Casablanca
Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By.
Ilsa (Casablanca)
The movie is rocking the world. But not the world of all the people. There are other Casablancas of different years. Well, we are talking about one that was shot in 1942, the original one with Bogart. There were few more, like Casablanca 1955 (TV show), Casablanca 1961, Casablanca 1983 (TV show), Casablanca 1998, which was a TV show again, Casablanca 2002 and Casablanca 2003.
So many movies and TV shows that it is difficult to choose, which one to watch. But I think it is better to start watching from the very beginning, from the origins of the derivatives. So Casablanca #1.
It was not meant as the film of all the times and nations. It was a good movie at the beginning but became one of the best ever made. The set of actors is thoroughly selected and it seems that they were meant to play those roles in their life.
But
There are some misunderstandings in the movie. First one was that the actors did not know the end of movie when the shooting started. So, one of the main characters Ilsa did not know with whom she had to be in love more, her own husband or Nick… She could not leave her husband for another man in the movie, as this case was strictly regulated by the Motion Picture Production Code. It forbade any kind of the adultery in the films. The movie ends with Ilsa leaving with her husband but it seems that all the viewers would like her to stay with great Rick. But c'est la vie, as French people say.
How about Roulette?
And of course we could not omit roulette in the movie, which is an important part of it. Rick owns Café Americain, where roulette table is. It has a trick. The dealer can force the ball to land on number 22. He tells a Bulgarian refugee to bet on that number and motions to the dealer. Rick lets the Bulgarian win twice.
But there is a weird thing with the payout. The man received 3885 francs. It is weird as the payout could be 3780 or 3888 (including the initial bets). But who knows what the croupier or director had in his mind?
The other that does not lack any romance is Daniel Deronda. It is also worthy of watching.
