Casablanca

"They had a date with fate in Casablanca!"

1943 1h 42m EN

🙌

8.1

BANGER

🔥

99%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

100

METACRITIC

⭐

8.5

IMDB

★8.1TMDB · 6,275🍅99%Rotten Tomatoes●100Metacritic★8.5IMDB · 656,718

DramaRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In Casablanca, Morocco in December 1941, a cynical American expatriate meets a former lover, with unforeseen complications.

“They had a date with fate in Casablanca!”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Humphrey Bogart
Rick Blaine
Ingrid Bergman
Ilsa Lund
Paul Henreid
Victor Laszlo
Claude Rains
Captain Louis Renault
Conrad Veidt
Major Heinrich Strasser
Sydney Greenstreet
Signor Ferrari
Peter Lorre
Ugarte
S.Z. Sakall
Carl

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Michael Curtiz
Writers: Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard E. Koch
Languages: German, French, Italian, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $10M — a 11.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

83 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: German, French, Italian, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Michael Curtiz, shot by Arthur Edeson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Max Steiner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Owen Marks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Michael Curtiz directs. Arthur Edeson behind the camera. Max Steiner scores. Owen Marks cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in German, French, Italian, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.9M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $10M — a 11.9× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
383 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Dialogue crosses 4 languages: German, French, Italian, English.
5Directed by Michael Curtiz, shot by Arthur Edeson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Max Steiner. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Owen Marks shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "They had a date with fate in Casablanca!".
10IMDB entry: tt0034583 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11The top-rated still from this film on TMDB has 5 community votes — a signal the frame composition stuck with viewers.
12Classified under 18 themes, including "corruption", "nazi", "escape", "love triangle".
13Released under 13 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Arthur Edeson
Original score: Max Steiner
Editing: Owen Marks
Costume design: Orry-Kelly
Makeup / hair: Perc Westmore
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $878,000
Box office: $10,462,500
Return: 1192% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Casablanca (1943)
Rotten Tomatoes: 99% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 100/100
IMDB rating: 8.5/10 · 656,718 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Won 3 Oscars. 18 wins & 12 nominations total

Academy Award for Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
Academy Award for Best Director
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Michael Curtiz

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Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

barrymost2019-10-04
★ 9/10
"Everybody comes to Rick's," or so they say. It's the middle of WWII, and one evening a certain lady walks into Rick Blaine's popular cafe. As the familiar notes of "As Time Goes By" drift through the hazy atmosphere of the cafe, Rick's life begins to get really complicated. The top-notch cast is, I think, a big part of what makes this film so memorable, and much-heralded through the years. The script is truly well-written and moving. My only complaint is, how could they do something so awful as killing off Peter Lorre within the first quarter of the film? Would I recommend? Overall, yes. There's a reason people cite this as one of the best films ever made. Though there are others I like much more, it is very, very good.
John Chard2020-03-28
★ 10/10
You must remember this... Are my eyes really brown? Casablanca is one of those films that needs no introduction - or in truth - any more in-depth dissection as to its worth. Over the years it has become one of the most quoted ever pictures (sometimes wrongly), and in reality it's arguably more iconic than it is a work of art. Although a truly "A" list production for 1942, fact is nobody in and around the film expected it to be anything other than a good piece that will put bums on the seats in the theatres. Solidly received on release and riding in on the wave of the Allies inroads into North Africa, Casablanca steadily overcame the much discussed production troubles (the script was practically rewritten daily) to be where it is now, one of the most loved film's of all time. I wouldn't mention Paris, it's poor salesmanship! So what is it about Casablanca that makes it so cherished and adored by each and every generation?. I just know that each time I view it (yearly) it's like falling in love again, each viewing brings a new and emotionally driven fulfilment. Tears flow, sad ones and happy ones, an overriding feeling that romantic idealism isn't dead, to which Casablanca becomes my personal myth buster. Thematic redemption brings a joyous reward, even as our daydreams about lost chances and lost loves hangs heavy in and around Rick's Café Américain. Everything about Casablanca is right, from the flawless direction (Michael Curtiz) to the iconic music, and of course the magnificent characters that are brought to life by the incredibly tight and effective cast. It may not be the greatest film of all time, but to me, and those who let it into their lives, it's one of the best friends anyone could ever hope to have. 10/10
CinemaSerf2022-06-26
★ 8/10
I've just seen this on a big screen for the first time in over thirty years - no enhancements, 4K, HD - just as Michael Curtiz saw it back in 1942 and it's a cracking piece of cinema. "Rick Blaine" (Humphrey Bogart) runs his Casablanca café as a literal oasis in the North African desert - a refuge for all sorts fleeing the oppression of the Nazis in nearby Europe. Enter "Ilsa" (Ingrid Bergman) and her husband, a Czech resistance leader "Hector Lazlo" (Paul Henried) and we discover that "Rick" and her have a past, and when the pursuing "Maj. Strasser" (Conrad Veidt) and local police chief Claude Rains ("Capt. Renault") get involved in this cocktail of deceit and duplicity things gradually come to the boil in a wonderfully evocative, sophisticated fashion. Bogart and Bergman positively smoulder; the chemistry is electric - she, as usual, doesn't actually act - she is just herself, and that's all she needs to do. Rains is great as the conniving policeman as is Veidt delivering the rather sparse, but no less potent, dialogue perfectly. Like most of the best films, the key to this is it's (seemingly effortless) simplicity - and this one also has a wonderful musical score to complement the tensely directed, eerily shot, story augmented by an hugely talented supporting cast with the likes of Peter Lorre and the superbly sleazy Sydney Greenstreet. There was a great deal wrong and inhibiting with the "studio system" that prevailed at the time, but when it did work it could pull together an astonishing collection of people in front of, and behind the camera and create masterpieces like this.