Few movies have a lasting presence in their own decade, let alone seventy years later. “Casablanca,” however, is the quintessential American film: an unforgettable love story full of vulnerabilities, romance, and one-liners. What a tremendous hole would lie in the world of cinema if this film hadn’t been made, but truth be told, it almost wasn’t.
During wartime, film studios in the 1930s and ‘40s showed the utmost patriotism — Warner Bros. being perhaps the most loyalist of all. The studios pumped out films the way factories concocted car parts; there were few classics among the assembly lines. When a story developer at Warner came across the play “Everybody Comes to Rick’s,” they ingeniously renamed it “Casablanca,” and so began the tale we know so very well today.
READ MORE: Watch J.K. Simmons And Future Ghostbuster Kate McKinnon Reveal Alternate 'Casablanca' Ending On 'SNL'
Gary Leva directs this terrific short documentary exploring the trials and tribulations of...
