Casablanca Reviews and Ratings


  • AnnieBrujita
    November 24, 2009
    AnnieBrujita
    awww me ha gustado pero...jooo :( no me gustan las historias de amores imposibles :S
  • toxxicgoddess
    November 21, 2009
    toxxicgoddess
    This is the BEST! love story ever written but love story ever put on film. When you want to see how a man should love a women just watch it. OMG when Bogie says "of all the gin joints....." You feel the pain then he lets Ilsa go tear tear.. Yes Rick and Ilsa will live forever al...( read more)oong with the memories of Ricks Americana Cafe!!!! Dooley Wilson , Ingrid Bergman and Bogart pulled off a cinematic masterpiece.
  • Zack437885
    November 20, 2009
    Zack437885
    This is the best,Bogart and Bergman that a love store...We'll always have Paris.
  • Ladiva4
    November 19, 2009
    Ladiva4
    Who am I to say whats good when I havn't seen Casablanca
  • agentjade
    November 15, 2009
    agentjade
    Beautiful classic, but a little longwinded. I somehow still cannot appreciate B/W films...
  • dfduncan
    November 14, 2009
    dfduncan
    As a kid I loved this movie as a thriller. With maturity I came to appreciate the romance elements as well. Bogart was a great actor, capable of a wide dramatic range, but this sort of world weary, cynical yet romantic hero was his primary forte and this is his best. Always worth...( read more) watching again.
  • AgentLexi2132
    November 14, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time.''

    Set in unoccupied Africa during the early days of World War II: An American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

    Humphrey Bogart: Rick Blaine

    Casablanca, what o

    ...( read more)ther film can evoke such powerful feelings of nostalgia, can exemplify so completely the golden period of Hollywood film-making? The year was 1942, and the world found itself in the midst of the bloodiest conflict in modern history. Unlike anything our generation could possibly imagine, citizens were faced with an incredible uncertainty about their future. The Nazis marched across Europe, an astonishing, seemingly-unstoppable enemy, and the United States watched with bated breath from across the Atlantic. Most Hollywood productions responded to such ambiguity with fully-fledged, unabashed patriotism, and war-time filmmakers became obsessed with validating audiences' beliefs that the Allied forces would inevitably win out against Germany, and, indeed, many often concluded their pictures with unnecessary epilogues in which we've apparently already won. Such propaganda, while no doubt ensuring commercial success from war-weary cinema-goers, has regularly tarnished and outdated even the most otherwise impressive contemporary WWII pictures, as the directors' willingness to simulate a happy ending strikes distinctly false from an era in which the overwhelming atmosphere was that of uncertainty and insecurity(see Billy Wilder's Five Graves to Cairo(1943).

    ''Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.''

    This is not to say that Casablanca(1942) is not a work of American patriotism; indeed, it might just be the greatest example. The film owes its enduring legacy to how seamlessly director Michael Curtiz, and his troupe of writers and actors, was able to encapsulate the sentiment of the time in which the picture was made. The story ends with Rick and Renault strolling resolutely into the thick mist, their futures obscured by the fog of uncertainty that hovers before their faces. What will the next few turbulent years have in store for these heroes? Will they be overwhelmed by the enemy, or continue their noble fight for freedom? Following Operation Torch, the 1942 Allied invasion of North Africa, there were plans to film one of those dreaded propagandistic epilogues, showing Rick, Renault and a detachment of Free French soldiers on a ship. Owing to Claude Rains' fortuitous unavailability for filming, the original ending was left intact, and producer David O. Selznick was never more correct than when he concluded "it would be a terrible mistake to change the ending."

    When Casablanca was first conceived, the filmmakers apparently had little idea they were about to produce one of cinema's best-loved pictures. A prime example of the studio-bound exotica that was popular at the time, and obviously a war-time off-shoot of Howard Hawks' Colombian aviation adventure Only Angels Have Wings(1939), perhaps also John Cromwell's Algiers(1938), which I unfortunately haven't seen. The film reproduced the stuffy, humid climate and seedy, corrupt personalities of Morocco on the Warner Bros. sets, which ironically communicate more romantic charm than the real location could ever have provided. The film was shot by veteran cinematographer Arthur Edeson, who had previously worked on the wonderfully-atmospheric All Quiet on the Western Front(1930), Frankenstein(1931) and The Maltese Falcon(1941). His perfectly-framed photography suggests a mixture of stuffy melodrama, glamorous adventure and shadowy noir, though, interestingly, he avoids the sordidness of the latter style's successors, despite the wealth of suitably-seedy characters to be found in Casablanca. Framed through Edeson's lens, it seems that even the most squalid and repulsive of personalities can take on a curious facade of nobility.

    ''I love you so much. I hate war so much.''

    No less than six people had a hand in the film's justly-celebrated screenplay. The story was based on a then unproduced play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, ''Everybody Comes to Rick's'', and was adapted for the screen by Julius and Philip Epstein and Howard Koch, with uncredited input by Casey Robinson. The Epstein twins were initially keen to give the film a few comedic elements; this would, no doubt, have made for entertaining viewing, not unlike a Howard Hawks picture, but might have detracted from the story's core themes of love, loyalty, regret, moral responsibility and self-sacrifice. Koch had perhaps a clearer understanding of the director's preferences from another wonderful film from Curtiz, Angels with Dirty Faces(1938), also poses a vital moral dilemma, and chose to focus largely on the politics and melodrama of Burnett and Alison's play. That so many conflicting artistic ideas somehow melded together, not only into a cohesive narrative, but also into history's greatest screenplay, is a miracle to be credited only to the cinema gods, particularly in view of the fact that Curtiz commenced filming with an incomplete script that was updated daily.
    The screenplay, in a word results in being excellent, and it also compliments the whole directing. It progresses with scenes that are just so phenomenal, so legendary and so nostalgic. It includes one of the most legendary quotes in the history of motion pictures, for example; "Play it once, Sam", "We'll always have Paris" and "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship". Even when I had never seen the movie, I just immediately recognized those sentences with a wry smile, as they are among the sentences everybody knows even if they've never seen Casablanca before. The whole plot is also surprisingly exciting, comparing to the plots nowadays it would definitely work in any movie, as it is just so thrilling from the beginning till the end and you just can't know how it ends before the last minute of the movie. The final climax is simply genius and it's actually so satisfying that I had to start clapping my hands in appreciation for the climax.

    Perhaps another possible explanation for the film's unlikely legacy lies with the distinguished cast, borrowed from all over Europe. Humphrey Bogart, Dooley Wilson and Joy Page were the sole American imports, and assorted supporting talents were plundered from the United Kingdom (Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet), Sweden (Ingrid Bergman), Austria (Paul Henreid), Hungary (Peter Lorre) and even Germany (Conrad Veidt). Bogart, who had been typecast throughout the 1930s as a lowlife gangster, had been given the opportunity to show some humanity in Raoul Walsh' film noir High Sierra(1941), but it was Casablanca that proved his first genuinely romantic role, and, with several notable exceptions, the remainder of his acting career would comprise of similarly-noble yet flawed heroes. Bergman, despite having a rather passive role, was never more enchanting than as Ilsa Lund, and, photographed with a softening gauze filter and catch lights, positively sparkles with gentle compassion and a tragic sadness. Perhaps it's just the romantic in me, but Casablanca represents one of Hollywood's most unforgettable accomplishments. Even as the film draws to a majestic close, and two men forge a lifelong friendship in the fog-ridden uncertainty of War, we immediately feel like asking Sam to play it again...just for old time's sake.

    ''I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.''
  • Yelverton
    November 13, 2009
    Yelverton
    The greatest romance movie of all time.
  • javaursula128
    November 9, 2009
    javaursula128
    If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today,but soon and for the rest of your life.
  • smartyjones16
    November 7, 2009
    smartyjones16
    Humphrey Bogart...*sigh* One of the best actors out there.
  • bloomin1
    November 7, 2009
    bloomin1
    really? play it sam!
  • theloneowl
    November 6, 2009
    theloneowl
    Va beh, non perdo nemmeno tempo a commentare.
  • jonathanswinter
    November 5, 2009
    jonathanswinter
    A definite classic..
  • alexroy69
    October 29, 2009
    alexroy69
    Parlez-moi enfin d'un classique qui est tout à fait à la hauteur de sa réputation. En fait, j'ai honte d'avoir attendu si longtemps avant de le visionner, moi qui suis fan autant de Bogart que d'Ingrid Bergman. Je n'ai aucune excuse, mais je peux me rattraper en ne tarissant pas ...( read more)d'éloge pour cette oeuvre immortelle du cinéma américain.

    Ce qui m'a d'abord frappé, outre évidemment les performances de haut niveau et les dialogues bien cinglants, c'est la magnifique photographie en noir et blanc qui se démodera juste jamais. C'est un foutu de beau film, avec un chic que l'on retrouve juste dans les productions de cette époque et qui atteint sa quintessence dans "Casablanca". Je pourrais en écrire long sur mon amour naissant pour ce film, mais je vais me contenter de me taire et de lui donner mes plus vives recommandations.
  • JediAlex
    October 26, 2009
    JediAlex
    This movie is such a famous classic and for good reason to! The story, the acting, the dialogue... everything about it is absolutely excellent.
  • djgriff2
    October 23, 2009
    djgriff2
    Being that my eyes are used to seeing color...minus a half a star...LOL! For real though this is a classic flick that needs to be in everyone's collection of movie stash...Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is an tough as nails owner of a night club has one saying that will always st...( read more)ay in the back of my mind..."I stick my neck out for nobody"...means it until an old flame stops by to see him and his trusted piano player Sam (Dooley Wilson)...this movie is clean, slick and timeless in a classic sense. A fantastic popcorn flick for any occasion!
  • ifitz
    October 22, 2009
    ifitz
    Okay, so every line that's ever been quoted comes from here- plus the movie itself is a woking parody. Plus its a huge Oscar winner and AFI sings it praises more times than not. Sadly it just isn't that good! I think I know why I think so. There's too much politics in it, too man...( read more)y character that I don't know and most importnatly, the romance is kind of lame. So apperantly they had some hot affair in Paris- I've seen hotter. If the movie took place today it would be a situation comedy, that's how poor the relationship was! Otherwise, it was good: very well acted- the actors do very good jobs (and they had their actual accents, that's rare!), the characters were great as well! Musical score is nice- again "As Time Goes By" is so well known and quoted! The film looks great- which is common of the era. Its just not well written- except for the quotable lines! What I do love is how this film has fit so well into popular culture and its still relavent. As well I love that it was written during the war and they didn't know what was going to happen. Likely the audience at the time saw it as more suspensful thus. But overall, kind of a disapointment!
  • dayin623
    October 21, 2009
    dayin623
    "We'll always have Paris..." ahhhh... such phrase invoke so much longing and heartache... my Boggie is sooo cool!
  • cherrishy
    October 21, 2009
    cherrishy
    A noir that you can not forget.
  • jw96
    October 15, 2009
    jw96
    It's hard to watch this movie and put aside that many of these lines have become cliche, or that Bogie really isn't (or isn't here, at least) that much of an actor.

    The writing is as tight as anything I've ever seen and the supporting performances are amazing. This is definitel...( read more)y a movie where the secondary characters prop up the pretty people carrying top billing. It was also apparently just another flick churned out by Hollywood, which demonstrates again that serendipity rules and only time can judge what is truly art.
  • Sloirishbud
    October 14, 2009
    Sloirishbud
    This Film is a Classic! You really can't say much aboput this film because it has all already been said. Peter Lorre, Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, the cast of this film was dynamite. This film garnered almost every critical acclaim and it deserved all of them. I sometimes ...( read more)watch this film to see what greatness actually looks like on celluloid.
  • ryanstiner
    October 14, 2009
    ryanstiner
    Before movies could rely on spectacular stunts and CGI special effects, they had to make due with character development and dialog. Casablanca remains as one of the greatest movies of all time. Bogart is at the top of his game as the warm-hearted cafe owner whose cold exterior wo...( read more)n't allow anyone to get too close. Love, corruption, and violence are all portrayed in a manner that modern Hollywood executives would exploit. This is a movie I can watch again and again.
  • tomdbentley
    October 10, 2009
    tomdbentley
    still the best anti-hero, almost love story ever recorded
  • lydiaofori
    October 10, 2009
    lydiaofori
    love story. never seen it though. People always say it great so i'll try and watch it. Maybe.
  • fluturash
    October 10, 2009
    fluturash
    the greatest love story ever and the best ending ever! some beautiful, talented actors to give birth to a very touching story. it may not be a perfect story, but it sure is wonderful to the end.
  • wintbo
    October 9, 2009
    wintbo
    This is one of my all time favorite movies. Everything about it so perfect. What else is there to say?
  • Arianeta
    October 9, 2009
    Arianeta
    Rick and Ilsa share a forbidden kiss in this classic film.
    ...( read more)n:center;font-size:10px;">Flixster - Share Movies
  • theoneandonlytony
    October 7, 2009
    theoneandonlytony
    Ooooooooooh I dunno possibly the most fantastic movie ever made! In the history of the world ever! This has got to be my all time favourite movie. I really don't think anything can or will ever top it. The atmosphere is amazing, the chemistry between the actors is just mind blowi...( read more)ng and the way the entire movie is made is just inspirational. Just to be able to escape into the raw emotion of it all! Extremely strong performances from both Bogart and Bergman, Bogart's performance especially for wrongfully losing out on an Academy Award to Paul Lukas (Watch On The Rhine). You see, for me this movie isn't just your not so average love story it's so much more! I mean the guy doesn't get the girl, so it isn't your stereotypical happy Hollywood ending in a time when there were no unconventional endings!

    The whole movie is simply about watching Bogart's character searching for closure, it's just phenomenal! In order to move on from his past he has to unexpectedly confront it. A movie with real worthy characters.. you don't feel like you're just watching any old movie... you're actually watching something real. Something genuine. Something worthy.

    The music. As time goes by......
    How each scene seems to smoulder and melt before your eyes.
    The Dialogue! (Some of the most memorable quotes in cinematic history)
    Oh and credit due to Michael Curtiz for pulling this out of the air with no finished scripts on a failing budget. It?s just incomprehensible.

    Seriously, how can this not be one of the best movies ever made? It's magnificent. Absolute Perfection in every way.
  • addienairzan
    October 5, 2009
    addienairzan
    They dont make it like this nemore..
  • lucynechita
    October 5, 2009
    lucynechita
    "..it's still the same old story, a fight for love and glory, a case of do or die, the world will always welcome lovers, As Time Goes By."We'll Always Have Casablanca!
  • nemesis638
    October 3, 2009
    nemesis638
    Just a movie that you have to see it!!
  • jamesm1068
    October 3, 2009
    jamesm1068
    Best Bogart film, great acting and location. great date movie!
  • SirPant
    September 30, 2009
    SirPant
    Fantastic film. For me the best thing about it by far is the script (even if it is misquoted all the time). Sure it?s a classic romance but for me the relationship between Rick and Captain Renault (Humphrey Bogart & Claude Rains) is its greatest strength. It?s just imposable to k...( read more)nock this film, its perfect!
  • ghostgirl969
    September 24, 2009
    ghostgirl969
    To be honest, I kept postponing this movie... the 1943 black and white kind of turned me off. What a mistake, great movie! I forgot the black and white after merely 15 minutes. Definately a classic. Don't get your hopes too high though, it is 1943 ;)
  • Aroan
    September 24, 2009
    Aroan
    I wudnt like to comment on this masterpiece rather , quote James Berdinelli,"It's probably no stretch to say that Casablanca, arguably America's best-loved movie, has had more words written about it than any other motion picture. Over the years since its 1943 release, the legends...( read more) and rumors surrounding the making of the film have generated almost as much attention as the finished product. Some of the best-known and most often repeated anecdotes include producer Hal B. Wallis' near-casting of Ronald Reagan and Ann Sheridan as Rick and Ilsa, the existence of two scripts for the last day of shooting (one version had the ending as filmed; the other, unproduced version kept Rick and Ilsa together), and the reported backstage tension between several of the principal actors.

    Ultimately, however, while it's fascinating to examine and dissect all that went into the making of Casablanca, the greatest pleasure anyone can derive from this movie comes through simply watching it. Aside from some basic knowledge of recent world history, little background is needed to appreciate the strength and power of the film. Casablanca accomplishes that which only a truly great film can: enveloping the viewer in the story, forging an unbreakable link with the characters, and only letting go with the end credits.

    Unlike many films that later became classics, Casablanca was popular in its day, although a cadre of officials at Warner Brothers were convinced that it would be a box-office failure. The movie earned 8 Academy Award nominations, leading to three Oscars (Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture). The picture went on to have a long, healthy life in re-releases, television, and (eventually) video. It contains a slew of recognizable lines ("Here's looking at you, kid", "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine", "Round up the usual suspects", "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship", "We'll always have Paris", "The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world"). Ironically, however, the best-known bit of dialogue from Casablanca, "Play it again, Sam," isn't even in the movie. Like Captain Kirk's "Beam me up, Scotty," it's an apocryphal line. The closest the movie gets is either "Play it" or "Play 'As Time Goes By.'"

    The first time I saw Casablanca, I remember remarking how "modern" it seemed. While many movies from the '30s and '40s appear horribly dated when viewed today, Casablanca stands up markedly well. The themes of valor, sacrifice, and heroism still ring true. The dialogue has lost none of its wit or cleverness. The atmosphere (enhanced by the sterling black-and-white cinematography), that of encroaching gloom, is as palpable as ever. And the characters are still as perfectly-acted and three-dimensional as they were more than fifty years ago.

    Just about everyone knows the story, which takes place about a year after the Germans invaded France. Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband, Czech freedom fighter Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), wander into Rick's Cafe in Casablanca. The two are on the run from the Nazis, and have come to the American-owned nightspot to lie low. But the German-controlled local government, headed by Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), is on the move, and Laszlo has to act quickly to get the letters of transit he came for, then escape. Little does Ilsa know that the cafe is run by Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), the one true love of her life. When the two see each other, sparks fly, and memories of an enchanted time in Paris come flooding back.

    Bogart and Bergman. When anyone mentions Casablanca, these are the two names that come to mind. The actors are both so perfectly cast, and create such a palpable level of romantic tension, that it's impossible to envision anyone else in their parts (and inconceivable to consider that they possibly weren't the producer's first choices). Bogart is at his best here as the tough cynic who hides a broken heart beneath a fractured layer of sarcasm. Ilsa's arrival in Casablanca rips open the fissures in Rick's shield, revealing a complex personality that demands Bogart's full range of acting. As Ilsa, Bergman lights up the screen. What man in the audience wouldn't give up everything to run away with her?

    Less known is Paul Henreid, a romantic lead who was on loan to Warner Brothers for this project. Most viewers know Henreid as "the other guy" in the romantic triangle, and, while his performance isn't on the same level as that of his better-known co-stars, Henreid nevertheless does a respectable job. Casablanca features some other well-known faces. Conrad Veidt plays the Nazi commander on Laszlo's trail, Peter Lorre is the man who steals the letters of transit, and Sydney Greenstreet is the city's black market overlord. But the best performance in the film belongs to Claude Rains, who is magnificent. Bogart and Bergman are great, but Rains is better. This is the top role in an impressive career, and it's a shame that the actor didn't win the Best Supporting Oscar for which he was deservedly nominated. Rains is a standout in nearly his every scene, but, like the consummate professional, he constantly cedes the spotlight to the higher-profile star.

    Another curious thing about Casablanca is that hardly anyone ever talks about the director. It isn't as if Michael Curtiz is a journeyman hack who got lucky here. From the '20s to the '50s, Curtiz was one of the hardest working directors in Hollywood, helming over 100 films including White Christmas, Mildred Pierce, and Yankee Doodle Dandy. (Before that, he made nearly 50 movies in Europe, where he began his career in 1912.) Curtiz was a well-respected film maker and his work on Casablanca was first rate, but, for some reason, few non-cineastes associate his name with this picture.

    It's not much of a stretch to say that Hollywood doesn't make movies like this any more, because the bittersweet ending has gone the way of black-and-white cinematography. If Casablanca was made in today's climate, Rick and Ilsa would escape on the plane after avoiding a hail of gunfire (Rick would probably be doing the two-fisted gun thing that John Woo loves). There would be no beautiful friendship between Louis and Rick. Who knows what would have happened to Victor Laszlo, but he wouldn't have gotten the girl. One of the things that makes Casablanca unique is that it stays true to itself without giving in to commonly held perceptions of crowd-pleasing tactics. And because of this, not despite it, Casablanca has become known as one of the greatest movies ever made. Maybe the modern generation of screenwriters should consider this before they tack on the obligatory "happily ever after" ending.

    From time-to-time, someone tries to remake the film, but even the best re-tread has been less than a pale shadow of the original. The most recent serious attempt was Havana, Sydney Pollack's ill-advised misfire (incidentally, the word "serious" rules out Barb Wire). Despite a good cast (Robert Redford, Lena Olin, Raul Julia) and a change in venue, this is clearly an updated Casablanca, and Casablanca isn't Casablanca without Bogart and Bergman. So, although just about everyone involved with this legendary motion picture has departed this life, the film itself has withstood the test of more than a half-century to rise, like cream, to the top. One can only imagine that, in another fifty years, its position in the hierarchy of all-time greats will be even higher. "
  • ZRUV
    September 19, 2009
    ZRUV
    I don't really go for old movies.
  • kaitlyn42397
    September 18, 2009
    kaitlyn42397
    worst movie of the year!
  • Clemontine
    September 18, 2009
    Clemontine
    This really is the best romance movie of all time. I felt like a good romance and didnt want it to end up being a waste of time in the end, so I tried to choose a movie that I heard too many good things about to be able to be disappointed, and it really really worked. I was compl...( read more)etely sucked in by the story almost immediately. Its an extremely moving movie, epsecially the scene where everyone was singing in Rick's. I have only seen a handful of movies this old and wasnt really sure how it would compare to the modern movies I watch. Well, its so much better! Now I know what ppl mean, why cant they make movies like this anymore?
  • jesfontana
    September 17, 2009
    jesfontana
    A must-not-miss classic.
  • GiraffeSnacksFrB
    September 13, 2009
    GiraffeSnacksFrB
    I feel like I need to see it again, but I really didn't understand what was so amazing about it the first time around.
  • agneta26091
    September 11, 2009
    agneta26091
    i just love ingrid bergman
  • ElCochran90
    September 11, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Review coming someday...

    99/100
  • citawijaya
    September 7, 2009
    citawijaya
    This movie is just so fucking awesome! The lines, the casts and the story.... Perfecto...
    Real fucking classic.

    Rick: Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

    Ilsa: Play it Sam. Play As Time Goes By

    Louis: Round up the usual s...( read more)uspect.
  • R0L0D3X
    September 6, 2009
    R0L0D3X
    I thought this movie was terriable all they do is just talk
  • Drakensquar
    September 6, 2009
    Drakensquar
    This might be the beginning of a beautiful friendship
  • edwardspider
    September 6, 2009
    edwardspider
    this one great romance movie

Summary

Casablanca Summary