BEHIND THE SCENES OF CASABLANCA
Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid

Casablanca, the timeless love story from director Michael Curtiz is a true American classic. Set in French occupied Morocco at the beginning of WWII, it is the story of Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), an ex-freedom fighter who runs a nightclub in Casablanca. Rick's café has become a haven for refugees looking to purchase letters of transit allowing them passage to America. In need of Rick’s help, the famed rebel Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) arrives one day with his wife Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), Rick's one true love. Ilsa had deserted Rick in Paris, leaving him angry and bitter, but when he learns the reason their love is renewed. The love triangle unfolds to one of the most famous last lines of all time, “Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

Casablanca Trivia Facts

Alcohol’s Role in Casablanca
Although food plays almost no role in Casablanca, the drinking of beverages—especially alcoholic ones—play a significant role in the film. Alcohol is consumed on 48 different occasions

Salaries

Humphrey Bogart (Rick) $36,667
Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa) $25,000
Paul Henreid (Victor Laszlo) $25,000
Claude Rains (Capt. Louis Renault) $28,000
Conrad Veidt (Major Heinrich Stasser) $25,000
Dooley Wilson (Sam) $ 2,450

Trivia

• Producer Hal B. Wallis nearly made the character Sam a female
  
  
• Paul Henreid was concerned that playing a secondary character would ruin his career as a leading romantic lead.
  
  
• The script was based on the unproduced play “Everybody Comes to Rick's.”
  
  
• Dooley Wilson (Sam) was a professional drummer who faked playing the piano.
  
  
• 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".
  
  
• The budget was so small they couldn't use a real plane in the background at the airport. Instead, it is a small cardboard cutout. To give the illusion that the plane was full-sized, they used midgets to portray the crew preparing the plane for take-off.
  
  
• Director Michael Curtiz' Hungarian accent often caused confusion on the set. He asked a prop man for a "poodle" to appear in one scene. The prop man searched high and low for a poodle while the entire crew waited. He found one and presented it to Curtiz, who screamed "A poodle! A poodle of water!"
  
  
• Wallis thought of the film's last line three weeks after shooting ended, and Bogart was called back to dub it.
  
  
• Captain Renault's line "You like war. I like women." was changed from "You enjoy war. I enjoy women." in order to meet decency standards.
  
  
• Rick never says "Play it again, Sam." He says: "You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play it!" Ilsa says "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By’.”
  
  
• Humphrey Bogart's wife Mayo Methot continually accused him of having an affair with Ingrid Bergman, often confronting him in his dressing room before a shot.
  
  
• Several times the writers discussed having Rick leave with Ilsa, but this was always rejected, and the censors would not have allowed it with her married to Victor. The major problem was to make it plausible that despite clearly loving Rick she would leave with Victor; the final scene was rewritten many times until this was achieved.
  
  
• The last line is one of the most misquoted lines in all of film history. The correct line is "Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." It has been quoted as "This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship" or "I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."