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The $20,000 purchase of an unproduced play that had hoped to be a good picture, and yet became a classic.

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HUMN 2663 EBSCOhost Michael Curtiz A Life in Film

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Making Sense of Casablanca's intricate details   

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Making Sense of Casablanca's intricate details   

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An attempt at making sense of all the intricate details surrounding all the characters in Casablanca. How much authority does Renault have? Why can't Rick return to America? Why doesn't everyone just get on the plane at the end? What did Ugarte tell the Nazis about the whereabouts of the letters of transit?

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Casablanca There's a lot of discussion I've read about why Major Strasser has some but not a lot of authority in Casablanca. Many people refer Casablanca as Vichy, but in the film it's said multiple times that Casablanca is "Unoccupied France".

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One of the most famous oneliner's and the song that inspired!

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What was Casablanca really like in 1942? Was there a "Rick's Cafe"?

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Many people come to Morocco and have a romantic version of what Casablanca must be, thanks to the 1943 movie by the same name. But, the reality is Casablanca at that time and Casablanca's portrayal in the film was merely a Hollywood construct and has very little to do with history or reality. This disconnect has always really bothered me and really made me want to put together something dispelling the myths about the movie vs. the city as well as sharing what the city really was like in 1942.

The film is set on the eve of American involvement in Morocco. The main character is Rick Blaine an American expat who own's "Rick's Cafe," a haven for refugees escaping Europe and attempting to get visas elsewhere. One night his old flame (Ilsa) and her husband show up seeking such papers. The story evolves with twists and turns. While on the surface it's an adventure/romance wrapped into one it's also a study in political allegory. Many believe that the character of Rick is meant to symbolize all Americans and the arrival of Ilsa is a symbol of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Rick also befriends Captain Renault and the course of their friendship also alludes to Allied alliances of the war.

Many of the characters playing refugees in the film had actually escaped occupied Europe to America. Only Rick and Sam (characters) were born and raised in America. The rest either came for work to the U.S. or as refugees of the Nazis. The US invaded Casablanca as a part of Operation Torch in November of 1942, so film producers pushed the release date forward to try to bank on the current events.
A Few Factual Errors in the Movie

In the beginning of the film there is a French tricolor (flag) with crescent and star in the middle waving over the police office. No flag like this was ever used in Morocco. The Moroccan flag at the time of the protectorate is the same as it is today; a red background with a green, five pointed star in the middle.

The extra "Moroccans" seen in the background of the film are dressed in Egyptian clothing.

There was no such thing as letters of transit. If there were, few if any Nazis would have honored these especially had they been signed by Charles de Gaulle.

One of the quotable lines from the film; "What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?" "...My health, I came to Casablanca for the waters." "The waters? What waters? We're in the desert." "...I was misinformed." Except Casablanca sits directly on the Atlantic Ocean and is hundreds of kilometers from the desert.

There was never a Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. The idea for it was originally inspired by a nightclub in southern France where refugees gathered. Many were en route to Casablanca and elsewhere.

What Really Happened in Casablanca?

Casablanca in the 1940's was hugely important not only to the country but to the region. It was a major shipping port as well as home to the largest airport in North Africa. It was near Casablanca that the Allied invasion of North Africa began. At the time Morocco was under control of the Vichy French who controlled much of France after Germany's invasion of the country beginning in June of 1940. Moroccan Jews (a large majority of whom called Casablanca home) didn't face the same hardships as their European cousins but the Vichy's did put in place many discriminatory laws and restrictions. Sultan Mohamed V did attempt to prohibit discriminatory laws but at the end of the day he had limited control to exert.

Operation Torch is the name of the battle that was launched to liberate Morocco from the Vichy government and move into southern Italy via the Mediterranean. It was successful almost immediately. The landings in Morocco happened in Fedala, Safi, and Mehdiya-Port Lyautey. Allied forces thought the French wouldn't fight back at all, but rather surrender immediately. This didn't happen and there was some fighting that happened. The naval battle for Casablanca occurred after the three original landings.

I have no idea if Patton said that to the Sultan, but he definitely thought it, and once referred to Casablanca as "a city which combines Hollywood and the Bible." (Blumenson, The Patton Papers, II, 120.)

Art Deco Casablanca - Where to See WW2 Sites in Morocco Today

Unlike European countries, Morocco doesn't have a lot of preserved memorials or sites. But, if you want to see World War Two sites in Morocco today you can!

Imperial Hotel - This hotel was requisitioned by the American forces and served as General Patton's headquarters and operation base after the invasion.

The ANFA Hotel - The Casablanca Conference was held at this hotel. It was the first war conference between the Allied powers.

Beach at Port Lyautey and Casbah - Allied landing happened on the beaches here. The Casbah is from the 17th century and was used by the French to hold American prisoners during the invasion.

Hotel Miramar Fadala - After the invasion of Fadala it was at the Hotel Miramar that General Patton accepted the French surrender. The hotel is inaccessible today but can be seen from the outside.

Mohamed V Airport - During World War II this was known as Nouasseur Air Base and was the American air force base during WWII.

The romantic notion of Casablanca the movie isn't quite the reality of Casablanca of 1943 however, the city did play a pivotal role in the war and earned a reputation - perhaps just not for Rick and Ilsa!

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The REAL Story of Casablanca in 1942 - MarocMama

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Many people come to Morocco and have a romantic version of what Casablanca must be, thanks to the 1943 movie by the same name. But, the reality is Casablanca at that time and Casablanca's portrayal in the film was merely a Hollywood construct and has very little to do with history or reality.

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The real-life refugees of Casablanca, so much more than a  love story...

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The real-life refugees of Casablanca, so much more than a  love story...

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"They're not tears of glycerin shed by an actress," says Epstein. "The tears in her eyes are real."

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It's been 80 years since the Hollywood classic Casablanca opened nationwide. Set at Rick's Cafe, a nightclub in the Moroccan city during World War II, the story centers around a love triangle.

Humphrey Bogart stars as Rick, the cynical American bar owner who repeatedly claims to be neutral in the war. Ingrid Bergman plays his old flame Ilsa Lund, who is now married to Victor Laszlo, a dashing resistance leader played by Paul Henreid.

But Casablanca is more than just a love story. It is a film about, and stocked with, the waves of refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe during wartime. And many of the actors playing those roles were, in fact, refugees.

"When people speak here, the accents are real," says Leslie Epstein, the son and nephew of screenwriters Philip and Julius Epstein. "That gives it a kind of authenticity. In a sense, they're playing themselves."

Helmut Dantine was one such actor. Dantine was born in Austria and, as a teenager, became the leader of the anti-Nazi youth movement in Vienna. When the Nazis annexed Austria in March of 1938, they promptly arrested 19-year-old Dantine.

His family used their political connections to negotiate his release, and immediately sent him to the United States. He landed in Los Angeles, enrolled at UCLA, and began his acting career.

"He was drop dead gorgeous," says his widow Niki Dantine. "He would walk in the room and the ladies would straighten the seams in their stockings."

In Casablanca, Dantine plays Jan Brandel, a young refugee who has fled Europe with his wife. In one scene, Jan is playing roulette, hoping to win enough money to buy their exit visas. But he's losing. Seeing his predicament, Rick rigs the game to help Jan win, essentially gifting them the cash to secure the couple's passage to America.

In other wartime films, Dantine would be cast as the villain, playing Nazi officers opposite Errol Flynn in Northern Pursuit (1943) and Escape in the Desert (1945).

"It must have been incredibly hard for him emotionally," Niki Dantine told Radio Diaries. "Having been the leader of the anti-Nazi youth movement, to then be playing Nazis in film."

There were several other European-born actors in Casablanca who had made it to Hollywood after fleeing the Nazis.

Conrad Veidt plays Nazi officer Major Strasser. Veidt was a German actor whose wife was Jewish. Like Dantine, he escaped the Nazis only to find success portraying them on screen.

Peter Lorre plays Ugarte, a customer at Rick's Cafe who steals from German couriers at the start of the film. Lorre began his career as a stage actor in Vienna and Berlin, and became internationally known with his performance in Fritz Lang's M (1931) and in America for his role in The Maltese Falcon (1941).

S.Z. Sakall plays Carl the waiter. Before the war, Sakall was a Hungarian cabaret actor. Members of his family died in the death camps and he escaped to Hollywood, where he was known as "cuddles" and often cast in comedic roles.

Marcel Dalio plays Emil, the croupier. In France, Dalio was a star, known for his roles in Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939). Dalio was Jewish and he fled Paris in 1940 with his wife Madeleine Lebeau - who plays Yvonne in Casablanca.

Today, many viewers see these on-screen refugees as Jewish, but they are never identified as such. From The Jazz Singer (1927) to Gentleman's Agreement (1947), the term "Jewish" rarely appeared in Hollywood screenplays. One exception was Mr. Skeffington (1944), written by the same writers as Casablanca: the Epstein Brothers.

"The Hollywood moguls, the boards in Washington, none of these people wanted the American public to think of World War II as a war for the Jews," Leslie Epstein told Radio Diaries. But even if it softened the specifics, Casablanca still delivered a powerful political message to audiences.

" Casablanca is a propaganda film," says Noah Isenberg, author of We'll Always Have Casablanca. "It's a propaganda film because the American public were not fully convinced of the moral imperative of fighting this war; and the message is, this is a fight worth fighting."

The character arc of Rick Blaine, played by Bogart, is a clear metaphor for the United States and foreign policy. Rick begins the film as an isolationist, telling Ilsa: "I'm not fighting for anything anymore, except myself. I'm the only cause I'm interested in."

But as the story progresses, cracks appear in that façade. In the scene with Dantine, for example, Rick's aid of young refugees is a sign he is not as cold-hearted as he leads people to believe.

Later in the famous scene of the singing of La Marseillaise, Rick gives permission for the band to play the song of the resistance. As the refugees in the bar belt out their anthem, the film cuts to a closeup of the young French actress Madeleine Lebeau, tears streaming down her face.

Lebeau had fled Paris with her husband, Marcel Dalio, just two years prior. "They're not tears of glycerin shed by an actress," says Epstein. "The tears in her eyes are real."

During World War II, Hollywood provided safe harbor and employment for European emigres. After the war, a few of the refugee actors in Casablanca were successful playing character roles. But for most, the work dried up as Hollywood turned its focus back to life in America. Some would be targeted by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. Others returned to post-war Europe.

Casablanca is often considered one of the greatest love stories ever told on screen, but its political message was particularly attuned to the times. Niki Dantine believes it left a mark.

"I think a film like Casablanca gave Americans an opportunity to see what it was like to survive and how your life hangs in the balance during wartime."
This story was produced by Nellie Gilles of Radio Diaries, and edited by Deborah George, Ben Shapiro and Joe Richman. You can find more stories on the Radio Diaries Podcast.

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The real-life refugees of 'Casablanca' make it so much more than a love story

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It's been 80 years since the Hollywood classic Casablanca opened nationwide. Set at Rick's Cafe, a nightclub in the Moroccan city during World War II, the story centers around a love triangle. Humphrey Bogart stars as Rick, the cynical American bar owner who repeatedly claims to be neutral in the war.

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Screenwriter Recalls the making of the movie

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Screenwriter Recalls the making of the movie

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In being honored by having a screenwriter's award named after him and his brother. Julius Epstein recalls one of his most famous (but not top 5 favorite) works and what went into making the puzzle fit as most of the script was written on-site during production

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"Casablanca" Screenwriter Recalls the Making of the Movie Classic