I have never been involved in the making of a film, but I suspect that teamwork plays a significant role in the creation of great cinema. At the end of every film, there is a list, typically of 25 or 30 names, of artists who contributed to the film’s creation. Each artist makes some contribution to the film, and probably any one of them could be a negative influence on the finished product.
The following are some of the terms that have been used to describe the film “Casablanca” — “the most romantic film ever made,” “the best film to come out of a Hollywood studio ever,” “more of an icon than a film,” “seems to have been filmed under a lucky star.”
So many things could have gone wrong in creating “Casablanca” and yet all of them were avoided. Supposedly being rewritten on a daily basis before the script was completed, the three key roles are played by Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. At some point before filming, Ronald Reagan, Ann Sheridan, and Dennis Morgan were considered for these roles. Another trio at one point considered to play the three leads were George Raft, Hedy Lamarr, and Herbert Marshall. Perhaps the film was made under a lucky star.
I wonder how many people involved in making the film believed that Humphrey Bogart could play the romantic lead. I don’t think any work that Bogart did in film prior to “Casablanca” would encourage many to imagine Bogart as a romantic lead. I think of Bogart in his 1930s films as portraying a gangster while playing second fiddle to James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson.
I cannot think of any other film that uses music so effectively as it is used in “Casablanca.” The music and lyrics to the song “As Time Goes By” are so central to “Casablanca” that the song is almost as central to the film as the plot and characters. Max Steiner seemed to be in charge of film music at Warner Bros. Studio. He did not like “As Time Goes By,” and so he wrote another song he wanted to use in its place. That plan did not work out, so Steiner eventually inserted “As Time Goes By” throughout the film, in both the love scenes but also in the action scenes.
I have mentioned many of the things that might have gone wrong in the making of “Casablanca” in order to emphasize how creating a great film involves teamwork. I hesitate to go into details about the plot because I don’t wish to reveal the ending. I will just mention that the characters portrayed by Bogart (“Rick” Blaine) and Bergman (Ilsa Lund Laszlo) were engaged to be married as the Second World War was raging. For some reason unknown to him and to us, she deserts him. This causes Bogart to become a complete cynic. In one scene, he announces, “I stick my neck out for no one.” A few years later, with the war still raging, “Rick” and Ilsa meet, seemingly by chance, and at this point, she is married to Victor Laszlo, a well-known hero who has been battling the Nazis throughout Europe. This character is played by Paul Henried. Now Victor seems to be stuck in Casablanca, and Bogart is in possession of some letters of transit, which are the only way that Laszlo can escape from Casablanca to continue his mission battling the Nazis. Even though she is married to Lazlo, Ilsa is still in love with “Rick.”
What role, if any, will “Rick” play in trying to help Laszlo escape from Casablanca, and if he does help him, will that mean that the love relationship between Rick and Ilsa will be terminated? I find the closing scenes in the film exceptionally well written, well directed, and well acted. The film’s ending is extraordinarily moving and powerful. It is so good that I would describe it as “unforgettable.”
The following is from the concluding paragraph in the essay about the film in “The Movie Guide, a Comprehensive, Alphabetical Listing of the Most Important films Ever Made” (James Monaco and the Editors of Baseline, 1992):
“The film opened on Thanksgiving Day, 1942, at the Hollywood Theater in New York, three weeks after the Allies landed in Casablanca, and further enjoyed widespread publicity generated by the Casablanca conference two months later, when the eyes of the free world focused on its leaders’ meeting in the Moroccan city.
“It propelled Bogart’s star to new heights, adding a romantic component to his world-weary persona, and gave Bergman a tragic edge to blend with her healthy radiance, making her seem complex and fragile. The film received eight Academy Award nominations and won three: Best Picture, Best Screenplay, and Best Director.”
Father Lauder is a philosophy professor at St. John’s University, Jamaica. His new book, “The Cosmic Love Story: God and Us,” is available on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.