault could be trusted to go along with the smarmy deal. Something I didn't catch for decades: Rick: "How did you get in?" Aninna: "I came with Captain Renault" Rick: "I should have known." Aninna: "I'm also with my husband." Rick: "Renault has become broad-minded." It was a great turn of plot that they made Lazo such a noble character that the audience wanted him to win as much as Rick. Yes the big-eyed guy, Peter Lorre, was indeed portrayed in many Looney Tunes shorts. Humphrey Bogart and other Warner Brothers actors also appear in multiple Looney Tunes cartoons. If you're going through the 100 Movie Bucket list, you're bound to cross The Maltese Falcon, which also stars Humphrey Bogart and Peter Lorre, as well as Sidney Greenstreet ("The Fat Man").

[@theotothefuture]

Oh my goodness. Thanks for the explanations! Geez some that captain was scummier than I thought, although a great character to watch. And it really shows to the talent of the actors because some of those line delivers felt like they had so much time to rehearse and get the emotions right.

[@markvargus6519]

@@theotothefuture The line "Here's looking at you, kid" that Rick says to Ilsa a couple of times came out of the fact that during some down times Humphrey Bogart was teaching Ingrid Bergman how to play cards and he often used that line with her during their card games. Someone suggested he use it in the film.

[@mephitismephitis6825]

@@theotothefuture You've gotten some of the best comments I've run across regarding this great film.

[@HassoBenSoba]

@@theotothefuture Claude Rains' performance as Captain Renault is one of greatest you will ever see on the screen. A great actor of the type that simply doesn't exist any longer.

[@joeculver9549]

Lazlo kept telling Ilsa he loved her and she never told him she loved him, where she told Rick multiple times she loved him.

[@Dej24601]

It is important to understand that Ilsa was a part of the Underground movement during the war years and those people were absolutely committed to maintaining their secrets. Her loyalty was to Victor, and to the cause, and abiding by his decision to keep their marriage secret, in order to protect everyone involved, so she could not tell Rick even if she wanted to. Go back and listen to the dialogue. During the war, what was considered most important - dedication towards larger causes - was changed from the explicit personal honesty which today is often considered more important. Obviously she was torn during the scene in the Belle Aurore cafe, which we find out later, was just after she discovered that Victor was alive. She wanted to tell Rick, but it was complex; no one was supposed to know that Victor had escaped, plus as she explains, she was afraid Rick might not leave Paris and then be arrested by the Gestapo. Cheating is when someone deliberately lies, and is unconcerned about the feelings of the people involved and is only focused on their own pleasure. None of those apply to this situation. This was truly a triangle - all 3 of them sincerely cared for the other two, and wanted what was best for the other two. None of the 3 were being selfish but also all 3 realized that their personal lives were secondary to larger causes and all 3 were able to make a sacrifice. People today are less likely to make sacrifices but during the war years, everyone made sacrifices of one kind or another. In 1969, a French director made a film about the French Underground (incorporating some of his personal experiences from those years, as well as the author of the book on which it is based) which is exceptional and very emotionally moving. The title is “Army of Shadows” and helps paint a picture of what was involved for those people as they tried to outwit the Nazi occupation forces in France. Highly recommended!

[@visaman]

He was to busy listening to his own voice to hear the dialog.😂

[@theotothefuture]

Fantastic point. Watching this movie this modern day sensibilities, it can be easy to misunderstand some of the choices that characters made due to the situation they were in. It makes Rick even cooler to me.

[@TedLittle-yp7uj]

It might be worthwhile noting that, in the Blue Parrot café, when Ilsa had the opportunity to go on alone without Victor, she rejected the offer in favour of loyalty.

[@Dej24601]

@@TedLittle-yp7uj yes, Ilsa and Victor were definitely committed towards one another.

[@melenatorr]

@@theotothefuture The great thing about this movie is that it stands up to many, many re-watches. Now you can go back and walk in the shoes of each of the characters and get to understand all of them. Now you don't have to worry about "Reacting" for us, and can relax and really watch and absorb what's going on. You won't be sorry.

[@mistakenot...4012]

The old Jewish couple are doing a very literal Yiddish to English translation; "What watch?" "Ten watch" "Such watch!" My grandmother's favourite of the many light hearted lines/gags in the film.

[@mosheshulman8305]

It's German, but also very funny. The word watch and time are the same zeiger.

[@mistakenot...4012]

@@mosheshulman8305 my bad.

[@wolfgangwolf6060]

The bug-eyed guy, Peter Lorre, was often caricatured in Warner Brothers cartoons because of his eyes and distinctive voice. You were right about seeing him in cartoons.

[@theotothefuture]

They really did a great job with his caricature for me to recognize him so fast.

[@TedLittle-yp7uj]

Remember too that Casablanca was also made by Warner Brothers and the cartoons often caricatured actors that worked for the studio.

[@adamwarlock1]

@@theotothefuture There's also a character named Ren, half of Ren & Stimpy, who is partially based on him.

[@joel65913]

Isla explained why she didn't tell Rick both why she didn't tell him she was married to Victor (it was Victor's way of protecting her since she knew so much about his work) and why she disappeared with just the brief note. Rick would have refused to leave her alone in Paris and would have remained to try and help her rescue Victor and since Rick was already on the Nazis enemies list that would have endangered them all. So for his own safety she fled without too much explanation. She wasn't cheating on Victor consciously, she thought he was dead and left to help him as soon as she found out he was still alive. As far as her uncertainty at the end. She loved, admired and believed in Victor and his cause but she was IN love with Rick. She was still desperate to help Victor get out of Casablanca (which is in Morocco by the way) to allow him to continue with his work. She felt that as long as he had that he had a purpose to go on. It was Rick that realized that Isla was Victor's strength and the pillar he leaned on to keep him going, something that she was too close to the situation to see. They were all good people trapped in extremely difficult circumstances.

[@Majoofi]

Great reaction. I would suggest you use the pause button when you have commentary, especially in these dialogue heavy classics, so you won't miss as many details.

[@theotothefuture]

thanks. appreciate you.

[@papercup2517]

@@theotothefuture It's such a dense movie, both in dialogue and visually, that it would definitely repay watching again, privately. I think if you do so, without the need to make a running commentary for the reaction video, you'll notice many details and nuances you missed the first time, along with some great jokes!

[@texasps91]

Talking through dialog with questions that would be answered just by less talking and by listening is really quite distracting. Makes it difficult to watch.

[@melenatorr]

Ilsa is in a terrible position: she CANNOT be honest: as she explains to Rick, Victor himself didn't want the marriage made known because it was so dangerous for Ilsa and the people they worked for. She can't tell Rick, in Paris, who the man was that she she loved and who is dead. By the same token, she isn't cheating: she's rebuilding her life with a man who is very much like Victor. There are dangerous, complicated swirls of politics and threats in her life, and others depend on her silence. If you don't understand this, of course you feel "jaded" toward Ilsa. But she deserves more sympathy than you're giving her. Remember too, that as soon as she learns that Victor is alive, she leaves Rick to care for her husband. Remember that at Ferrari's, she does not take the chance to leave Casablanca without Victor.

[@Dej24601]

If you re-watch, pay close attention to the maps shown at the very beginning; this will help place exactly where Casablanca is. It is the largest city in Morocco, right on the ocean and an important city of Africa.

[@auapplemac2441]

Humphrey Bogart (Rick) was a major actor in the 40s and 50s. Started in the 30s mostly playing gangsters and grifters, but after Casablanca, he became one of the top actors in cinema. He won an Academy Award for "The African Queen" in the 50s. We don't have many impersonators in entertainment today, but in the 50 and 60s they performed on TV and Clubs. These guys all did imitations of Bogart. Bogart, Cagney and a few others were the Imitators stock and trade.

[@virgiliustancu9293]

The policeman had promised the girl that he would give them a visa if she slept with him. So she asks Rick if the captain will keep his word and not tell anyone what the arrangement was. In the end, he will give them the visa for the money.

[@Dej24601]

The director’s name is pronounced “cur-TEEZ” and is from Hungary. During the film, he was involved in trying to get family, friends and colleagues out of Europe, away from the Nazis and to the US.

[@theotothefuture]

Oh man, I'm sorry. I heard the Google search robot say it and just copied it. Wow. He worked on the film at the same time? Some people are able to push through the most unbelievable challenges.

[@minnesotajones261]

Late to the party here, but this is my favorite film of ALL time. Every line is quotable! I truly think that Claude Rains (Captain Renault) steals the film from Bogie. And people forget, this was released in 1942, when the war was still on! No one knew who would win when this was in theaters. Just amazing...

[@melenatorr]

Casablanca is in Morocco (the narration does say this at the start of movie). Paris is the flashback with Rick and Ilsa. Interestingly, Sam gets a percentage of Rick's bar, which, for the time, is highly unusual. He is also a creative talent: remember he's playing on something of his own right before the flashback. He's played by actor/singer Dooley Wilson. Renault takes advantage of his position to hit on and sleep with women who are desperate for an exit visa. He has propositioned the young bride, and this is why she asks Rick about the consequences of her "doing a bad thing": if she sleeps with Renault, she gets the visa, but has cheated on her husband. Rick saves the couple from that by helping the husband, and this is why Renault teasingly says he'll be in the next night with a breathtaking blonde, and he'll be happy "if she loses".

[@stephenyoung3721]

A few dates to keep in mind. Lazlo is Czech. Nazi Germany annexed Czechoslovakia in 1938. Germany occupied northern France and Paris in June 1940. Germany installed a puppet government in southern and colonial France in Vichy. They were nominally independent. Casablanca is supposed to take place the week before Pearl Harbor. So Rick has been without Ilsa for 18 months.

[@herbalgerbil]

The film had an international cast with only 3 actors from the states.

[@JamesLachowsky]

Casablanca was a city in Morocco which at the time was a colony of France. At the time of the movie, the Germans had overthrown the government of Paris but Morocco was still neutral territory. Many people trying to escape the Nazis were able to travel to Morocco but travel from there was very controlled. The letters of transit signed by General de Gaulle could not have been questioned by anyone.

[@wilsoneric796]

I tried to watch this with you but the reason you are slightly confused is you won't shut up and watch the movie.

[@ronwells2986]

Thank you! Couldn’t agree more.

[@robertantonides]

I agree , he missed some of the best lines in the movie because he couldn’t shut up ! ! !

[@tonyjanney1654]

I'm a big fan of the movie and have seen it dozens of times. Each time, I pick up some nuance that makes the movie even better. I just realized something new when Ilsa was telling Rick why she didn't meet him at the train station. I always thought it was simply because of loyalty to Victor, who was sick and needed help. Rick asks why Ilsa didn't tell him. Ilsa responded "Because you would want to help and the Gestapo would catch you." ( Catch you-not Victor. And we know Rick was on the Gestapo's "Black List") Ilsa didn't tell Rick because she was protecting him. She knew he would be willing to help Victor and Rick might sacrifice himself to facilitate Victor's escape. She couldn't risk his death. So she let him go on without him. She loved him so much so was willing to let him go, so Rick would live, even if she and Victor were caught.

[@theotothefuture]

Nice catch!

[@KamramBehzad]

I love your analysis there.

[@user-DrJoe-Future]

The police captain was exchanging Exit Visas or "Letters of Transit" for sex. It was pretty clear if you watch the movie. They gave you another hint right after Laszlo and Ilsa left the Police Captain's Office when the Captain was told by his staff that "another Visa Issue Came Up," and he went to the mirror to straighten out his tie. The girl was just married 8 weeks ago. Rick paid for their Visa so she would not have to submit to the Captain for an Exit Visa Also, it was Ugarte (Peter Lorrie) that killed the German Couriers for the Letters of Transit. So he could not possibly be Victor Laszlo who is looking for Ugarte who has the letters of Transit he needs. You are doing too much talking and reacting and not enough watching and listening to the movie to know what's going on. Ilsa Lund wanted to talk to Rick when they met, but her husband did not want her talking to strangers or even know they were married (No Questions). It was too dangerous if the German's knew her connection to Laszlo, if he was dead or alive. She met Rick, they spent significant time together in Paris, and she fell in love with him. Who wouldn't? Then she found out her husband was alive and made the right choice to help her Husband. At the end, she was really in love with Rick, and he was covering for her. But Rick knew she must go with her husband, as important as he was as leader of a European-wide anti-Nazi underground movement. The movie is very compact and fast movie only 102 minutes. However, they packed more beef into that 102 minutes than some 2.5 - 3 hour movies I have seen. So you must pay attention or you will miss much.

[@jwoodard29]

Wonderful, passionate reaction to one of the best films of all time.

[@billolsen4360]

Yeah, Theo's more enthusiastic than most movie-lovers.

[@sparky6086]

The policeman, Captain Renault, was issuing exit visas in exchange for sex, & the young newlywed was asking Rick, if Captain Renault would actually give her exit visas for her & her husband or just f*ck her, then not give her the exit visas. Everyone working in the club & it's regulars knew, this was the sleazy scheme Captain Renault played, so that's why everyone was happy that Rick came through for the innocent girl by insuring her husband won enough to oay for the exit visas, & why Captain Renault (Louie), told Rick, that he had a "beautiful blonde" lined up & hoped, that Rick would let her lose. He didn't want Rick "interfering in his little romances". If you'd listened to the dialog, instead of talking over it, you might have picked up on it, but maybe 2024 audiences are much more innocent than 1942 audiences?

[@artbagley1406]

The very short scene of Major Strasser racing to the airport, blowing the car's horn maniacally, reminds me so much of the Wicked Witch flying on her broom to stop Dorothy.

[@malimal9191]

‘Casablanca’ is renowned and is justly acknowledged as one of the most romantic films of all time but it is much more than the tale of a love triangle. Of course, it shows that the power of love can affect the human psyche, as demonstrated by Rick’s metamorphosis, but, actually, the film is one of the most subtle pieces of propaganda ever made. Made in the bleakest times of WW2, this film has so many levels to it that it takes many viewings to appreciate them. The main theme is not romance but self-sacrifice as its message to the world at war is to give up the personal agenda for the common cause. It reminds wartime audiences, many of whom have loved ones fighting abroad, that their situation is the same as that of Rick, Ilsa and Victor. Rick’s initial selfishness, (‘I stick my neck out for nobody’ and ‘the problems of the world are not in my department…’), is a metaphor for USA indifference. It must be remembered that the events and politics are harder to comprehend and put into perspective for current audiences than for those living through WW2, not knowing who the victors would be. The script can be considered as a 'State of the Union' address, both for home and foreign policies, in which there are references to Civil Rights, as embodied in Sam, and, of course, the debate about America’s involvement in the conflict. Basically, the film is politically motivated because it is a plea to America to join the war. Please note that the action takes place in pre-Pearl Harbour, December, 1941. The screenplay is so intelligently written. It is a masterpiece of complexity, containing subliminal political opinions and messages all carried along on a thrilling plot with brilliant one-liners and memorable quotes, together with comedic elements and contemporary, social commentaries. Even the support actors make major contributions to the enjoyment. Michael Curtiz’s direction is multi-faceted: Documentary, Film Noir, German Expressionism, Flashback etc. He is the master of creating the plot via seamlessly connecting a series of rapid-fire vignettes. There is subtle direction and cinematography. For example, Ilsa wears black and white clothes and is cast in shadows and in a mirror which symbolise the ambiguity of her role. POINTS OF INTEREST AND NOTES FOR SUBSEQUENT VIEWINGS. This is the the first non-musical movie to use music almost as an another protagonist, (which Tarantino does now). For example, ‘As Time Goes By’ is a valuable recurring theme and, in Paris, Rick and Ilsa dance to ‘Perfidia’ which means untrustworthiness. Also, ‘Love for Sale’ is played during the dialogue when the Bulgarian girl tells Rick about her ‘offer’ from Renault. Each character represents a country e.g. Two Japanese plotting; the Italian on the tail of the German; American indifference; French collaborators; the British robbed by foreign policy. Even the Balkan problem , (still ongoing), is mentioned via the Bulgarian couple. Quite evidently, Rick’s actions symbolise the USA in its change in policy from isolationism to participation and ‘….the beginning of a beautiful friendship…’ is the USA and Europe joining forces to fight Nazism. The significance of Letters of Transit is a metaphor for the might of America’s power and resources and must be delivered to the right side. Victor often tells Isla that he loves her but she never reciprocates, except for saying ‘ I know’. She tells Rick she loves him several times. The ‘La Marseillaise’ scene is the pivotal moment in which both Ilsa and Rick realise that saving Victor is more important than their own personal relationship. It also comes in just as Rick and Victor are about to argue over Ilsa but both drop the issue when they hear the music. This scene is rousing now but imagine how it must have felt for audiences right in the middle of the war when Germany seemed invincible and modern viewers need to put it in perspective in terms of world events full of Nazi and Japanese domination and when the outcome looked very bleak. The facial close-ups used throughout the film speak a thousand words: but particularly note Ilsa during ‘La Marseillaise’ when her expressions eventually show her admiration of Victor’s power and her realisation that this must be preserved at all costs. There are also many ‘adult’ themes which escaped the censors: one example is the scene between Rick and the Bulgarian bride in which Rick suggests that Renault’s ‘broadmindedness’ hints at underagesex/ménage a trois. Another is Rick’s and Ilsa’s last tryst in which it is clearly implied that they have made love. POINTS TO WATCH ‘It’s December, 1941 in Casablanca: what time is it in New York?... I bet they are asleep all over America’. PEARL HARBOUR ‘Even Nazis can’t kill that fast’ CONCENTRATION CAMPS ‘I don’t buy or sell human beings..’ CIVIL RIGHTS In any case... there is so much alcohol!!!! On this note, please watch out for glasses knocked over and glasses set upright… The Bulgarian couple keeps appearing many times as a symbol of hope and determination. In the bar room fight over Yvonne, Rick attacks the German only and not the Frenchman. Captain Renault dumps the bottle of Vichy water to represent his rejection of the Nazi- collaborating French Government which was located in Vichy. Just one example of the excellent and complex scriptwriting occurs immediately after the roulette scene. The girl thanks Rick for letting her husband win and Rick replies, ‘He’s just a lucky guy’, which, on the face of it, refers to the gambling, but, in Rick’s mind, means that the husband is ‘lucky’ because his partner truly loves him. Please imagine what hope the dialogue must have projected when Ilsa states that she’ll wear the blue dress again when Paris is liberated. Nobody then knew when this would be. The quotes from the film are now embedded in popular culture and are mostly said by Rick. However, Captain Renault has some of the best lines: e.g. when asking Rick why he had to leave America, he says, ‘I’d like to think you killed a man: it’s the romantic in me’ ; a gunshot to his heart would be his ‘..least vulnerable part..’; when told where the Letters of Transit were hidden in the piano, ‘’…it’s my fault for not being musical…’: on making the bet with Rick, …’make it 10,000 - I’m only a poor corrupt official…’ The end-product is a combination of superb screenwriting/ direction/acting and every other production aspect combined with a modicum of unpredictable luck. As I’ve said, ‘Casablanca’ requires multiple viewings and gets better with age and even its theme song, ‘As Time Goes By’ serendipitously reflects this!!

[@jnagarya519]

Peter Lorre was a great actor. His breakout role was in the amazing German film "M". If you'd LISTENED, you'd have learned that his character's name is "Ugarte".

[@theotothefuture]

lol thanks for the comment. i guess you remember every character's name the first time you watch a movie. i wish i could be as talented as you.

[@jnagarya519]

@@theotothefuture I've seen it many times. And I grew up long ago and the actors are all known to me.

[@perrymalcolm3802]

One of a very few movies that gets better with every viewing! “The Usual Suspects” movie got its name from this.

[@strettoasino9006]

A news reel, A cartoon and a great film.... that's a evening..

[@KamramBehzad]

Watching many reactions like this made me go search KZbin for Ingrid Bergman interviews. I am 58 now in 2024. This movies was made when my mum was not born and my dad was 3 years old - same age as my grand daughter now. Ancient movie. But I found Ingrid Bergman fluently spoke many languages. And she comes across as such an intelligent and informative person. You forget how beautiful she is on the outside and see how beautiful she is on the inside.

[@andrewdavid9412]

No CGI, no blatant sex, no pronouns, just brilliant writing and amazing story telling.

[@jeandoten1510]

I enjoyed your reaction, but I recommend that you watch this movie over again because you missed a lot of the great dialog. They were singing the French national anthem the Marseillaise, which the Germans had forbidden to be sing in the French occupied territories on pain of imprisdionment or even death. Also, most of the extras in that scene were French refugees. Those were real tears on the face young woman who shouted Vive la France.because her homeland was occupied; the movie was made in 1941 US had not yet entered the war. The actor who played Major Strasse was a famous actor who fled from Germany to the US with his Jewish wife and who agreed to play the role only if it was written to portray Strasse as a heartless brute. The staging and lighting by director Michael Curtiz is legendary. Seriously, watch it again, this time seriously. And yess, Peter Lorre did show up from time to time in Looney tunes. You might enjoy seeing him in the classic dark comedy Arsenic and Old Lace. And Captain Renault iwas played by the versatile Claude Raines--look him up and you'll see a whole string of very good films.

[@texasps91]

Thanknyou...too much talking over dialog.. Way too much. Why watch the film talk over a lot of it missing so much that post after post having to explain all the misunderstood due to talking over it

[@davidschecter5247]

One of the best screenplays ever written. Every single line is a gem. Love your comparing watching it to watching The Beatles' movie. So true!

[@Bozolisand]

"Why is everybody so invested in what he did for those two people?" Really? Because they watched him let Ugarte be taken away and murdered. They know INSTANTLY that this means he's back to being a caring human being.

[@richardzinns5676]

In the battle of the songs sequence, the song that the Germans are singing is the "Wacht am Rhein," a patriotic German war song from the Franco-Prussian war which understandably became popular again during both world wars. But it was popular with the general public, not with the Nazis, who discouraged patriotic songs, other than the national anthem, that were not specifically and explicitly pro-Nazi. The studio would have liked to use the Horst Wessel song, the Nazi anthem, but it was still under copyright, and they would have had to pay royalties to the Nazis, so that was out and they used the Wacht am Rhein instead, even though in real life it is unlikely that a group of dedicated Nazis like Strasser and his men would have been singing it. The movie constantly drives home the point about Renault's shamelessness: calling himself a "poor corrupt official," telling Strasser that he "blows with the wind," openly selling exit visas for money or sex, closing the bar on account of illegal gambling at the same time that he is accepting his winnings, and announcing that he hasn't quite decided whether Ugarte "committed suicide or died trying to escape." All of this sets up for his final act of breathtaking shamelessness: telling his men, right after he has witnessed Rick shooting Strasser, "Round up the usual suspects."

[@thomastimlin1724]

While talking over the dialogue when the Police chief closed the bar and said "I'm shocked to find gambling is going on here" you missed the funniest line in the movie ...the guy comes up to him, hands him some money and says "Your winnings sir" and Chief says "Thank you very much."

[@charleslatora5750]

We're no angels. Comedy with Bogart. Outstanding.

[@futuregenerationz]

The police captain was helping the young girl in exchange for some 🌮.

[@theotothefuture]

Another comment made me realise that. Captain was a great character to watch but scummier than I thought haha

[@melenatorr]

@@theotothefuture Renault is extremely honest about that: "Make it 10,000. I'm only a poor corrupt police official."

[@Bozolisand]

"Is she trying to get his opinion on the police officer?" 1. Renault told her she could have two exit visas if she fucked him. 2. She doesn't know if he'll keep his word. 3. Renault sent her to Rick to vouch for his word.

[@amileoj9043]

The first dude (Ugarte, aka the Looney Tunes dude--good eye!) is Peter Lorre, Hungarian-American actor who was, yes, massively famous for his often unscrupulous or even twisted characters. He made his mark originally in Austrian/German theater and film. But Lorre had Jewish ancestry and, like many of the film's cast members, the rise of the Nazis forced him to flee continental Europe for the safety of the UK and eventually the US. Dude number two (Captain Louis Renault) is Claude Rains, famous British-American character actor. His morally equivocal character is the perfect embodiment of the "unoccupied" part of France that was at the time of the filming still nominally independent but in actual fact a client state of the Third Reich and so indirectly (soon enough to become more directly) under German control. This was also known as "Vichy France" -- which is the significance of Louis chucking the bottle of Vichy Water in the trash at the end (Vichy was famous for its waters and being the capital of the collaborationist "unoccupied" French state). Louis and Rick deciding to become patriots and go off to join the Free French (that is, anti-Nazi, anti-Vichy) garrison at Brazzaville (in the then French Congo--a historically accurate detail) is more or less a metaphor for part of the eventual alliance that helped defeat the Nazis, after the US shed its isolationist policy. Hence the meaning of Rick's earlier line "I bet they're asleep all over America." The ending, especially Rick's last minute conversion and Lazlo's "welcome back to the fight," is meant to be the wake up call.

[@angieday5183]

On Ilsa's character, these were extreme times and circumstances. She's in a bad spot. She's partially willing to leave Victor in order for him to get to the USA

[@gibsongirl2100]

Rick and Yvonne didn't have a "relationship" per se - he sees women casually and doesn't like being pinned down - if you listened to their conversation you can hear him say yesterday was too long ago to talk about and tonight's too far ahead to plan - not exactly together.

[@HenryCabotHenhouse3]

I suggest you go back and re-watch the "Shocked, shocked" scene without talking over the joke or you will never get why people today still say they are "shocked. Shocked!" to find the obvious. Also, most people don't realize that the time-frame of the movie (not the flashback) is the first week of December, 1941. This gives poignancy to Rick's musing about what time it might be in America and how they are all asleep. We know that the end of the week (the coming Sunday, Dec. 7) will be the American's wake-up call. At the time, France was divided into the Occupied (northern France) and Unoccupied (southern France and northern Africa) under the co-operating government in Vichy. This is why it is significant the Louis drops the bottle of Vichy water in the trash at the end. Louis didn't rat out Rick at the end because he hated the German too. His ending "Round up the usual suspects" is why everyone understood that none of the line-up in the film The Usual Suspects was going to be one of the guilty. When you go back and watch the film again, and one must, notice the use of light and shadow. Rick Blaine is mostly half lit (either side lit or with shadows crossing) while Victor Lazlo is brightly lit and the Germans are dimly lit or in shadow. This is a hint at the moral character of each. This film is a master class of film-making. Ilsa married Victor very young and possibly never really loved Victor. When she thought he was dead she did fall in love with Rick, perhaps her first love, which is why the melodrama here. The girl and her husband are the first we see ("maybe we'll be on the plane tomorrow") and repeat several times through the film. She is seventeen and is used to show that Louis is using his position and women's desperation for an exit Visa to trade sex for Visas ("There is a blonde coming in tomorrow night and I would appreciate it if she loses"). Casablanca is on virtually everyone's Top 10 of All time list. So, Shawshank got you in the feels? Watched The Green Mile yet?

[@gibsongirl2100]

The young couple represent, in a way, all the refugees trying to get out of Europe and to America. If you'd been listening more carefully, that was explained in the beginning. Renault uses his power to sleep with women who can't come up with the money or get their hands on exit visas. The young married woman was asking Rick if he thought it would be so bad if she did just that so that they could get out.

[@hollytooker507]

Ilsa didn’t cheat! She thought Victor was dead.

[@IAMCAVE]

Obviously home boy hasn’t ever felt real love.

[@rickc661]

A true great - 'Casablanca, the comedy ' my 2 fave backstories - the 'drunk lady Yvonne'. and the Casino boss were in real life married , actual refugees thru Lisbon as mentioned in flick. 2. the young 'Romanian Girl' mid film with Her husband playing roulette - the daughter of Warners studio boss. - 'daddy I want to be in a movie' . contrast , desperate and mega rich, deep in the depression.

[@DelGuy03]

Casablanca is unequalled in terms of the number of famous quotations it contains -- actually they so entered popular culture that some of them aren't even perceived as quotes, they're just idiomatic expressions. (Like "here's looking at you, kid," "beginning of a beautiful friendship".) In art in general, maybe only Hamlet matches it in that respect. Dooley Wilson played Sam, and this is surely his #1 movie moment. He was an actor and singer -- but not a pianist; his piano playing had to be dubbed. You're right that Peter Lorre was often caricatured in old cartoons; many of us, like you, were taken by surprise when he first showed up as a real person here! He and Sydney Greenstreet (the large gentleman who bought Rick's cafe) were popular supporting players in that era; they both turn up in another classic movie starring Humphrey Bogart (Rick), The Maltese Falcon.

[@theotothefuture]

Right, for instance, I didn't even catch "beginning of a beautiful friendship" as originating from this movie. I just thought it was a thing people said (even before the movie). Yea, Dooley's voice is amazing. I've already had his version of As Time Goes By added to my playlist. I love that the cartoons I grew with referenced movies like this. Makes me feel like there's been a part of classic like this with me since childhood, and that's a good feeling.

[@DelGuy03]

@@theotothefuture Interestingly (to me at least), "As Time Goes By" was already a decade old when it was used in the movie (so it wasn't eligible for an Oscar). It had been written for a forgotten stage musical, and was only a modest success in terms of recordings. So it zoomed upward in popularity when it was used so memorably in Casablanca. And the film's official composer, Max Steiner, was unhappy that the studio wanted to use the song -- he thought he should have been allowed to write one himself. (To be fair, he could write good ones.) But, being "stuck" with it, he did weave it cleverly into the underscoring, and did a lot to make it so memorable.

[@Dej24601]

@@theotothefuture another famous phrase is “The Usual Suspects” (as in “round up the usual suspects”) which was used as the title for the Oscar winning 1995 film.

[@wolfgangwolf6060]

A few things to add to your enjoyment of the movie when watching it again. From multiple viewings and thanks to KZbin comments I've learned some interesting things. The man who is shot in the back at the start of the film had papers with the cross of Lorraine on them. This was a symbol of the French resistance to the Nazis. The cross of Lorraine is also on the ring that is shown to Victor Lazlo. At the end Capt Renault tosses a bottle of Vichy water into the trash. Vichy was the city that the Nazis had set up their puppet government. Also, the underage girl asking for Rick's advice is wondering if Renault will really give her exit visas if she has sex with him. Due to the moral code in movies at the time she could not come out and be blunt about it so you have to read between the lines.

[@jnagarya519]

"Rick" = Humphrey Bogart. "Ugarte" Peter Lorre' "Renault" = Claude Raines. "Ilsa = Ingrid Bergman.

[@jnagarya519]

The film was a mess in the making -- during it Ingrid Bergman was lobbying for a role in a different, more important film. And it was one of 50 made by Warner Bros. that year, so not considered anything that distinguished itself. It won Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Director.

[@parsifal40002]

Laslo was a leader in the resistance movement against the Germans. "Big eyed" was played by Peter Lorre, well known actor during the 1940s and 1950s. Sam was played by Dooley Wilson. He actually couldn't play the piano he was was a drummer. He faked playing the piano. Rick was Humphrey Bogart one of the greatest movie actors in the 40s 50s. Bogart is one of my favorite movie actors.

[@thomasoa]

The key to understanding this movie in its time is that it was made during wartime, and all Hollywood movies during the war were propaganda. This movie was made in the year after the attack on Pearl Harbor, which got the US into WWII. The movie is explicitly set in December, 1941, the month of Pearl Harbor, and Rick represents American resistance to sending young men again to Europe to die. "I stick my neck out for no one" is Rick's version of the American isolationism. There is a lot explicit in the dialogue, and, as you noted, Casa Blanca means White House. It is a weird American war propaganda, in that it is saying, "We've known we should have done this for a while, and we had our reasons for resisting, but now, it is time for us to stick our necks out again." This movie is one of the greatest examples of propaganda ever made. (I don't mean "propaganda" as a performative term.)

[@charleslatora5750]

Claude raines. He played Prince John in the Errol Flynn movie adventures of Robin Hood. That's where I first saw him as an actor. He has lots and lots of great movies and I hope he appears in more of your top 100 because he should

[@igaluitchannel6644]

For the women, they used to put a fine gauze over the lens. That's why they seem to glisten and be blemish free.

[@theotothefuture]

Ooooooh! That's an awesome little fun fact!

[@billolsen4360]

Appreciate that your adding a touch of class to the KZbin Movie Reactors fraternity with the necktie & dress shirt...these days people don't dress up in business attire enough except the bad-news-boys like IRS Agents, Lawyers and Funeral Directors.😁 My dad landed with Eisenhower's Army on the beaches of Casablanca, Morocco in November 1942. He said there were no swanky cafes in Casablanca when he & his buddies went searching for watering holes. 5:19 Actor Peter Lorre was a big character actor in the 40's. You'll like him in "The Maltese Falcon" (1941) also with Humphrey Bogart and Sidney Greenstreet, who's Senor Ferrari. I don't think Senor Ferrari would fit in a Ferrari, do you?? 29:50 The customers are outsinging the Nazis with the French National Anthem. 31:03 DUDE! You just missed the best laugh line of the movie!

[@francoisevassy6614]

Thank you so much, I share you enthusiasm, I love the way you involved yourself in the drama and how you pointed the beauty of the lighting. I enjoyed you knew so many lines. If you want to see good other films with these actors, may I recommend : • Humphrey Bogart (Rick) : African Queen - his only Oscar • Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa) : Gaslight - her first Oscar • Claude Rains (Capitaine Renault) plays the sweetest psychiatrist in Now Voyager where you’ll meet again Paul Henreid • Paul Henreid (Victor Lazlo) sweet in Now voyager but a dirty Kraut in Night Train to Munich • Peter Lorre (Urgate) fantastic vilain in M and very funny in Arsenic and Old Lace. You should also watch a cartoon called Carrotblanca 😅 Greetings from France 🇫🇷

[@stratiogesdux]

You're on the nose with Arsenic and Old Lace. Lorre's iconic soft threatening voice and demonic chuckle(?) are well displayed.

[@markvargus6519]

Loved to watch this reaction. You went in cold and the discovery of the whole tale clearly impressed you. There is a reason that this is considered to be one of the best ever by so many people. It was well acted, well written and shot by someone who understood how to use light and shadow to enhance the tale so much. One thing to understand is that this movie was made in 1942 and had a lot of references to events that were very current to the time. Today most Americans think that World War 2 starts with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, but the reality is that Germany first conquered Poland in 1939 (and had largely absorbed Chechaslovakia before that time. Victor Lazlo was reported to be in Prague when it fell, so he would have been captured around March 15, 1939 when the city fell to the Germans. Isla and Rick were in Paris shortly before June 14, 1940, which was the day that the German army entered after France surrendered. Based on the way the flashback plays out Rick and Sam escaped just 1-2 days before the Germans entered. The city of Casablanca is in Morocco, which is a nation on the south side of the Meditterranean Sea. Back in the 1930's and through the 1950's France controlled Morocco as well as Libya and Algeria. When Germany conquered France in 1940 they forced the government to sign a treaty that gave the north half of France to Germany and left the rest of France under the "Vichy" government. The government was infamous for its mostly inactive posture for the rest of the war, although many French citizens fought against the occupation. The one character who revealed a secret in his ring was displaying one of the best known signs of the Resistance. The main part of the movie is supposedly set in the first week of December 1941, so just before the attack on Pearl Harbor and 18 months after Rick was stood up by Ilsa without understanding why. So that sets the timeline for the movie and explains most of the events you didn't get. The story was built around what was actually happening and tried to show how things might have been back then for many of the people involved. As for actors/characters, the actor you remembered due to his being spoofed on Looney Tunes was Peter Lorre. He was a well known actor at the time and often played characters much like you see here, a less than honorable grifter. His distinctive voice made him very popular in some kinds of stories. The police chief Louis Renault is played by Claude Rains, another famous actor who won much acclaim for his ability. If you pay a lot of attention he's not happy to support the Germans, but his ability to stand up to them is extremely limited due to the terms of the surrender and the fact that Germany had military in the area and he could expect no support from anyone. He also is openly corrupt and rather honest about his corruption. Glad to see you enjoyed the film overall. It truly is perhaps the best movie ever made. It definitely is one of the most quotable.

[@theotothefuture]

Beautiful comment. Thanks for the info. This movie must be SO MUCH better to someone who actually understands the history. Speaks to how good the film is to have resonated with someone who is ignorant to it like me.

[@cliffchristie5865]

I'd hesitate to call this a fantasy. And yes, Peter Lorre has been parodied more than once in animated cartoons. Dooley Wilson (Sam) was no musician, and you don't have to look too close to see that he's not really playing the piano. As for Captain Renault, more than one reactor has proven to be surprisingly naive regarding his motives. To put it bluntly, his side hustle is to provide exit visas to attractive young women if they sleep with him. Like the young wife who asks Rick if Renault will "keep his word" regarding such an arrangement.

[@tekay44]

peter lorre was drawn in the cartoons a lot. just a great character actor. wonderful movie

[@garethbrown9191]

"Our Dancing Daughters" with Joan Crawford, the silent film that launched Crawford to stardom,

[@davidintel]

To me, the greatest actor ever, in the greatest film ever.

[@tranya327]

If you want to watch a film from a very talented filmmaker who has a great love for 'Casablanca,' watch "Play it again, Sam" from 1971. Written by and starring Woody Allen (with Diane Keaton, his long-time female lead). It was a rare film in that he wrote and starred in it, but did not direct it. He weaves a whole lot of 'Casablanca' into the new character's own story, and he writes the ghost of Humphrey Bogart extremely well! •••• Some of the other commenters maybe were a little crude, but I agree with the substance of their advice: There's a fine line in a reaction video: If the reactor has no reactions at all, he seems 'dead' and the KZbin audience didn't get part of what it came for. If the reactor reacts too much, he steps on the dialogue and misses either important jokes or important reveals. (I once saw a reaction video in which the reactor looked away from the screen at a crucial moment during "The Empire Strikes Back," TOTALLY MISSING the reveal of the back of Darth Vader's skull, revealing that Vader is horribly injured, underneath the mask.) Since the KZbin audience is here, partly to see you react to crucial moments of the film that the audience knows is coming, if you miss those moments, then again, the audience doesn't get part of what it came to see. I and others think you missed too much of the important moments, by talking over crucial bits. Obviously, the film is worth your watching again. For future films, I'd offer a variant of others' advice: consider pausing the film, every 2nd time that you want to react or comment (or if your verbal response will take more than three seconds). You're likely to miss less of the film this way. (It's also true that reactors pausing the film can occur too much, and the audience wants to yell at their screen, "GET ON WITH IT, ALREADY!" As with many things in life, a fine line. :)

[@jvlw2001]

Sorry… I also loved watching you recognize and appreciate the cultural references. I can’t wait for your next one!😊

[@StevePaur-hf4vy]

You have a good eye. Peter Lorre, who played Ugarte, was one of the most imitated actors in Hollywood in the 30's, 40 and 50's. His debut in the film M, in which he portrayed a child killer in Berlin, typecast in mostly sinister and creepy roles. Although he was small in stature his voice and likeness made him one of the spookiest actors of all time. He was often caricatured in cartoons of the day especially in Looney Toons stable. Warner Brothers studio owned Looney Toons and therefore they were allowed to use the likeness' of actors who belonged to Warner Brothers.

[@jayarr961]

I am sure other have mentioned this - the actor is Peter Lorre pronounced LOR followed by the letter A. He was an Iconic actor in tons of movies. And yes that was him who the cartoon character was based on.

[@lisathuban8969]

Dude, someone must have burned you badly. There's some walls up with you, bro. A little counseling can help. I'm definitely speaking from unfortunate experiences of being cheated on here, BTW, and feeling just like you do . BUT, ya gotta heal those scars to be a better mate for the next person. Without vulnerability and communication, it's hard to have a healthy partnership. Ilsa didn't "cheat". She honestly thought her husband, who she did love and respect, was dead. You may note, she didn't pivot to another dude in an instant, either, it was months before her thinking she was a widow and meeting Rick. True, her feelings were not the same as for Rick, but no love is really ever the same. They all have different plusses and minuses. She could not tell anyone she married to Laslo or really was with him either. The Nazis would have taken her and tortured her for information, and she could have gotten Laslo and other people killed. As for being manipulative.... well, if you knew someone you cared for was going to be killed as a martyr by the Nazis, maybe you'd also shed a few tears also as you begged for the papers to save him. This film is kind of like a psychology test. I've seen people "get it" right off the bat. Ilsa does NOT act like the sort who lies or plays games. She's like that from the start. Then I see people such as yourself who, until Ilsa goes into detail about her motives, think she's scum, even though she seems well-mannered and is with a man in great danger, thereby putting herself in danger as well. Ilsa didn't need to flee Paris like Rick and Laslo did. She could have just chilled there. But, she was loyal to her husband, even though it made her a fugitive who would very likely get thrown into a concentration camp. That should tell you something without telling you something.

[@Steve-gx9ot]

ItWasWorldWar2!!!! Do you Realize that it Still shapes the world we live in TODAY??????

[@jnagarya519]

If you'd been LISTENING you'd know who Laszlo is.

[@theotothefuture]

damn, youre so right.

[@frankcastle9991]

Probably the best movie ever .

[@jvlw2001]

Thank you so much for sharing your reaction! I’ve really enjoyed your enthusiasm for this movie! Please watch more real classics. I would ask you to keep in mind that the dialogue is everything in these types of dialogue-driven movies. When you talk over the dialogue, you miss so much important information. I would like to suggest that when you talk, please pause the movie so you don’t miss the dialogue. You talked and laughed right over some really important information and good punch lines. I look forward to seeing more reactions from you!

[@lsbill27]

You're going to have to watch it again because you talked over some great stuff.

[@hannejeppesen1809]

Captain Reneult would give the Bulgarina couple exit visa's if she slept with him. Rick knew that, and let her husband win so she didn't have to lower herself.

[@tomwhistler9772]

That "guy that carried the movie" was Humphrey Bogart, one of the greatest actors of the 20th century. You really shoul watch this movie again, but this time actually shut up and listen to the incredible dialog.

[@rickc661]

Yea, I would NOT want to watch any good flick for the first time under these circumstances... just takes the film experience totally away, to me. has to be a semi dark room, biggest screen possible, decent stereo / H'phones....

[@theotothefuture]

LMAOOOO some of y'all are so impolite. its hilarious. thanks for the comment.

[@frankcastle9991]

The shadows are like props the lines on ilsas face like prison bars. There’s a great video deep dives into Casablanca by Ebert explains the making and everything on KZbin .

[@KamramBehzad]

There is an interview with Ingrid Bergman which you can find on KZbin. She is asked (this I believe is in the 60s, so 20 years after the movie) if You were Ilsa which man would you rather have gone with and she says I would have gone with Rick.

[@hannejeppesen1809]

Ingrid Bergman was beautiful in this movie (a fellow Scandinavian, she was Swedish, I'm Danish), she is glowing from the inside, not a lot of make up and no plastic surgery.

[@AndyMakesPlaylists]

@theotothefuture, I highly recommend that you watch the Alfred Hitchcock movie classic "Notorious," which features, in addition to Cary Grant, two of the actors in this movie: Ingrid Bergman (who plays Ilsa here) and Claude Rains (who plays "the French dude" Captain Renault). It's fantastic! #theotothefuture

[@paintedjaguar]

Yes you really should, "Notorious" is one of Hitchcock's best.

[@dasc0yne]

Peter Lorre WAS drawn in those Warner Brothers cartoons. They were lampooning the actor.

[@katwithattitude5062]

The song the crowd was singing was "La Marseillaise", the national anthem of France which is why Victor requested the band play it. Do yourself a big favor and watch the movie again and this time actually listen to the dialogue.

[@theotothefuture]

name checks out

[@keithzatkalik5805]

He was drawn in cartoons

[@samuelmoulds1016]

it soooh difficult to enjoy your reactions with you continuing to 'talk over' the movie. I wish you 'good luck' in your future movie reactions.

[@theotothefuture]

Thanks 😎

[@jrepka01]

Looney Tunes often parodied famous actors, not just Peter Lorre, but Bogart and Sydney Greenstreet as well. At this time Paris was occupied by the Nazis, and the French government had fled and set up shop in the south with a capitol at Vichy. They had an "unofficial" agreement with the Nazis that they would not depose the Vichy government if it collaborated. So French Morocco was technically independent and neutral, but in was defacto run by Germany. Renault represented that government, bowing and scrapping to the Gestapo while claiming to be a French national. But what the movie is really about is sending a message to America that it couldn't stay neutral about the war in Europe. Many of the secondary cast as well as several of the primary cast were refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe -- those were real tears being shed by the actors singing La Marseillaise. Up to this point the US was dominated by isolationist sentiments -- there was even a pretty organized pro-nazi movement in America throughout the 30s, even into the 40s. Rick starts out as a cynical character who is willing to do what is required to live a comfortable life, and his character was written to represent that attitude in America at the time. The change in his attitude late in the movie comes from the realization that it is necessary to sacrifice his comfort and his love for Ilsa to stop the world he lives in from coming to an end. He sells the cafe, presumably thinking that he'll end up in prison for helping Lazlo escape, but since Louis chooses to cover for him, the two of them walk off into the fog intending to join with the French resistance and actively fight the Nazis. At the time it was shot, America still had not entered the War, but it was released just about the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. America declared war on Japan the next day, and Germany almost immediately declared war on the US a few days later. The quotability of Casablance is off-the-charts. Watching this movie, if a turn of phrase sounds familiar to you it's because this movie launched it into the popular culture. There are two movies, right off the top of my head, whose titles come from Casablanca: The Usual Suspects and Play it Again Sam (a deliberate misquote of the movie line). "We'll always have Paris" and "Here's looking at you, kid" are both the titles of dozens of songs, books, and TV series episodes.

[@theotothefuture]

It's crazy the amount of shows I can rewatch and see Casablnace references with new eyes. Also, I like how movies of this time were not only well written/performed, but they tried to send a message. Maybe modern movies of today send a message too, but the messages of old, I don't know, felt like they held more weight.

[@im-gi2pg]

I love your pen microphone! There’s a guy I’ve been watching who uses a paint roller as his microphone!

[@meganlutz7150]

Enjoyed your reaction. I think women in the forties come across as beautiful because femininity and class and elegance was actually a thing. Just my opinion. Hope you watch more old classics !

[@randyhodges8782]

This was a lot of fun. Yeah, that's Peter Lorre in Looney Tunes and he's a great actor. Scene stealer. Never seen a bad performance.

[@hannejeppesen1809]

As for the songs, first the Germans start singing a nationalisk song, and then VIctor Lazlo get them to play The Marsielle's which is the French National anthem.

[@rabbitandcrow]

Nice one! And great intro!d And, yes, Casablanca means "White House" - it's a real city, but it also alludes to America's neutral position before the war before Pearl Harbor. The movie was already being made before the US entered the war. And good observation about black & white - if you can't light well in black & white, you're not going to be able to cover it up using color, although people try.

[@JFinSD2]

Watch the movie. Pay attention to the dialog. It will be all become clear.

[@randyhodges8782]

I suggest The Maltese Falcon. Starring from this movie, Humphrey Bogart (Rick), Peter Lorre (Ugatre), and Sidney Greenstreet (Ferarri).

[@hannejeppesen1809]

Gambling was legal in Casablanca at that time.

[@BarnDoorProductions]

What the heck is playing in Rick's bar (on the German side) is the Horst Wessel song, which celebrates the first person killed in defense of the Nazi ideology. It's a vile piece.

[@greggmaclean6036]

Filmed in WW2.