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...for the same woman's love in a love triangle against the backdrop of the conflict between democracy and totalitarianism. With rich atmosphere, anti-Nazi propaganda, Max Steiner's superb musical score, suspense, and unforgettable characters and memorable lines of dialogue, it is one of the most popular, magical (and flawless) films of all time - focused on the themes of lost love, honor, self-sacrifice and romance within a chaotic world.
Directed by the talented Michael Curtiz and shot almost entirely on studio sets, the film moves quickly through a surprisingly tightly constructed plot. The script for this film was written from day to day as the filming progressed and no one knew how the film would end [Would Ilsa stay with Rick or leave with Laszlo?]. Its collaborative screenplay was mainly the result of the efforts of Julius J. and Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch - and producer Hal Wallis contributed the film's final line. Except for the initial airport sequence, the entire studio-oriented film was shot in a Warner Bros. Hollywood/Burbank studio.
We believe that Ilsa's love for Rick is so great, that she's willing to go through years of torment knowing what she's done to Rick, but that she did it for his own good. But ultimately, Rick's desire to stick his neck out for no one, which had been questioned throughout the film through other characters, is abandoned and he makes the ultimate sacrifice in giving up Ilsa, his livelihood, and maybe his freedom and life for "the cause". ero (Laszlo), who stands for the civilizing values of home and community and an outlaw hero (Rick), who stands for ad hoc individualism. In “Casablanca,” he plays Rick Blaine, the hard-drinking American running a nightclub in Casablanca when Morocco was a crossroads for spies, traitors, Nazis and the French Resistance. By pinning the viewer's consciousness to Rick' s, most of what...
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