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One of the true films that the cliche "timeless" can be applied to.

Made in 1943, it is a masterful combination of romance, thriller, war intrique, and nobility. It can appeal to any generation, even though it was made in the midst of World War II.

Casablanca has top critic rating of 100% on RottenTomatoes.com, and a viewer rating of 98%.

Not convinced, watch the trailer for Casablanca here

Roger Ebert on Casablanca:

If we identify strongly with the characters in some movies, then it is no mystery that ``Casablanca'' is one of the most popular films ever made. It is about a man and a woman who are in love, and who sacrifice love for a higher purpose. This is immensely appealing; the viewer is not only able to imagine winning the love of Humphrey Bogart or Ingrid Bergman, but unselfishly renouncing it, as a contribution to the great cause of defeating the Nazis....

Stylistically, the film is not so much brilliant as absolutely sound, rock-solid in its use of Hollywood studio craftsmanship. The director, Michael Curtiz, and the writers (Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein and Howard Koch) all won Oscars. One of their key contributions was to show us that Rick, Ilsa and the others lived in a complex time and place. The richness of the supporting characters (Greenstreet as the corrupt club owner, Lorre as the sniveling cheat, Rains as the subtly homosexual police chief and minor characters like the young girl who will do anything to help her husband) set the moral stage for the decisions of the major characters. When this plot was remade in 1990 as ``Havana,'' Hollywood practices required all the big scenes to feature the big stars (Robert Redford and Lena Olin) and the film suffered as a result; out of context, they were more lovers than heroes.

Seeing the film over and over again, year after year, I find it never grows over-familiar. It plays like a favorite musical album; the more I know it, the more I like it. The black-and-white cinematography has not aged as color would. The dialogue is so spare and cynical it has not grown old-fashioned. Much of the emotional effect of ``Casablanca'' is achieved by indirection; 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.


An online reviewer:

This film is a classic, and rightly so. Staring Humphrey Bogart,
Ingrid Bergman and Paul Heinreid, it was originally just another one
of the more than 50 films turned out each year by each of the major
studios that dominated Hollywood in those days. It's release
coincidentally coincided with the Nazi occupation of France, and its
theme and its timeless love story caught the public's
imagination.

Casablanca in French Morocco is under French rule and
one of the places in the world where refuges can get safe passage
visas to go on to Lisbon and eventually to America and freedom. It is
seething with intrigue and corruption. Humphrey Bogart is an
ex-patriot American citizen who runs Rick's Cafe, where much of the
commerce takes place. Peter Lorre is a smuggler, Sidney Greenstreet
is a black marketeer, and Martin Dooley is the piano player known as
Sam.

When, one evening Ingrid Bergman comes in to the cafe on the
arm of her husband, Paul Heinreid, and asks the piano player to
"play it Sam", he reluctantly plays "As Time Goes By." This melody which is played throughout the movie, is the glue that defines the romance. There's electricity between the lovers. There's intrigue and double dealing. Something exciting happens in each scene. And the acting is so good that it brought me
right into Casablanca. The story is always clear. The danger is
always there. The tension sizzles.

One particularly meaningful scene was when some Nazi soldiers gather round the piano and sing an ominous song to the "Fatherland". It makes everyone in the
Rick's cafe very uncomfortable. That's when Paul Heinried instructs
the orchestra to play the French national anthem, the "Marseilles". Everyone starts to sing. The Nazis are silenced. The music takes over. I found my eyes filled with
tears.

Oh, and if you can't resist, here is a compilation film clip of "As Time Goes By" from Casablanca. If this doesn't give you goosebumps, your heart is not beating.

Bogart as Rick is the last person one would expect to sacrifice love for a higher calling, but heroes are often born of the most unlikely of circumstances.

And so it is in "Casablanca."

Simply, a classic.

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