Casablanca (1942)

Ingrid Bergman rallies Humphrey Bogart’s embittered cynic to the anti-Nazi cause in this classic romance.

Everybody comes to Rick’s bar, including expat Rick’s (Humphrey Bogart) former lover Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), in one of Hollywood’s most-loved romantic melodramas. Set in Vichy-controlled Morocco during WWII, Casablanca revolves around a nightclub run by cynical American expat Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), where resistance fighters, immigrants and Nazis converge to police or partake in an illicit economy. In this colourfully exotic setting, created entirely on the Warner Bros studio lot, an affair is rekindled between Rick and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), the latter now the wife of a resistance leader.

Directed by Hungarian refugee Michael Curtiz, Casablanca exemplifies the consummately crafted Hollywood drama, in which all the elements seem to have fallen alchemically into place. The screenplay sparkles with memorable lines, the supporting cast overflows with indelible performances, and the whole is given an urgent, topical edge by being made on the cusp of America’s involvement in the war.

“Conventional wisdom holds that by the early 1940s, the Hollywood studio system was a well-oiled machine. In this case, it was as if the Model T assembly line had produced a Rolls-Royce.” Peter Debruge

“Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman put in performances that would define both of their careers. It was a match made in heaven. Also, it was a love story doomed from the very beginning.” Danielle Solzman

“The first time I remember falling head over heels in love with film – and with Ingrid Bergman.” Clara Bradbury-Rance

1942 USA
Directed by
Michael Curtiz
Produced by
Hal B. Wallis
Written by
Julius J. Epstein, Philip G. Epstein, Howard Koch
Featuring
Lou Marcelle, Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman
Running time
102 minutes

Ranked in The Greatest Films of All Time poll

Sight and Sound

Who voted for Casablanca

Critics

Anjelika Artyukh
Russia
Matthew Asprey Gear
UK
Rebecca Barden
UK
Tarek Ben Chabaane
Tunisia
Philip Berk
USA
Annie Berke
USA
John Bleasdale
UK/Italy
Clara Bradbury-Rance
UK
Carlos Cháves Rodriguez
Peru
Andrew Collins
UK
Peter Debruge
USA
Rahul Desai
India
Thomas Doherty
USA
Nora Fiore
USA
Sean Gilman
USA
Gemma Gracewood
New Zealand
Paula Guthat
US
Caryn James
USA
Stephen Jones
UK
Sarah Kaufman
USA
Chris Knight
Canada
András Bálint Kovács
Hungary
Anna Machukh
Ukraine
Mary McNamara
USA
Nathalie Morris
UK/USA
Susan Napier
USA
Helen O'Hara
UK
Eva Orbanz
Germany
Miguel Pendás
USA
Rasha Salti
Canada/Lebanon/Germany
Cary Rajinder Sawhney
UK
Git Scheynius
Sweden
Katie Smith-Wong
UK
Neil Smith
UK
Danielle Solzman
USA
Janet Staiger
USA
Martin Stollery
UK
Matthew Turner
UK
Adrian Wootton
UK
Isaac Zablocki
USA

Directors

Peter Ho-sun Chan
Hong Kong/China
Pete Docter
USA
José Luis Garci
Spain
Nora Twomey

Rent new and acclaimed films, including those in cinemas now

Features from as little as £2.50, become a BFI Member to get a discount.

Explore rentals on BFI Player