As I said, I've seen this film 25 times or more in the past 15 years. And every time it delights me, even though I know the story, the characters, the main events; it still has the power to surprise and captivate me. While I have immense praise for the editing, acting, art direction and flow of the film (and learn even today about what makes a good film great from watching its mechanisms), I think I've decided it's the actual screenplay, the very words of the film that define its greatness for me.
Just think for a moment about the number of sharp, sublime moments of dialogue we find in the film, or the subtle one-liners that for an instant allow a character to crystallize in our minds. Or even the romantic scenes, which are admittedly a little precious to our modern perspective, but very strong in their ability to convey the depth of the passion Rick and Ilsa shared in Paris and rekindled in Casablanca. Some of my favorite moments as follows:
Ugarte: You know, Rick, I have many a friend in Casablanca, but somehow, just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust.
Captain Renault: Rick, there are many exit visas sold in this café, but we know that *you've* never sold one. That is the reason we permit you to remain open.
Rick: Oh? I thought it was because I let you win at roulette.
Captain Renault: That is *another* reason.
Annina: Monsieur Rick, what kind of a man is Captain Renault?
Rick: Oh, he's just like any other man, only more so.
Rick: Don't you sometimes wonder if it's worth all this? I mean what you're fighting for.
Victor Laszlo: You might as well question why we breathe. If we stop breathing, we'll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.
Rick: Well, what of it? It'll be out of its misery.
Victor Laszlo: You know how you sound, Mr. Blaine? Like a man who's trying to convince himself of something he doesn't believe in his heart.
Yvonne: Where were you last night?
Rick: That's so long ago, I don't remember.
Yvonne: Will I see you tonight?
Rick: I never make plans that far ahead.
Captain Renault: What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.
Major Strasser: What is your nationality?
Rick: I'm a drunkard.
Captain Renault: That makes Rick a citizen of the world.
Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
Rick: How long was it we had, honey?
Ilsa: I didn't count the days.
Rick: Well, I did. Every one of them. Mostly, I remember the last one, the wild finish. A guy standing on a station platform in the rain, with a comical look on his face, because his insides have been kicked out.
Rick: And remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart.
Captain Renault: That is my *least* vulnerable spot.
These lines (and this is just a selection) are extraordinary in their capacity to evoke the characters we see on screen, and to provide us with a plausible background for their actions; in other words, the dialogues not only entertain us but they humanize the actors in their roles, and make us more engaged in their on-screen fate.
Another point: did anyone notice how many lines from Casablanca have joined the inner workings of modern American colloquial speech, or have captured the essential "Americanness" of the story?
A personal point of reference: in graduate school, after having demolished a bottle of bourbon with a friend on my back porch one night, she said to me, "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." I laughed very hard, because it was so incongruous to the situation yet so perfectly right. One of the many delightful features of film is that it often gives us a script for strange moments like that (and she was right, it was the beginning of a beautiful and remarkable friendship.)
Last point: Did anyone observe something familiar about Major Strasser in the film? Several of you have seen him before: the actor Conrad Veidt played both the Major -- and the sleep-walking Cesare in the Cabinet of Dr Caligari.
Tomorrow: the anti-Casablanca. No joke. Before then I'm going to watch The Maltese Falcon. Because it's almost as good as Casablanca.
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