Casablanca: The movie becomes a legend

Casablanca has become more than a hit movie, it has become a legend. Casablanca made the once stereotypical tough guy Humphrey Bogart and the inocent, fresh Ingrid Bergman stars. These characters would haunt them both through out their careers as they were often typcast in very similar movies. Although both made several films before and after Casablanca, none would become more popular. The movie is considered the number two movie of all time by many sources, and recieved 8 oscar nominations, and won three. In the 1990's, an original movie poster was auction off by Sothersby's Auction house for $33,000 - not bad for a low budget film that critics panned.

Casablanca's lucky break may have came when Casablanca, Morocco coincidentally ended up in the headlines when Allied forces invaded North Africa just weeks before the movie's release and the city Casablanca was splashed across newspaper headlines . Or maybe the studio picked the right ending - sometimes it's better to be noble. Either way, Casablanca is considered by most film historians to be one of Hollywood's fortunate accidents, and perhaps one of Hollywood's most fornuate accidents.

Did You Know? The phrase "Play it again, Sam!" never appeared in any version of the movie scrip, nor the original screen play. Yet, it is one of the most quoted phrases in movie history.

At the time of Bogart's death, he still did not understand the big deal made over the movie, considering it one of his worst movies. Ingrid Bergman had not even looked at the finished film until she was asked to speak to a film class more than 20 years later. Yet, it's references appear everywhere in the forms of official and unofficial sequals, as well as pop culture references. Play it again, Sam was a Woody Allen film about a man who looked to the movies to deal with his own life. There was also a short lived television series about the movie. In addition, Rick and Ilsa have popped up in When Harry Met Sally, on 90210 and 2 Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place, and even in a Peanuts cartoon. There had been proposal by Warner Brothers and protests from countless fans over a re-make of the movie.

Casablanca started a number of instant trends when it was shown in theaters. The sales of ceiling fans boomed after theater goers watched them spin in Rick's Cafe Americian in 1942 and Bogey started a fashion trend that's lasted over 50 years by tying - not buckling - the belt of his trenchcoat in the last scene.