Great Moments From Cinema - 29

As Time Goes By
Movie: Casablanca (Warner Bros.; 1942)
Director: Michael Curtiz
Screenplay: Murray Burnett and Joan Alison (play) & Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch
Major Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid and Claude Rains

Film Synopsis: During WWII, ‘Rick Blaine’ (Bogart) runs a café in occupied Casablanca. One day his old love, Bergman, walks in with her husband (Henreid) who also happens to be the résistance leader and a wanted man. Now ‘Rick’ faces a dilemma.

My Favorite Moment: Bogart to Bergman, “Here's looking at you kid”

Why I Like It: This movie has perhaps got the most quotable lines in cinema. In fact 6 of the dialogues made it to AFI’s list of 100 greatest film quotes . Plus in Humphrey Bogart, it has the perfect man to deliver these lines. No wonder then, that when people think of this movie, it is Bogart and Bergman rather than the story which comes to everybody’s mind. The movie is by no means perfect, but it is nevertheless a part of cinematic history. Yes, there are plenty of other good movies involving star-crossed lovers but most of them have stories where the heart rules over the head. What makes ‘Casablanca’ a classic is the opposite. Each character in this film is extremely practical. Everyone does exactly what their head says. With any other actor that would have been difficult but with Bogart, it seems natural.

Bergman and Bogart had a brief affair in Paris before the war but she never told him of her marriage to Henreid. On the day everyone is fleeing France, she leaves Bogart waiting at the station since she feels that her husband, who is a freedom fighter, needs her support at that time. Bogart has never forgiven her and thus is hurt and angered to see her walk into his café and which leads to the classic line, “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” When he understands why she left him, he forgets his animosity and even she admits that her feelings for him have not diminished. She is ready to leave her husband but Bogart knows that her husband needs her the most and more importantly, France needs her husband to be strong. Nowhere is this emphasized more than the Henreid led rousing singing of La Marseillaise in ‘Rick’s Café when the Germans march in. Bogart is arranging for Henreid to escape and Bergman thinks that she would stay behind. Henreid knows of this and leaves the decision to her. But Bogart has other ideas, which leads to the famous scene at the airstrip where Bogart persuades her to leave with her husband. The speech which he makes is filled with quotes which have been immortalized and both of them know that what he is saying is the right thing to do. Thus when he says the following, we can’t help but agree, “I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that.” As Bergman looks at him with tearful eyes, Bogart lifts her chin up and says the quote mentioned as my favorite moment. ‘Best picture’ of 1943, over the years, this movie is still remembered for this and other scenes where Bogart shows us why he is the greatest actor of all time . So everytime we hear Bergman say to the piano player, “Play it once, Sam. For old times' sake”, we along with her, remember the time gone by.