Casablanca is set in the days before the allied occupation which proved a perfect foil for a film of intrigue and adventure.
The place is given an elaborate setting. Money is plentiful, time is meaningless, life is cheap. French, German, Italian, American and native rub uneasy shoulders and no man is to be trusted.The film mainly deals with the visas, arrests, and escapes.
The film begins with the gathering of the usual suspects in Casablanca’s streets and alleys. A German courier has been ambushed and killed in the desert, thereby giving up two transit visa. Two extremely valuable travel documents, signed by general Weygand, that means free passage via airplane to Lisbon, and from there to America. That night in Rick’s Cafe, its owner, American adventurer Rick Blaine, is accosted by the shady passport dealer Ugarte. He has the transit visa and asks Rick to keep them for him for a few hours. Rick agrees and hides the documents in Sam’s piano.
Meanwhile, Gestapo Major Strasser has arrived in neutral Casablanca which falls under the command of the thoroughly corrupt Vichy French Prefect, Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains). So have resistance fighter Viktor Laszlo and his wife Ilsa ( Ingrid Bergman) with the intent to take possession of two transit visa for passage to the free world. Strasser orders Renault not to let Laszlo leave Casablanca at any price.
With the dashingly beautiful Ilsa on his side, Laszlo enters Rick’s(Humphrey Boghart)Cafe. He has an appointment with a possible source of transit visa. This man, Berger (John Qualen), tells him about the two transit visa and informs him that Ugarte has just been arrested by Major Strasser.
In the meantime Ilsa recognises the bar pianist as Sam and asks him to play their old favourite, ’’As Time Goes By’’ He hesitates but relents. Just as he is about to start the second chorus, Rick storms in. Without noticing Ilsa he tells Sam harshly he never wanted to hear that particular song again. Sam halts and nods towards Ilsa. Rick’s glance meet Ilsa’s. Just at that poignant moment, Laszlo joins the party in the company of Renault, having found out that Rick is the only man in Casablanca who knows the whereabouts of the transit visa. Maybe they even are in his possession.
The basic intrigue is established. Ingrid Bergman makes a devastating appearance in the first act of the film.
The film continues with the battle over the transit visa and Ilsa’s desperation. Before the war, Ilsa and Rick had an affair in Paris. They agreed not to ask any questions about each others past. Ilsa only tells Rick that her husband died recently. The Germans are approaching Paris and the couple decides to flee from town and country. On the morning of their departure, waiting at the station in the pouring rain, Sam hands Rick a note from Ilsa, giving no explanation but saying she cannot join them. Rick and Sam leave for the south.
Now, a year later, they meet again in Rick’s night club. She tries to wheedle the transit visa away from him but Rick reacts bitterly, reproaches her for leaving him and refuses flatly to give or sell her the visa. The tension rises.
Ilsa is confused about her feelings and doesn’t know whether she must choose for Rick or for her husband. The film reaches a surprising climax to end in one of the most impressive endings in film history.
Do check this movie out if you are a classics movie fan.
I had seen it in TNT Classic movie channel.
If you are a die hard romantic you will enjoy this movie and it has its share of the chills and thrills.