Part of Swoon: A Love Series and Weekend Classics
American expat Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) plays host to gamblers, thieves and refugees at his Moroccan nightclub during World War II. But he never expected Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) — the woman who broke his heart — to walk through that door. Winner of 3 Oscars: Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay.
“The dialogue is so spare and cynical it has not grown old-fashioned…. As we leave the theater, we are absolutely convinced that the only thing keeping the world from going crazy is that the problems of three little people do after all amount to more than a hill of beans.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (Sep 15, 1996) “The incisive trick of draping a tender love story within the folds of a tight topical theme… [The Warner Brothers] used Mr. Bogart's personality, so well established in other brilliant films, to inject a cold point of tough resistance to evil forces afoot in Europe today… CASABLANCA is one of the year's most exciting and trenchant films. It certainly won't make Vichy happy — but that's just another point for it.” —Bosley Crowther, New York Times (Nov 27, 1942) “This great romantic noir is still grippingly powerful: a movie made at a time when it was far from clear the Nazis were going to lose.” —Peter Bradshaw, Guardian
