produced by pal Wallace

Ingrid Bergman(Ilsa Lund) Due to her being from Sweden, Casablanca was one of her first American films, she was chosen because of her accent since it fir her character the most. She stared in other movies such as gaslight and Notorious however she became famous from Casablanca.

Claude Rains(Captain Louis Renault) He was chosen to play in Casablanca mainly because he was already well known in the industry for his incredible acting. He was in other movies such as ‘Notorius’ as Alexander. Rains signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. on 27 November 1935, with Warner able to exercise the right to loan him to other studios.

Conrad Veidt (Major Heinrich Strasser) He was already successful in other film industry before Casablanca, he was in movies The Man Who Laughs (1928) and  Different from the Others (1919). He was in the movie Casablanca due to hiss background (German) and along with his accent which made him sound and look more authentic.

Sydney Greenstreet (Signor Ferrari) Sydney Greenstreet was a British and American actor who didnt start acting until he was 61, however he had a run of significant motion pictures in a Hollywood career.  He was know for the movies – The Maltese Falcon (1941), Casablanca (1942), and Passage to Marseille (1944) which were all by Warner bros meaning that Sydney Greenstreet had close relations to Warner bros.

Peter Lorre (Ugarte) He was a Hungarian who had to flea from his country due to the fact he was Jewish, this is where he started making English movies like  The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934),He eventually made it to Hollywood where he started working for Warner Bros in films such as Mad Love (1935) and My Favorite Brunette (1947).

S.Z. Sakall (Carl (as S.K. Sakall)) His first prominent role was In Casablanca as Carl which led to him being in other movies such as  Christmas in Connecticut (1945) and  In the Good Old Summertime (1949). He was loved by  magnate Jack L. Warner because opf his round and lovable appearance which led to his contract with warner bros.

Madeleine Lebeau (Yvonne (as Madeleine LeBeau)) Before marrying her actor husband Marcel Dalio in 1939 she was in the movie Young Girls in Trouble as a uncredited student. After alort of difficulty getting to the USA she ended up in Hollywood with her first movie  Hold Back the Dawn (1941) and in the following year she appeared in the Errol Flynn movie Gentleman Jim. Warner Bros. signed her to a $100-a-week contract for twenty-six weeks to be in a number of films and the contract ended shorty before the movie release

Dooley Wilson (Sam) he was an American actor, singer and was a musician in his own band in the 1920s, touring nightclubs in London and Paris. In the1930s he took up acting, playing supporting roles onstage on Broadway however his most prominent role was in Casablanca. He was contracted for Paramount however he was lent over to Warner Bros for seven weeks.

Joy Page (Annina Brandel) Her first movie was Casablanca when she was 17 despite her thinking the movie was old fashioned. Warner Bros studios didn’t sign her to a contract and she never appeared in another Warner Bros movie again. Instead she was in other movies like Kismet in 1944 and shorty retired after the first season of Disney’s miniseries The Swamp Fox in 1959.

John Qualen (Berger) He began working with warner bros in 1927 for the film Lights of New York. He was in many different movies but his most known are angels over Broadway, an American romance and Hollow Triumph

Mise En Scene

Locations

Casablanca, despite being set in Morocco, was filmed in two regions- The Warner Bros lot in Burbank and for the airport scenes they filmed in the Metropolitan Airport at Van Nuys

Sets

The old Hollywood style mean that the sets had to look realistic which Casablanca managed to do well. The sets had to give of and exotic and tense atmosphere to mimic the world war II feel. All the sets were either made by warner bros to achieve the romantic appearance of the movie, however some sets e.g. the train station were taken from other movies and re designed to fit with the Casablanca aesthetic.

Costume

The costumes in Casablanca helped distinguish all the different nationalities in the city which was a big part of the historical context of World War II. All the costumes where elegant and helped represent the power level of each character, for example Heinrich Strasser was always in a formal suit which showed he was in charge of the German soldiers. The women in the movie also all looked put together which showed how they were more for appearance other than wealth or power.

Props

props are used in Casablanca to not only add to how the characters feel or some characters wealth/ power, but also as a tool to showcase the time period and the opinions of the war, for example when the Vichy France bottle was thrown in the bin it showed how the character Captain Renault was no longer supporting the Germans.

Editing

During the old Hollywood time period, Invisible editing was common which meant that the editing would go unnoticed and wasn’t prominent this adds to the verisimilitude. This would also mean that there would be no sudden cuts/ jump cuts ands everything would feel smooth and natural

A good example of this is when Rick was helping the couple leave Casablanca and make it to America, in this sequence of different cuts you can see the expressions on everyone’s face which helps us as the audience feel touched by Ricks actions. You can also see the zoom in on the poker chips which add to the scene since the audience feels more involved and understanding of it.

( close up image )

Sound

There is a sound motif for the character Isla and Rick, this song is called ‘as time goes by’ and is representative of her and Ricks relationship. It is most prominent i the train station scene where Rick discovers that Isla is not following him, this leads the song to have more backstory and touch the audience. This song was composed by Max Steiner, also famous for the music in King Kong.

There’s also a large use of Diegetic sounds, i the same train scene you can hear the rain which added to the already gloomy atmosphere. There’s also a use of diegetic sound when the doors of Ricks bar slam open when the police enter, this adds shock and fear to the already dramatic scene.

Representation

Black people – The only non white person in Casablanca was Sam an African American musician for Rick. However, Sam is displayed as a stereotypical form of entertainment for white people and is seen as property, this is shown when someone offers to buy Sam from Rick which shows how little Sam is valued as a person. During World war II black people were already a target and this movie simply added to it.

Women – There aren’t many female characters in the movie other than Isla , Yvonne and Annina Brandel. All of these women are always seen looking well put together and beautiful, this is because women at the time were seen as an accessory to the men they were with. Annina Brandel is a good example of this because although she was a poor woman who was newly wed and needed help with money from rick to escape, she still managed to look expensive and like she wasn’t struggling. All these women had a relation ship with a man and felt almost dependent on them. Specifically Isla who’s entire role in the movie was to chose which man she wanted to depend on the most.

Men – There were alot of men in Casablanca. Despite alot of these men being from different backgrounds and having a different level of power, they all looked and acted superior and much more wealthy than they were. All of the men were seen in suits or they’re uniform which showed how they could afford to live comfortable despite the war happening. The only characters that had any authority the whole movie where white men which included : rick and Heinrich Strasser.

Aesthetics in Casablanca

Themes and issues

isolationism –  World War II was a dispute between foreign nations and that the United States had no good reason to get involved

What was Americas view on ww2 – America believed that it shouldn’t get involved since they didn’t want anymore young American men to die in war unless absolutely necessary (Pearl harbour) 96% of Americans don’t want to get involved and would rather stay neutral

The character of rick in Casablanca is a cynical at the start of of the movie and represents the 96% of Americans who chose to stay out of the war, this is shown by the fact he doesn’t lean much either way politically and just wants money. However after he helps the couple with the visa out of Europe he start to become a sentimentalist and patriotic.

Historical and Social context for Casablanca

the allies – UK, USA AND USSR

The axis – Germany, Japan, Italy

France was occupied by Germany in June of 1940 and surrendered to the Nazis. The Free French still fought for the allies, this was in southern France which was renamed Vichy France because of the new capital. The new government was a German puppet.

Morocco is part of the French empire which is where Casablanca was set

World war 2 started in September 1st 1939, however America didn’t join until 1941 after the surprise attack from japan on pearl harbour

Operation Torch – The invasion Allowed the British to take control of north Africa while allowing the American forces to start their fight with Nazi Germany. (November 8, 1942)

‘it captured the zeitgeist’ – Uses the mood / feelings of a specific point in history, (ww2 for Casablanca)

Casablanca Conference -When Whiston Churchill and President Roosevelt had a meeting in Casablanca about the allied powers and plans on how to fight against the axis. (Jan 14, 1943 – Jan 24, 1943)

The first screening of Casablanca was 26 November, 1942 was in New York, it goes on general release in January 1943

People used to get their news from newspaper, movie reels and the radio