Notes For Casablanca
...Morocco, still part of unoccupied France. After Paris fell to the Nazis in June, 1940, refugees sought to escape by making their way to Casablanca. From there they could get a visa to get to Lisbon, Portugal, and from there passage to America.
1) The phrase "Round up all suspicious characters" becomes "Round up the usual suspects," one of the great lines in cinema history listen for it later in the film.
2) Notice the young couple who observe the man being shot down. They will play an important role in the film later.
TWO: Rick's Cafe Americain
We are introduced to Major Strasser, the Nazi commander, and the police inspector, Renault, who works for the Nazi installed Vichy Government. Renault's job is to walk a tightrope between his patriotic feelings for Occupied France and his need to perform a nasty job for the Nazis. The time is December, 1941.
3) Note how the director, Michael Curtiz, introduces Humphrey Bogart. CU of a check he okays, then camera up to show Rick. There he is, portraying the jaded, embittered, lonely, cynical tough guy who never gives away his feelings. Larger than life that's Bogart's character. The anti-hero as hero.
We see Rick in the scene with Ugarte (Peter Lorre). Is Rick cynical, unmoved by human conflicts? Or is he a rank sentimentalist? NOTE: He does hide the letters from Ugarte.
More exposition as Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet) comes in and offers to buy Rick's club. Ferrari is involved in the human trade--that is, getting people out of Casablanca. He wants Rick to join him so that both can make lots of money. Rick isn't interested.
Rick's interaction with the woman who is angry that he has "dropped her" suggests that he is NOT interested in a permanent love relationship with a woman. Because she violates his "ethic" of...
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