Review of Casablanca (1943) by Jacob M — 26 Nov 2013

"Play it Sam. Play "As Time Goes By."".

Casablanca. The film that defined what it means to be a classic, winning Best Picture of 1943 and making actors Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman an overnight sensation. It's also an acclaimed masterpiece, ranking at #2 on the American Film Institute's Top 100 Greatest Films of All-Time, right behind Citizen Kane. Is Casablanca the acclaimed masterpiece that it deserves. Well, for someone who usually doesn't like heavy romantic dramas, the answer is a big fat yes.

In the early part of WWII, ex-freedom fighter Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) runs a café in Casablanca, giving hope to many refugees who intend to purchase letters of transit in order to get to America. Rick finds himself in a dilemma when he meets Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a rebel who escaped from Nazi concentration camps. Authorities, such as the French Capt. Renault (Claude Rains), want Rick to help them capture Laszlo and put him back to the concentration camps, but when Rick discovers that Laszlo is married to his former lover Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), Rick has to do some heavy thinking in order to get out of this situation.

Other stars in Casablanca include Conrad Veidt as German officer Strasser of the Third Reich, Peter Lorre as Ugarte, the one who provides Rick with the letters of transit, Sydney Greenstreet as Senor Ferrari, owner of Rick's rival café, The Blue Parrot, and Dooley Wilson as Sam, Rick's musical piano-playing friend.

Casablanca is one of the 85 films that have won Best Picture, and it's well-deserved. I'm never a fan of romantic dramas, but Casablanca, along with Gone With the Wind, has one of the best romantic love stories in film.

What makes Casablanca a great film is how moving the story is. It helps that the film was released during WWII, the time setting of Casablanca, and with all the fears of Nazi control, audiences were probably moved and it helped make Casablanca that more special.

The casting in Casablanca is excellent. Humphrey Bogart, in his first romantic role, is fantastic as Rick. Before Casablanca, he had done gangster films, and his transition to romantic lead was just amazing. Bogart had plenty of memorable dialogue and this is definitely his best role in his entire career. Ingrid Bergman, on the other hand, is delightful as Ilsa and makes great romantic chemistry with Bogart. Paul Henreid is also memorable as Victor Laszlo and the scene where he sings the French anthem in the Nazi-occupied café is very chilling and inspiring.

Casablanca also features very stunning black-and-white cinematography and the score by Max Steiner is fantastic. Besides the heart-wrenching score, there's plenty of great songs to enjoy provided by the Sam character. There's the catchy "It Had to Be You", the even catchier "Knock on Wood", and the moving and famous ballad "As Time Goes By", which has become the theme song of Casablanca.

Casablanca is a masterpiece, with a love story that really works, fantastic performance from Bogart and Bergman, stunning black-and-white cinematography, a phenomenal score by Max Steiner, and direction from Michael Curtiz that brings Casablanca to an all-time high. Casablanca is a true Hollywood classic, and will a remain a true Hollywood classic till the end of time.

"Here's looking at you, kid.".