NUMBER TWO: CASABLANCA
Just one of the movies that went into production on the Warner lot that year, CASABLANCA was part of the movie-making machinery of its day. Made up of a cast and crew that consisted of oodles of contract entertainment industry workers, the movie – in so many ways – was intended to keep pace with an audience hungry for stories about the triumph of good and love over evil.
I have to believe they knew they had something pretty good, but that they had no idea just how good. For one the script wasn’t anywhere near finished when they started the production…and the production was scheduled to take a week. It was only in a cab rushing to the lot that writers Julius and Phil Epstein thought of the line, “Round up the usual suspects,” as a way to end the story they’d written.
And because they’d never really had an ending to the story when they started, both Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart had no idea if they’d end up together when the curtain fell. And they had to play it like they really didn’t know what would happen because, frankly, no one could tell them.
It’s also a peculiar genius that Michael Curtiz – who was known for action films like ROBIN HOOD and gangster flicks such as ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES was called in to direct this fast-moving love story. He managed to move all the many parts in the right direction while keeping what’s arguably the best sad ending in cinema to ever come along.
But all these things are artifacts, ways to get into how it was assembled and inspired. Hundreds of other films have stories about how strange and unlikely it was that they would get made or become a hit. Ultimately, as Martin Scorsese has said many times, I can only respond to the films that move me deeply. And this one always has.
It’s a story about millions of people on the run from tyranny, oppression and loss and their unrelenting push toward hope. These people are coming to Casablanca to find a way – any way under the sun – to get to America and the promise of a new life. Despite the obvious parallels, it was only years after seeing this film that I finally understood how much this story reminded me of what my parents when through as children because of World War II.
Maybe my favorite scene in the film is the one I’ve posted here. The simple defiance of just singing a song associated with a free state sets so much of the story in motion. And ultimately frees both Rick and Ilsa of their past regrets.
