Diane in Casablanca(PART 2 OF 4)

Diane in Casablanca(PART 2 OF 4)


As Time Goes By -

Original Song by

Sam (Dooley Wilson)

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What's so special about "Casablanca"?



Don't ask me such a stupid question, Diane. You're a cinephile, and you're well aware of the popularity of this legendary film, aren't you?

Yes, but you know, Kato. They say, there's no accounting for taste. You've got your own sense of taste, so I'm asking.

Well..., every cinephile knows that, in 1989, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." In 2005, it was named one of the 100 greatest films of the last 80 years by Time.com.

Top of the 100 films, you mean?

The selected films were not ranked. In 2006, the Writers Guild of America voted that the script is the best among the 101 greatest screenplays. And most of all, I like the fascinating storyline.

Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart) is a cynical American expatriate living in Casablanca in early December 1941.
His upscale nightclub and gambling den, "Rick's Café Américain", attracts a mixed clientele: Vichy French, Italian, and Nazi officials; refugees desperately seeking to reach the United States, as yet uninvolved in the war; and those who prey on them.


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Although Rick professes to be neutral in all matters, it is later revealed he ran guns to Ethiopia to combat the 1935 Italian invasion and fought on the Loyalist side in the Spanish Civil War.

The petty crook Signor Ugarte (Peter Lorre) shows up and boasts to Rick of "letters of transit" he obtained through the murder of two German couriers.
The papers allow the bearer to travel freely around German-controlled Europe and to neutral Portugal.
Ugarte plans to sell them to the highest bidder at the club later that night.
Before the exchange can take place, however, Ugarte is arrested by the local police under the command of Vichy Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains), a self-confessed corrupt official.
Ugarte dies in custody without revealing that he had entrusted the letters to Rick.

At this point, the reason for Rick's bitterness re-enters his life.
His ex-lover, Norwegian Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), walks into his establishment.
Upon spotting Rick's friend and house pianist, Sam (Dooley Wilson), Ilsa asks him to play "As Time Goes By".
When Rick storms over, furious that Sam has disobeyed his order never to perform that song, he is shocked to see Ilsa.
She is accompanied by her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a renowned fugitive Czech Resistance leader who has escaped from a Nazi concentration camp.


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They need the letters to leave for America, where he can continue his work.
German Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) arrives in Casablanca to see to it that Laszlo does not succeed.

When Laszlo makes inquiries, Signor Ferrari (Sydney Greenstreet), a major underworld figure and Rick's friendly business rival, divulges his suspicion that Rick has the letters.
In a private meeting, Rick refuses to sell at any price, telling Laszlo to ask his wife for the reason.
They are interrupted when Strasser leads a group of officers in singing "Die Wacht am Rhein".
Laszlo orders the house band to play "La Marseillaise".
When the band looks to Rick for guidance, he nods his head.
Laszlo starts singing, alone at first, then patriotic fervor grips the crowd and everyone joins in, drowning out the Germans.

In retaliation, Strasser has Renault close the club.
That night, Ilsa confronts Rick in the deserted café.
When he refuses to give her the letters, she threatens him with a gun, but then confesses that she still loves him.
She explains that when they first met and fell in love in Paris, she believed that her husband had been killed attempting to escape from the concentration camp.
Later, while preparing to flee with Rick from the imminent fall of the city to the German army, she learned that Laszlo was in fact alive and in hiding.
She left Rick without explanation to tend to her ill husband.

Rick agrees to help, leading her to believe that she will stay behind with him when Laszlo leaves.
When Laszlo unexpectedly shows up, having narrowly escaped a police raid on a Resistance meeting, Rick has waiter Carl (S. K. Sakall) spirit Ilsa away.

Laszlo reveals he is aware of Rick's love for Ilsa and tries to persuade him to use the letters to take her to safety.
When the police arrest Laszlo on a minor, trumped-up charge, Rick convinces Renault to release him by promising to set him up for a much more serious crime: possession of the letters of transit.
To allay Renault's suspicions, Rick explains he and Ilsa will be leaving for America.

When Renault tries to arrest Laszlo as arranged, Rick forces him at gunpoint to assist in their escape.
At the last moment, Rick makes Ilsa board the plane to Lisbon with her husband, telling her she would regret it if she stayed, "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life."

Major Strasser, tipped off by Renault, drives up alone.
Rick shoots Strasser when he tries to intervene.
When his men arrive, Renault pauses, then tells them to "round up the usual suspects."
Once they are alone, Renault suggests to Rick that they join the Free French at Brazzaville as they walk away into the fog.

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SOURCE: Casablanca (film)
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, Kato, you're really crazy about "Casablanca," aren't you?



Yes, yes, yes, I am. 　Love is important, but I can see something more important than love.

What is it?

One's belief, maybe...

Rick wanted Ilsa to saty with him, but at the end he let her go. Is this because Rick acted according to his belief?

I think so.

But exactly what belief?

Rick did let her go for the greater good he believed in.

Exactly what is it, Kato?

Diane, you said, you're keeping your eye out for someone for me.

Yes, I did.

You see...nobody is perfect. So whoever she is, chances are she will be a mismatched girl for me. 　As Rick let Ilsa go, I would probably let the gal go.

I see... Most likely Rick would have joined the Free French at Brazzaville. 　So, Kato, what would you join?

The Biker Babes?


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You join the above girls? 　No kidding!



No, I'm not joking nor jesting.

But how could you possibly join the girls?

Diane, look at the following map and list.


(To be followed)