"Here's looking at you, kid."
---Rick Blaine
Casablanca is a heart-breaking story about sacrificing love to do what is right or what is right for the situation at hand. Bar owner Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is the person in Casablanca making that ultimate sacrifice, losing the love of his life for a second time in order to make things right. His lady love is Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), a woman whom he romanced in Paris before the German occupation and who, in fact, was already married to someone she feared dead at the time. Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), Ilsa's husband, is an outspoken Czech man who is the leader of the French underground resistance against Nazi control taking over Europe. When Rick meets Laszlo for the first time in his Casablanca bar, he is unaware that the woman who loved him and left him in Paris is Laszlo's wife; when he discovers the truth he must make the difficult decision of whether to flee from Casablanca with Ilsa or help her escape with her husband, a man who is hunted by the Germans and will ultimately be put in a concentration camp if he does not escape Casablanca soon.
Through flashbacks shown during the film's theme song "As Time Goes By", the audience learns that Rick and Ilsa had a short but powerful romance in Paris, one that would change their lives forever. While the Nazis are approaching France, Rick and Ilsa decide to flee together by train to the the nearest safe city. Unfortunately for Rick, Ilsa does not show up at the train station, leaving him heartbroken and unable to love again. Love is such a powerful entity that when discovers it for the first time, it is difficult to imagine ever feeling that way again with someone else. Although Ilsa later explains to Rick that she had learned her husband was alive on the same day she was supposed to leave with Rick, it is an unacceptable excuse for Rick's heart to accept. While he admits he still feels passion for Ilsa, he knows he has to give her up for good in order to do what is right for the situation: Ilsa must leave with her husband Laszlo to save both their lives.
The reason why Casablanca resonates with so many film viewers is because everyone can relate to loving something so much and then losing it, often unfairly. Whether it is the loss of one's first love, the estrangement or death of a family member or close friend, or the betrayal of someone you trust, everyone experiences heartache and devastation at some point in their lives. That pain hurts so much that it affects everything a person does for the rest of their life, whether they realize it or not. Casablanca is the embodiment of that sacrifice we all make at some point, willingly or unwillingly, of our greatest loves. I believe that it is why it is #3 on AFI's 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, and #1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Passions of All Time.
FUN FACT: Humphrey Bogart was actually two inches shorter than costar Ingrid Bergman and had to sit on pillows or stand on crates to seem taller during their scenes together!
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."
---Rick Blaine, Casablanca
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