The ageless Casablanca is perennially embraced by the young and nostalgic for its message that love benevolently surrendered is as sweet, if not sweeter, than love retained. It is considered one of the finest romantic melodramas ever made in Hollywood. But the Warner Bros. Certainly, no one predicted that it eventually would become an all-time classic. Nonetheless, Casablanca beat the odds and was greeted enthusiastically by audiences and critics. It won three Oscars, including best picture.
Of course, the film's popularity at the time was helped by the current of wartime patriotism in the United States, which had entered the war less than a year before.
Warner Bros. The movie enjoyed further widespread publicity generated by the Casablanca summit of Allied leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle in January , which coincided with the film's general release. The chemistry between year-old Bogart and year-old Bergman is a marvel and all the more remarkable because they barely knew each other. Bogart was the seventh choice in casting the part of Rick.
Among those considered for the part was movie tough guy George Raft. Raft rejected the role, saying, "Whoever heard of Casablanca? Bergman's character was renamed in the film.
In the play, she was an American named Lois Meredith. Ann Sheridan, then known as the "Oomph Girl," was considered for the part when the character was still the American Lois. When the character was changed to European, Bergman became one of the top contenders. Morgan, by the way, would get a chance to play opposite Bogart two years later in another Warner film, Passage to Marseille.
