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Unit 29: Umberto Eco’s ‘Casablanca: Cult Movies and Intertextual Collage’ (History and War-Background)

Casablanca is now over 60 years old and in many respects is very much a film of its (specific) time: Notes
there is a liberal sprinkling of rather crude wartime propaganda, it was made in black and white
entirely on studio sets, and, typically for the period, everyone appears immaculately dressed
throughout and seem to survive on bourbon and champagne cocktails. There is, therefore, much
debate about the reasons for its enduring appeal. Undoubtedly its legendary status plays a part,
by promoting interest and respect from new generations of viewers, that would otherwise not be
granted a film of this vintage. This apart, it can be argued that it deserves admiration for its rich
combination of skilfully drawn, three-dimensional characters, a cleverly constructed plot that
maintains tension and keeps going right to the last frame, its nostalgic music, Ingrid Bergman’s
luminous natural beauty, the amusing snappy dialogue, and flawless cinematic execution. As an
NFT reviewer concluded ‘ … the sum of its many marvellous parts far exceeds the whole.’ (National
Film Theatre review 1974, quoted in Halliwell’s Film Guide)

29.5 Eco’s Writing

The original play was inspired by a trip to Europe made by Murray Burnett in 1938, during which
he visited Vienna shortly after the Anschluss, where he saw discrimination by Nazis first-hand. In
the south of France, he came across a nightclub, which had a multinational clientele and the
prototype of Sam, the black piano player. In the play, the Ilsa character was an American named
Lois Meredith and did not meet Laszlo until after her relationship with Rick in Paris had ended;
Rick was a lawyer. To make Rick’s motivation more believable, Wallis, Curtiz, and the screenwriters
decided to set the film before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
The first writers assigned to the script were the Epstein twins, Julius and Philip who, against the
wishes of Warner Brothers, left the project after the attack on Pearl Harbor to work with Frank
Capra on the Why We Fight series in Washington, D.C. While they were gone, the other credited
writer, Howard Koch was assigned to the script and produced some thirty to forty pages. When
the Epstein brothers returned after a month, they were reassigned to Casablanca and—contrary to

what Koch claimed in two published books—his work was not used. In the final Warner Brothers
budget for the film, the Epsteins were paid $30,416 and Koch $4,200.
The uncredited Casey Robinson assisted with three weeks of rewrites, including contributing the
series of meetings between Rick and Ilsa in the cafe. Koch highlighted the political and melodramatic

elements, while Curtiz seems to have favored the romantic parts, insisting on retaining the Paris
flashbacks.Wallis wrote the final line (“Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”)

after shooting had been completed. Bogart had to be called in a month after the end of filming to

dub it. Despite the many writers, the film has what Ebert describes as a “wonderfully unified and
consistent” script. Koch later claimed it was the tension between his own approach and Curtiz’s
which accounted for this: “Surprisingly, these disparate approaches somehow meshed, and perhaps
it was partly this tug of war between Curtiz and me that gave the film a certain balance.” Julius
Epstein would later note the screenplay contained “more corn than in the states of Kansas and
Iowa combined. But when corn works, there’s nothing better.”

Initial Response
Casablanca received “consistently good reviews”. Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote,
“The Warners... have a picture which makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap.” The
newspaper applauded the combination of “sentiment, humor and pathos with taut melodrama
and bristling intrigue”. While he noted its “devious convolutions of the plot”, he praised the
screenplay quality as “of the best” and the cast’s performances as “all of the first order”.
The trade paper Variety commended the film’s “combination of fine performances, engrossing
story and neat direction” and the “variety of moods, action, suspense, comedy and drama that
makes Casablanca an A-1 entry at the b.o”. The paper applauded the performances of Bergman
and Henreid and analyzed Bogart’s own: “Bogart, as might be expected, is more at ease as the
bitter and cynical operator of a joint than as a lover, but handles both assignments with superb
finesse.” Variety wrote of the film’s real-world impact, “Film is splendid anti-Axis propaganda,

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