Rick’s Cafe American Opens
On this day in 1942, the movie Casablanca had its premiere at the Hollywood Theater in New York City. Casablanca is the story of Rick Blaine, an American nightclub owner in North Africa during World War II. One night, he is approached by a French Resistance fighter named Victor and his wife Ilsa, who are trying to get papers to escape to America. Ilsa happens to be Rick’s true love, who deserted him when the Nazis invaded Paris.
The movie took ten weeks to shoot. The original title was “Everybody Comes to Rick’s.” One of the actors considered for the part of Rick was Ronald Regan, but the producer eventually settled on Humphrey Bogart. The script was constantly rewritten throughout the shooting, and not even the writers knew whether Ilsa would end up with Rick or Victor at the end. The reviews were mixed, but it was a box office hit, and it went on to with the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1943.
Casablanca now one of the best-loved and most quoted movies of all time. It contains lines such as, “Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she had to walk into mine,” “The problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world,” “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” and, “Here’s looking at you, kid.”
From the Writer’s Almanac by Garrison Keillor
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