Unarguably one of the very best films in Hollywood
history, CASABLANCA is set in French Morocco just before the
start of World War II. Humphrey Bogart plays Rick, the nightclub
owner who has refused thus far to take sides with the French
resistance or the newly-appointed Nazi officials. He's his usual
cool, collected self until a ghost from his past walks in on the arm
of the most wanted man in the resistance. The woman is Ilsa (Ingrid
Bergman), his lost love from Paris who never made it onto the train
with him.
Since then he's managed to suppress the emotional scars
of jilted love, but finds himself drinking alone that night, pondering
the reason why, "of all the gin joints in all the cities in all the world,
she had to walk into mine." No one tells him that if she hadn't there
wouldn't have been a movie, but the Paris past of Rick and Ilsa and
her reasons for staying behind are what drive the movie, along with
the exit visas Rick has in his possession that are the only chance
of Ilsa's man, the resistance leader, to get out of Casablanca
safely.
Repeated viewings add a lot of poignance to the early
scenes, not just in putting the intricate, slowly-unfolding plot in
big picture perspective, but in fully appreciating the reunion of
Rick and Ilsa in his nightclub and understanding why Rick comes
storming out to stop Sam the piano player (Dooley Wilson) from
playing "As Time Goes By" after Ilsa requests it. The song, for
anyone who's seen CASABLANCA, is symbolic of so much of
the movie's meaning that it will be forever identified with
CASABLANCA, even though it pops up in a great many other
romances, including SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE.
In the end it comes down to the age-old love triangle
scenario. Bergman is still in love with Bogart but feels obligated
to support her husband, while Bogart is in the situation of being
in control of the destiny of the man who is married to the woman
he loves. The ending is one of the most famous and memorable
in movie history, and just about any line of dialogue is quotable.
CASABLANCA is a wonderful, must-watch film from the Golden
Age of Hollywood, one of the few movies that has actually
improved with age and demands repeat viewings.
Copyright © 1996 Andrew Hicks
