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THE LESSONS OF “CASABLANCA”
Powerline ^ | 13 Dec 2023 | Scott Johnson / Cliff May

Posted on 12/13/2023 3:08:10 PM PST by Rummyfan

One of my favorite films is “Casablanca,” starring Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine, an American nightclub owner — and isolationist — in Morocco as the Nazis are goose-stepping across Europe and beyond.

“I’m not fighting for anything anymore except myself,” he tells Ilsa, the elusive love of his life. “I’m the only cause I’m interested in.”

When Major Strasser, an officer of the Third Reich, asks Rick what nationality he holds, Rick replies: “I’m a drunkard.”

Rick tells Louis Renault, the corrupt French police prefect: “I stick my neck out for nobody.”

“Casablanca” was written in 1941 during the months preceding the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7. The film was released in 1942.

And in January 1943, just two months after the Anglo-American landings in North Africa, President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in, yes, Casablanca, where he declared his war aim.

It was not a “ceasefire,” an “exit strategy,” or a “responsible conclusion.”

Instead, he demanded that Germany, Italy, and Japan – the Axis Powers – surrender, and that they do so “unconditionally.”

...

Back to our movie: “If we stop fighting out enemies, the world will die,” Victor Lazlo, the Czech Resistance leader, tells Rick. “Well, what of it?” Rick replies. “It will be out of its misery.”

But in the film’s final scene, Rick shoots Major Strasser, and decides to join the fight. “You’ve become a patriot,” Louis Renault observes.

(Excerpt) Read more at powerlineblog.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Politics; Society; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: casablanca
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To: Psalm 73; Rummyfan

At least Rummyfan didn’t let it leak who won the war...


21 posted on 12/13/2023 3:44:56 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: Psalm 73

I haven’t seen the movie but know that I will be familiar with some of the scenes when I do.


22 posted on 12/13/2023 3:46:34 PM PST by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: wally_bert

No, sounds entertaining. Thanks for the tip.


23 posted on 12/13/2023 3:47:19 PM PST by WeaslesRippedMyFlesh (Wake me up when somebody tells the truth.)
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To: Psalm 73
"but in the film’s final scene, Rick shoots Major Strasser,"

Spoiler alert.

Right? We were just heading out to the Redbox to see that tonight!

24 posted on 12/13/2023 3:51:22 PM PST by End Times Sentinel (In the conflict between the stone and the stream, the stream will always prevail.)
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To: Billthedrill
At least Rummyfan didn’t let it leak who won the war...

LOL!

25 posted on 12/13/2023 3:51:50 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man)
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To: Rummyfan

Pathetic.


26 posted on 12/13/2023 3:52:10 PM PST by Trailerpark Badass (“There should be a whole lot more going on than throwing bleach,” said one woman)
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To: WeaslesRippedMyFlesh
I liked “Key Largo” too.

Just put your lips together, and blow.

27 posted on 12/13/2023 3:53:00 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man)
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To: Macoozie
IRL, Conrad Veidt is the real Hero.

You mean Paul Henried. Conrad Veidt played Major Stosser.

28 posted on 12/13/2023 3:55:01 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man)
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To: Rummyfan

That was To Have and Have Not.


29 posted on 12/13/2023 3:56:44 PM PST by Tijeras_Slim
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To: Rummyfan
Uhh, isn't that line from To Have and Have Not?
30 posted on 12/13/2023 3:58:20 PM PST by Charles Martel (Progressives are the crab grass in the lawn of life.)
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To: Rummyfan

Rick is not an isolationist; he’s a communist sympathizer. Doesn’t anybody listen to the dialogue in this movie?


31 posted on 12/13/2023 3:58:28 PM PST by Romulus
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To: Charles Martel

Yeah, I got my movies confused.... another Bogie - Bacall flick.


32 posted on 12/13/2023 3:58:55 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man)
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To: Romulus
Rick is not an isolationist; he’s a communist sympathizer.

He had run guns into Spain for the Republicans (i.e. communists) (from the movie). But also into Ethiopia to fight the Italians. So you decide.

33 posted on 12/13/2023 4:00:47 PM PST by Rummyfan (In any war between the civilized man and the savage, support the civilized of man)
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To: Psalm 73

Watch it a couple times. I had to watch it several times before I realized how close it was to actual history, especially he early parts when folks were gravitating out of Europe. Never mind Bogie’s drama, the general drift is pretty accurate.


34 posted on 12/13/2023 4:00:49 PM PST by OldWarBaby
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To: Romulus

BS!


35 posted on 12/13/2023 4:03:48 PM PST by workerbee (==)
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To: Rummyfan

“Casablanca” was written in 1941 during the months preceding the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7. The film was released in 1942.

The original script of “Everybody Comes to Ricks” was picked up by a script reader on December 8, 1941. If he had read it the week before, it may have never been made.

We will always have Paris

Bogarts never says play it again Sam. He says

“Play it Sam, You played for her, you can play it for me.”

Bergman did say play “As Time Goes By” and Sam claimed he did not remember it.

Max Steiner who orchestrated the movie was planning to write a song for it. But because she used the line and had changed her hair style for her next picture, they had to leave it in. Herman Hupfeld became a very rich man because of this. He wrote “As Time Goes By” in 1931.


36 posted on 12/13/2023 4:04:56 PM PST by Steven Scharf
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To: granite
“I was misinformed” - My favorite line.

I liked the line that was something along the lines of "there are certain parts of Brooklyn I would advise the Wehrmacht to steer clear of."

37 posted on 12/13/2023 4:07:00 PM PST by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: Steven Scharf
Wow, Google me more, Steven Scharf.

Bet you've never watched the movie, have you?

38 posted on 12/13/2023 4:08:23 PM PST by workerbee (==)
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To: OldWarBaby
I was just kidding - "Casablanca" and "North by Northwest" are my two favorites - have watched them both a dozen time over the years.

(Sadly, I've also watched "Caddyshack" about a dozen times....)

39 posted on 12/13/2023 4:10:47 PM PST by Psalm 73 ("You'll never hear surf music again" - J. Hendrix)
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To: Red Badger
THE LESSONS OF “CASABLANCA”

They were a group of intergalactic refugees.

Wanted to use the Earth as an apolitical zone for...

creatures without a planet.

Did you ever see the movie "Casablanca?"

Same thing, except no Nazis.

40 posted on 12/13/2023 4:11:30 PM PST by Ezekiel (🆘️ "Come fly with US". Ingenuity -- because the Son of David begins with Mars ♂️, aka every man)
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