Casablanca (1943)

Welcome to the Moroccan city of Casablanca, a hub for Europeans looking to flee from Germany to the United States during World War II. Only there may you get an exit visa, which are very hard to come by and often come with interminable waiting and danger. The place to be in Casablanca is Rick’s Place, a nightclub owned by the cynical American Rick Blaine (no one plays cynical like the great Humphrey Bogart). Tensions arise when a Czech resistance leader named Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) arrives with Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), who shares a bitter history and unhealed wounds with Rick. When it seems like Rick and Ilsa’s passion may be rekindling, they plan to use some highly sought-after transit papers to run away on the last plane out of Casablanca. Can Rick’s stone heart be turned, and will he ever make it out of Casablanca with Ilsa? “You better hurry- you’ll miss that plane.”  For those of you who have not seen the movie or want a refresher, please refer to Carrotblanca, the Bugs Bunny parody: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6SjYWTFR20

Where to begin? Does this movie even need a plot summary? Casablanca is kind of one of those, “if you don’t know, I can’t tell you” kind of things- you just have to see it. This film has everything- humor, suspense, music, intrigue, romance, and action all wrapped into one of the greatest screenplays of all time (as evidenced by the dozens of famous quotes within- seriously, the lines in this film just jump off the screen). Shakespeare once wrote that “brevity is the soul of wit,” and it is very refreshing to see that all of these ingredients can be efficiently delivered in 102 minutes (sorry Gone With the Wind but I just don’t have time for you most of the time). It can be argued that Bogart plays the same rough-edged charming cynic in every film, but no one can do it like he can and the quality of his films (The Maltese Falcon, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The African Queen, The Big Sleep… the list goes on) is rarely matched in film history. The supporting cast is rounded out by the beautiful Ingrid Bergman and the always-excellent Peter Lorre, playing it rather straight this time instead of being creepy. Universally placed on just about every top films of all time lists, Casablanca is often called the perfect film and it is tough to argue. Do yourself a favor and check it out or you’ll regret it. “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.”

I agree with Tim.  If you haven't seen it, you are seriously missing out!  I love this movie and I guarantee this will have spoilers, you've been warned.  And the older I get, the more I understand Ilsa's character.  It's easy to write her off as an immature slew (which is what I used to do).  I see it more clearly now.  You can't just ditch your husband who spent a year in a concentration camp who used you as his only reason for living, you just can't.  Bad form.  So I get it.  It doesn't make the last scene any easier.  In the last ten minutes of the movie the loyalty between Ilsa, Rick, Laszlo, and Captain Renault are in constant fluctuation (Tim pointed it out, but he didn't mention it!) but by the final line, everything ends as it should- with equal parts heartache and optimism.  In the scene in Rick's cafe when the German's begin to sing their anthem, "Die Wacht Am Rhein" and Laszlo leads the French occupants to start singing on top of the German Anthem with the French Anthem, "La Marseillaise," I realized this was probably the first mash-up in movie history.  Nice try, Glee.  Casablanca was WAY ahead of you.  

No one knew right up until the filming of the last scene whether Ilsa would end up with Rick or Laszlo. During the course of the picture, when Ingrid Bergman asked director Michael Curtiz with which man her character was in love, she was told to "play it in between".

Hard to pick a quote but I had to go with this one:

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