When Michael Curitz directed “Casablanca” and released it in 1942, he expected nothing extraordinary out of the movie. Nothing in the film was A-list- Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman were struggling stars, the writers weren't creative demi-Gods and the war’s (the plot was based in the backdrop of WWII where Nazi Germany had an edge then)direction was unpredictable. But then out of everybody’s expectations, the film did exceptionally well. It won three Academy awards including the award for “best film”. With passing time the film became “cult fiction”. The rugged, stoic but subtly lovelorn Rick Blaine (played by the evergreen Humphrey Bogart) became a role model for a lot of young men around. Young women modeled themselves on Ilsa Lund (played by the eternally beautiful Ingrid Bergman). By 1977, “Casablanca” was the most broadcast movie on American television beating every other major film around.
“Casablanca” became a sudden hit with its plot which a large audience could relate to. Nazi rule in Europe and Vichy controlled France and its colonies led to mass exodus from Europe to the Americas. The rich fled to the new “heaven” to escape the “blitzkrieg” unleashed by Adolf Hitler. French ruled Morocco was a place from which refugees went to Lisbon (Portugal) and from there to the Americas. “Casablanca” spoke the language of all these countless men and women who had survived this ordeal to reach the Americas. They could see themselves in those refugees who gave away everything to escape the uncertain future. There is a scene in which Captain Louis Renault, the French Police chief of Casablanca makes an “indecent proposal” to Annina Brendel, a Bulgarian Refugee in exchange for papers to travel out of Casablanca. It was indeed very touching and raises the “homicidal impulses” in the audience. The eyes of the actress express her helplessness and move the audience to tears.
Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund’s love story is the pivot of the plot. It has become such a common part of each love story that it has influenced many. Tapes and discs of it have been presented over and over to people in love. The part of the story in Paris personifies the concept of romance very well. The eyes were dreamy, the smiles were heartwarming and the kisses were passionate. Tears drop by kilolitres when Rick and Sam wait at the railway station in Paris and Ilsa fails to turn up and how Sam pushes Rick to leave Paris. And how the eyes light up when both of them reconcile at Casablanca. And how moved Rick is when he sees Ilsa in Casablanca. His initial portrayal of a stoic club owner just melts away as he is unable to control his mind and body. Dialogues that are remembered to this day follow. The best is when Ilsa asks Sam (The club Pianist) to play. “As time goes by”, the same tune that he used to play for them while in Paris. Her voice has so much innocence when she says “Play it again, Sam”. For the record, Sam was played by American actor Dooley Wilson, who in real life was a drummer and could not play the piano (Now can you beat that?). Viewers secretly pray for the lovers to get back into each other lives when Ilsa secretly comes to meet Rick in the abandoned café.
Victor Laszlo (Played by Austrian Paul Henreid) plays the part of a sensitive husband who is in knowledge of his wife’s love for another man but is more concerned about saving her in the time of distress than blame her for an “affair” while he was away. He keeps his calm while resisting the German invasion and intricately plans his escape to Lisbon and then USA along with his wife using the “papers” which were dropped in Rick’s possession by a petty thief.
“Casablanca” was also a voice of dissent towards the Nazi rule. When Major Stresser and his friends sing the Nazi anthem in Rick’s club, Laszlo replies with “La Marseilles” in a higher pitch. Things turn ugly when Rick orders the club band to play the tune and other French citizens join Laszlo and the Germans are beaten by sheer numbers. Major Stresser orders Renault to close the café on a flimsy charge.
Ilsa Lund portrays the role of a woman torn between her love for two men. When Victor Laszlo was in a concentration camp and she believed news that he was dead, Rick comes into her life. The love story seems immortal till her failure to arrive at the railway station makes the audience think that she “diched” Rick. But that was the time when her husband Victor turns up into her love and she decides to go back into her “marriage”. Fate brings her back to Rick at Casablanca. She tries every trick in the book to get the papers from Rick including pointing a pistol at him (But then she is not able to shoot him as she is still in love with him). Bergman plays the love-torn woman so well that in the audience can’t help but forgive her. For what? For everything.
The biggest loss in the whole film is borne by Rick Blaine. He is portrayed as the epitome of sacrifices in the plot. He first sacrifices Ilsa’s love in order to save his people (during the escape from Paris to Casablanca). Then he sacrifices the “papers” which he could have sold in the market at a premium- for Ilsa’s love again. He believed that giving the papers to Laszlo would mean his departure for Lisbon and then the USA and Ilsa coming back to his life. But then he also realizes that Ilsa’s love for Laszlo is a permanent phenomenon which will never wear off (It was very painful to see Ilsa telling Rick about her love for Victor. The audience was all for Rick). In the end, Victor and Ilsa leave. Rick loses Ilsa, Rick loses his club and Rick comes out as “Sacrificing Rick”. The best is in the end when he forcibly puts Ilsa on the plane saying that if she didn’t go she would regret it. “Not today, not tomorrow, but very soon and for the rest of your life”. I am yet to see somebody who is so stoic after losing so much. Bogart’s career took an upward dive after “Casablanca”. His portrayal as Rick Blaine has made the phrase “nice guys finish second” sound like an axiom. You just can’t help but hope to be like him. He is smart, suave, polished and above all- he is stoic.
The real winners in the fim are Victor Laszlo and Captain Louis Renault. Laszlo escapes to Lisbon, gets his adorable wife and we hope lived happily ever after. Renault is shown as the “expectedly” corrupt Police Officer who enthralls the public with the famous line, “I am where the wind blows, and presently the wind blows towards the Vichy”. He shows money to be his true master when he cleverly covers up Major Stresser’s murder by Rick. As the two men walk into the night in the end, Rick pulls down the curtain for the audience saying, “Louis, I think it is the starting to a beautiful friendship”.
It’s been almost 7 decades but “Casablanca” still is fresh in the minds of all its viewers. It still continues to be sold as a DVD and to be presented as a token of “love”. Imagine, this fim was made for a budget of $1 million. Considering the maount of people who must have appreciated it and seen it time and again, this cost seems like a pittance.
Rick Blaine and Ilsa Lund live on in our hearts.
P.S. The views expressed are personal opinion of the author and does not mean to hurt the feelings of any person- living or dead.
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