Casablanca stars Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, a cynical ex-pat living in Casablanca. He owns an upscale nightclub which attracts a variety of colourful clientele. Rick is neutral on all matters, or so he says, but as the film continues on it becomes apparent that he is not. Certain clues are brought about as to Rick’s character, including the fact that he had run guns to Ethiopia to help combat the Italian invasion. He also fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. Rick deals with a number of shady characters in his nightclub as we find him, however, and it appears that his life has changed since his revolutionary days. Something has affected Rick and altered his perceptions as a man and that “something” is about to walk through the door.
Ingrid Bergman stars as Ilsa Lund, Rick’s ex-lover and the reason for his bitterness. She arrives at Rick’s nightclub with her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid). Laszlo is a Czech Resistance leader who is renowned around the world for his exploits. He is also on the run from the Nazis. Ilsa and Victor are trying to get to America so that Victor can have some safe ground on which to continue his work and to help his people. Ilsa learns about letters of transit that Rick has and old feelings begin to bubble to the surface, causing complications for everyone involved. A French police captain with an affinity for helping the Nazis, Louis Renault (Claude Rains), also becomes embroiled in the situation as Rick must make a moral choice as to who to help, if anyone, and why.
The cast of Casablanca was unique because of its internationalism, with only a few actors being American. Bogart was, of course, from New York. Bergman was Swedish and Henreid was Austrian. According to set rumours, Henreid didn’t get along too well with the other actors and was even heard describing Bogart as a “mediocre actor.” Bergman, in return, called Henreid a “prima donna.” Claude Rains was an English actor who had worked with Michael Curtiz before on The Adventures of Robin Hood. Peter Lorre, who plays Signor Ugarte in the film, was Hungarian and Conrad Veidt, who played Major Strasser of the Luftwaffe, was a German actor who fled Germany from the Nazis and ironically wound up playing Nazis for the remainder of his film career. Dooley Wilson, who played Sam, was one of the few other American actors in the film. Wilson was actually a drummer and couldn’t play the piano. At one point, a female character was considered to play the role of Sam, with Ella Fitzgerald being one of many names batted around for the part.
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