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Dumping this off here (irrelevant, so far as I'm concerned--why not compare Bogart to his character in Treasure of the Sierra Madre too?):

"Richard Blaine was, like Bogart himself, a gentleman from New York, who could not return to New York. Bogart in Hollywood was surrounded by cut-throat studio heads, chiseling agents, fawning studio yes men, and admiring fans."

On radio here they were reminding us that to-day was the 60th anniversary of this movie's release. It gives reason to pause and reflect about just what makes for a great film. Sometimes it's just haunting scenes that linger on long after. Happy birthday Casablanca! Eclecticology 02:06 Nov 27, 2002 (UTC)

The following paragraph needs correcting!

The fog in the scene was there to mask the unconvincing appearance of the  
cardboard planes. Interestingly, few have commented on the implausibility of  
fog in a northern African location.

Bizarrely Casablanca does get fog -- see for example the cached weather forecast at http://tinyurl.com/dxhx (points to google cache of CNN reporting "Dense Fog" in Casablanca.) For a more scientific take see http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/travel/features/morocco.shtml which will explain European Atlantic fogs to those not used to them :-)

Fog is certainly plausible.

Muppet 10:06 June 10, 2003 (BST)

Hmmm, so the fog wasn't an error. That was an interesting reference you gave me there; thanks for that! (I was the one who wrote the above now deleted words)Arno

start of a beautiful friendship? Koyaanis Qatsi 12:19, 3 Aug 2003 (UTC)

What interests me most about the film, as a Unification Church member, is the resolution of the love triangle between Laszlo, Ilsa, and Rick.

When Ilsa thought her husband was dead, she began seeing Rick. (They are never shown in bed together, yet one assumes their intimacy went beyond champagne and kisses.) Yet immediately upon learning that her husband is till alive, she leaves Rick.

The triangular situation revives in Casablanca, when the (secretly) married couple show up at Rick's cafe. Bitter at being jilted, Rick initially refuses to help them.

Rick has three friends: the despicable Ugarte, the womanizing Inspector Renault, and the loyal pianist Sam. Ugarte commits murder to get the letters of transit, which he trusts Rick to hold for safekeeping. Renault has Ugarte arrested at the cafe, leaving Rick with two 'tickets to freedom'.

Rick refuses to sell the letters of transit to Laszlo, but won't tell him why: "Ask your wife", he says. Ilsa tries to get them from Rick, at first threatening him with a gun and then offering to resume her affair with him. After this display of feminine power, Rick prepares a decisive strategy.

Weygand

Is that statement about General Weygand true? I listened to the scene where Ugarte describes the letter of transit about a dozen times just now and I, at least, am convinced that what Peter Lorre says is "General de Gaulle". Obviously whether or not that's in the script I cannot say. Regardless, I'm not sure Weygand makes that much more sense. While he was Delegate-General of the North African colonies, he was recalled in November 1941, a month before the film is set. I think given the other implausable occurances, and the MacGuffin nature of the letters in general, it's likely that de Gaulle was picked haphazardly as an important French person without thought given to how much sense it made. The writer, I'm sure, had no idea the degree this movie would be scrutinized. The French translator, being more atune to the situation in France and its colonies, probably inserted Weygand's name purposefully as something that at least was somewhat more logical, and close enough in sound to not be a terribly obvious mistranslation. -R. fiend 15:33, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)