On November 26, 1942, “Casablanca” premiered in New York City and would become one of the most cherished films in Hollywood history. Set during World War II, the film stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, the former freedom fighter and owner of an upscale North African nightclub, and Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund, Blaine’s gorgeous and elusive former lover. The film went on to receive eight Academy Award nominations, ultimately taking home the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
When the audience first meets Blaine, he is a jaded loner who owns Rick’s Café Américain. However, when Lund walks into his bar (“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.”), Blaine is transported back to a more carefree time in Paris when they were lovers. Ultimately, Blaine has to choose between his love for Lund and helping her and her Czech Resistance leader husband, Frank Laszlo, escape from Nazi-controlled Morocco.
Although Bergman starred in some of the most iconic films in Hollywood history including “Joan of Arc,” “Spellbound” and “Notorious,” she is often most associated with her role in “Casablanca.” As the undyingly loyal wife to Laszlo and the Czech Nazi resistance movement, Lund is forced twice throughout the film to decide between her husband, their political cause and her love for Blaine. She first has a romance with Blaine in Paris (“We’ll always have Paris.”), when she believes that her husband is dead. However, once she realizes he is alive, she leaves Blaine only to serendipitously reunite with him again at his North African nightclub in Casablanca. Ultimately Lund, like many who endure the atrocities of war, is never allowed to even entertain the possibility of a truly happy ending. In the now legendary airport scene at the end of “Casablanca,” audiences are still moved to this day by one of the most iconic farewell scenes in movie history.
All the magical moments in the film have made “Casablanca” one of the most quoted and referenced movies in pop culture history. It is still considered one of the greatest films of all time thanks to the heartfelt performances of the great Bogart and Bergman.