Deconstructing ‘Casablanca’: Waiting for Rick…
by Michael MoriartyRather than proceed with the more obvious examples of Hollywood Left … as I had promised, films like Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Reds and Inside Man, I’m drawn to a much subtler message in the great classic Casablanca.
Perhaps every movie buff has tried to write – if only in his or her own imagination – a sequel to that great film classic, Casablanca, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
Rick’s advice to Ilsa in the last scene of the film, that the problems of two little people don’t amount to much during World War II?
How could true love be defeated by an obviously Communist father-figure such as Paul Henreid’s Victor Laszlo?
“That’s a hefty charge, Mr. Moriarty.”
I know, Bogey himself defended most of Hollywood by telling the world in his Photoplay article of March, 1948:
“We have a minute percentage of Communists, but they are under control.”
So surely Bogey’s “Rick” would never have let his Ingrid’s “Ilsa” fly off with a Commie to a very “uncontrollable” South America.
“You’re certain, Mr. Moriarty, that Victor Laszlo is a Communist?”
Positive.
“Well, his politics had nothing to do with why he gets Ingrid Bergman in the end. He’s married to her, Moriarty! At that time, the Hollywood production code forbade women to run off with men other than their husbands!”
Oh, well … then the holier-than-thou Film Code unwittingly aided and abetted a Communist! My sequel to Casablanca would have Ilsa running around the world to find Rick … after discovering the ruthlessly Red reality beneath Lazlo’s smooth and worldly veneer.
In Casablanca, Paul Henreid’s Laszlo is not yet a Soviet … but he is Czech … and Stalin had all the Slavs in his Communist rifle sights … certainly by Casablanca’s date of release, January 23, 1943 … and the only publicized monster by then was Hitler.
Operation Barbarossa, the Third Reich’s invasion of Russia … and Hitler’s betrayal of Stalin … began on June 22, 1941.
That invasion, of course, ended the brief love affair between the two monsters, Der Fuhrer and Big brother Joe – a liason during which both Poland and Finland were raped respectively by Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia.
By 1943, at least according to FDR’s “Protocol” with the Soviets, Stalin’s Russia was by then a closer friend of America than even England.
Under Roosevelt’s command, “Whatever Uncle Joe wants? Uncle Joe gets!”
And, of course, in the eyes of Casablancans and the Film Code, whatever Victor Laszlo wanted, Victor Laszlo got! Even if it happened to be Ingrid Bergman!!
If I’m right and Laszlo is a Communist – all Hollywood films being forever in the present moment of the beholder – then that explains the depth and breadth of this underground hero’s legendary reputation: the still existing, Worldwide Communist Intelligence Network. A machine that can help whisk its operatives anywhere in the world … even into the White House!
It is in not only this respect but many others as well that Humphrey Bogart’s Rick just … kind of … gets in the Communist’s way.
If we replace the symbolic meaning of Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa with the American Feminist Movement and its indisputable allegiance to the Left … the increasingly Far and Obamatized Left these days … then, of course, Bogey was prophetic … and … if indeed Bogey was also a Lefty … an organically inevitable Progressive … Rick just had to send Ilsa off with Laszlo to “continue their work.”
However, the only thing that Bogey’s “Rick” admits to is that he’s a “drunk”.
Furthermore, Rick’s “Bogey” declared himself, in the title of that Photoplay article of 1948:
“I’m no Communist!”
In Casablanca, Rick’s best and most trusted friend is a black piano player, impeccably performed by Dooley Wilson, and that, I must say, was the best and only battle cry worth celebrating in the French Revolution’s version of Liberty. If you look closely, Delacroix’s painting has a multiracial selection in his painting. Les enfants de la Patrie!
Or is it Les Enfants du Paradis?
Oh, well … that’s another film … that I may have to re-examine.
But is the obvious Francophile Rick also an automatically fashionable, nouveau-French Red?
I don’t think so.
“I stick my neck out for nobody!”
In the end, of course, Rick The Romantic sticks his neck out for Ilsa who would be safest in South America … with … yes … The Red!
Yet he also sticks his neck out for the victims of the House of Un-American Activities Committee … for which he must clarify his political position:
“On the left, in America, we have the Communists, not many but tightly organized. On the right, we have the bulk of our population, who believe with me, that cures can be effected within the framework of democracy … let’s realize that these liberals (like himself) are devoted to our democracy.”
I’m particularly looking forward to the comments and commentary on this editorial of mine. So much of human history arises out of our almost subconscious views of people and stories and subjects like those contained in one of Hollywood’s greatest semi-fictions, Casablanca.
Was Rick a fellow Red?
Or was he an apolitical American whose understanding of politics would not even begin until he, like Humphrey Bogart himself, could walk in the rain with Claude Rains … or … invite himself to testify on behalf of the accused before the House of Un-American Activities Committee?
That’s when America started calling Bogey a “Commie” and the great star had to defend himself in print.
“So long as we are completely opposed to Communism and do not let ourselves be used as dupes by Commie organizations, we can still function as thoughtful American citizens.”
Yet I have no doubt that Bogey would have voted for Obama.
Yet, Humphrey Bogart was no Commie. He was just admittedly a well-intentioned liberal like most of Hollywood was in those days.
In these days, however, he could be a Democratic Congressman that … well … just doesn’t want to vote for the “Public Option”. He’s just a bit nervous about too much power being in too few hands. Otherwise, he votes along party lines.
Or he could be Charlton Heston!
No.
Being Charlton Heston in a Progressivized Hollywood might even be worse than being Michael Moriarty in New York … after, of course, Ben Stone left Law and Order.
Hmmm …
From my personal experience with American politics, I don’t think you can be just “a little bit impregnated by Karl Marx”.
However, Bogey thought we could:
“In the final analysis, this House on Un-American Activities Committee has had one salutary effect. It cleared the air by indicating what a minute number of Commies there really are in the film industry.”
If Bogey says, “It ain’t so” … It ain’t so!!
“Though headlines may have screamed of the Red menace in movies, all the wind and fury has actually proved that there’s no Communism injected on America’s movie screens.”
Despite Mr. Bogart’s confidence, I believe we are now way beyond being a “little bit pregnant.”
The actual baby, an American Communist State, is being born!
From the very “minute” number of Communists in Humphrey Bogart’s Hollywood sprang the anti-Capitalism within such films as those of Oliver Stone, Michael Moore, Spike Lee … and their film-making admirers.
Then, of course, pre-dating all of these American enfants terribles, there is the quintessential Hollywood tribute to American Communists, Warren Beatty’s Reds.
From Bogey’s era till now, it is “Change” which the Declaration of Independence tried to warn us about!!!
“You mean there are limits to American freedom, Mr. Moriarty?!”
Apparently so. You just can’t include a tyranny as part of your alternative plans for America. Those Communist plans. By no means can you call your tyranny-loving souls a defining ingredient to the United States of America.
“What are you screaming about, Moriarty?! We no longer want your national sovereignty ideas! We are building The New World Order!!”
Yeah, right … but that’s another movie entirely … possibly Casablanca II.
Unfortunately, Hollywood welcomes the Communist Collective Dream as an antidote to their guilt over how much money its stars have all made.
Therefore is it strange that many of those stars who make the most money appear to feel the greatest guilt … and, of course, applaud the New World Order with the loudest cries?
I hardly think it’s strange.
In light of that Hollywood gestalt, what would a sequel to Casablanca contain?
A blissfully happy reunion of all the stars of Casablanca at the Second Inaugural Ball for President Barack Hussein Obama.
Then Morocco here we come!!
And the poor Jewish refugees escaping Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?
They’re all in Casablanca … waiting for Rick to show up.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
286 Comments
Looking at the larger question, I do believe a lot of liberals are not intrinsically evil. Ben Franklin said "politics is the art of the possible." Since politics is largely tied to economics, we realize that capitalism is not without it's unintended consequences. Liberals see government as a protector of citizens agains unrestrained commercial power. That said, many Hollywood leftists don't think about it that much. They go with the flow. In Roosevelt's time, many of his brain trust were enamored with Lenin and Stalin. I don't know how sophisticated Bogart was in his thinking, but certainly today, we can look back with a broader perspective to see just how corrupt and stifling Communism is.
It's funny that I've never given this much thought. I always thought Lazlo was run-of-the-mill freedom fighter looking to escape sure death by the Gestapo. Now that you raise these insights, I agree. The red line was a menace back then and continues to upset Capitalism at every juncture. The USSR may be gone, (maybe?) but as recent events have shown, it is not dead. In Casablanca II, Lazlo joins Che, Fidel and his merry band of bolsheviks and pillage the Peruvian countryside.
Having come to love "Casablanca" (really love it!) within the past year, I see Rick as more of a Browncoat.
Not quite Malcolm Reynolds, but maybe along the same lines. There's a pleasure in pinching the noses of the Alliance (Nazis), and that's why he likes to help the unfortunate escape Casablanca.
And Lazlo could be Shepherd Book, in the sense of there's maturity, wisdom, logic, even justice but nary a hint of communism.
Of course, maybe I missed that and was focused on the Rick-Ilsa (Mal/Inara) love story. Even the beautiful backstory of "Casablanca," which is the European superstars that took minor supporting roles.
Favorite scene of "Casablanca?" The Nazi dinner group enjoying themselves and stepping on the toes of the patrons at Rick's Cafe by singing the Nazi national anthem….and then the Free French/Resistance singing them down with "La Marseillaise."
It's actually worse now than it was in the 40's when "Casablanca" was made.
At that time, intellectuals were enamored of the noble experiment that was the Soviet Union. The public had little actual knowledge of what was going on there and those like Duranty who wrote about conditions, came back telling lies.
Now, almost a century after the Bolshevik coup, the history of that brutal time and all the decades of Soviet oppression and aggression is known, yet intellectuals still romanticize places like Cuba where Soviet-style communism is still in existence.
It's really difficult to fathom that kind of thinking and even more difficult to fathom is why the public is passively allowing the current Democratic leadership to elbow past the Constitution and our fiercely held American values in order to replace them with an already despised and discredited system.
Republican leadership is to blame. It's obvious they are more comfortable in the role of, "go along to get along" and even now when it may be our last chance to oust these latter-day commissars, the chairman of the Republican party puts out a statement that Republicans aren't ready to lead!
To answer the question posed:
Rick was an unabashed capitalist, but was smart enough to play any game in town and come out on top.
Forget to say how much I enjoy Mr. Moriarty's articles. Thanks to Netflix, we're currently watching L&A, the Early Years, and enjoying it very much.
Here here!!
[...] more: Deconstructing ‘Casablanca’: Waiting for Rick… This entry is filed under America – Blogs, Big Hollywood. You can follow any responses to this [...]
Read "The Forsaken".
This essay simply confirms my initial opinion of Mr Moriarity's writing here at BH.
The man is nuts. I'm sorry. I tried really hard to settle on "quirky" but this one is just over the top nutso.
Moriarity is the type of conservative the Olberman's of the world see under their beds.
Thanks for this piece, Mr. Moriarity. I always enjoy watching this film, and it's still on my list of film favorites, BUT, I'll never look at it the same way after reading this. Thanks for the insight!
If the classics have commies, saying so isn't mean… and, as mentioned by both authors, it doesn't diminish the enjoyment we get from the films.
All of Spike Lee's "Joints" (that is what he refers to his movies are) are racist and anti-capitalist. The most obvious example is "Do the Right Thing".
I agree with your answer to your final question.
It seems that Rick is a "ruthless capitalist, (remember the papers were obtained through the death of a series of patrons)," who is bested not by Lazlo and his arguments. He seems to have a moral compass (or maybe he's just "pissed off at big government"). He gets transport for a young wedded couple and saving the virtue of the new bride from the clutches of Captain Renault (representing corrupt, big government), who is more than willing to use her for its pleasure. Unfortunately, he plays the noble gentleman and sacrifices his own freedom for the woman that he loves and her husband. In understanding that she'll never love him as much as she loves Lazlo, what is left? Well, if this film wasn't made in wartime in America, he could go off and join the French Foreign Legion. Since America and France are both at war with NAZI Germany, Rick can stay and fight with the resistance.
In short, it seems to take a crisis like war (physical or ideological) to awaken the "sleeping giants" of conservatism and (often corrupt) big government (Rick's alcohol induced stupor is a metaphor for the ease of life and prosperity and Renault's stupor is the power of government).
The lesson is simple: Short of having a clearly defined mission and purpose in life, it's too easy to be lulled into the stupor of a life of ease (wealth, 401K growth, seeming prosperity, and the abuse of power). American leaders and conservatives are awakening now after being lulled to sleep and dereliction of their responsibility of guarding the wall against the outside forces of socialism
I'm just not following the logic here, indicting Laszlo as a communist. Being anti-fascist does not imply pro-communist.
I believe George Orwell also fought the fascists in Spain, and I don't think the author of 1984 and Animal Farm could ever be accused of being pro-communist.
Remember, there were a lot of various ideologies stewing in the pot of the first half of the twentieth century. Fascism, communism, socialism, capitalism, even monarchists to a lesser degree. And it appears all were more than willing to abide by the old axiom, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, hence "Uncle Joe."
I think it was fairly obvious why FDR was so supportive of Stalin during WWII, and this was to ease the pressure on England by keeping Germany in a two front war – while working on building a third front in Northern Africa, and creating a new army for D-Day.
I'm more than willing to listen to any one who sees it differently.
"By 1943, at least according to FDR’s “Protocol” with the Soviets, Stalin’s Russia was by then a closer friend of America than even England."
And may I suggest that "By 2011, at least according to the Nanny-Staters' "ethos" of columnists with the 'New York Times,' NuLabor and the UK's Brown was by then a closer friend of American Liberals/Regressives then even democrats."
That being said. I still love "Casablanca." But Mr. Moriarity, once again, makes me become a better thinking consumer and not just a passive audience member.
Cheers!
Don't forget, Rick fought against Franco with the Republicans(and Communists) in '36 and ran guns for the Ethiopians against Mussolini…he cannot return to the country, but "the reasons are a little vague" (according to Major Strasser)…this certainly helps one to think Rick might be "liberal" but I don't think it necessarily says it for a fact…fighting for the Loyalists in '36 mean he was fighting for democrats (small "d") and the rule of law against a coup and the fascists (akin to fighting against Mussolini and Hitler)…maybe the reasons he couldn't return to the US were political (i.e. Rick was a Communist) but maybe he was involved in illegal gambling and guns or other black market items (as he was in Casablanca).
this was like listening to the ramblings of a child….
I love Bogey, but anybody who names him boat Satan (Santana) ain't 100%.
I love Bogey, but anybody who names him boat Satan (Santana) ain't 100%.
I'm with you. I do not want to know the underlying "truths". I think is today's world we are "analyzing" ourselves to death.
Read about FDR and his love affair with Stalin. Paul Johnson is a good place to start.
Frankie only got us in the war to save Uncle Joe's *ss when Hitler attacked him and remember fascists and communists are evil twins separated at birth.
Oh, and BTW, FDR had little love for England and would have been happy had the Soviets overrun all of Europe and set sail for England. His death but the kaboosh on that and the Marshall Plan stopped the Soviets from annexing western Europe.
Praising one who fought Fascists makes one a Communist ?
When did this happen ?
We fought against the Italian Fascists.
We fought against the German Fascists. Just calling yourself a Socialist does not exempt you from being a Fascist, they are not mutually exclusive ideologies.
All enemies of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia were Communists ? No Czechs were interested in Freedom ?
Not logical thinking, nor is it even common sense.
I have the script right in front of me. There is no mention of South America in it. It just says AMERICA. I think that most people that see the movie think that they are referring to the United States. Quite a jump to say it is South America. This is what is killing my Republican Party. The nuts on the fringe analyze everything for hidden meanings. Next you are going to tell me that Tom & Jerry were Red operatives. Dont make stuff up. Just show the facts and debate them. Otherwise you are just as bad as those leftist, commie, pinkos! (Just Kidding)
Keeping in mind that Casablanca was made before Pearl Harbor, thus before America entered the war, Rick's line "I stick my neck out for nobody," is in fact symbolic of America's attitude at the time. Rick is America. Another clue to this is the scene where Rick is alone with Sam at the piano and Rick says, "They're asleep in New York. I'll bet they're asleep all over America." Lines like that are not written by accident. It's clear double meaning is that they're asleep in America to the fact that tyranny is sweeping across Europe. That is the whole point of this pre-America-entering-the-war film. And just as America is destined to get into the fight, so is Rick.
Nowhere do I see Lazlo as a Commie. Isn't he introduced as a freedom fighter. That fact that he is Czech should not be an automatic indictment. Plenty of Czechs hated Communism but they were sold out by Neville Chamberlain.
Geesh, guys, first "It's a Wonderful Life" and now "Casablanca." What are you going to deconstruct next, Mom and apple pie? With all due respect, knock it off!
I've read about that, and pre-WWII Hitler was also admired not only by FDR and his administration, but also by many other elite Americans. Thomas J. Watson Sr. in particular even personally received an award from Hitler. (Later, quietly returned, and never, ever mentioned by any employee who wanted to keep their job.) Even Britain was tempted to join Hitler against Stalin. Joseph Kennedy Sr. even lobbied for that as the US ambassador to the UK.
But I'm convinced it was ultimately a relationship of convenience between FDR and Stalin for mutual benefit. For FDR it kept Germany pinned down in a two front war and kept Britain in the fight – which offered a very convenient launching site for the inevitable invasion of the continent. For Stalin it meant desperately needed supplies.
By the end of the war, I think its fairly common knowledge Patton's desire to polish off Berlin and then head directly for Moscow. I haven't seen any evidence that FDR had anything against England, and plenty of evidence he had a warm and wonderful relationship with Churchill.
This goes against everything you've heard or learned, but socialism, fascism and communism are the same thing. They all involve state control of everything. To get naive American sympathy for Spain, the media of the day called Franco a fascist even though he wasn't an ally of Hitler or Mussolini. The people fighting Franco were communists. If they had won, Spain would have been the first western European country to be part of the USSR.
Some day schools will teach history as it happened, not as left wing lunatics wish it happened.
You may not be old enough to know that "freedom fighter" was an euphemism for revolutionary.
Gina, wake up. It's your country and world too.
Kennedy was openly pro-Irish/German and anti-English. Many people were pro German when they were allied with the Soviets. That ended when they attacked the Soviets. You are welcome to your world view.
Honestly, even that quote may not mean much. The "Nationalist" coup in 1936 was a real attempt to overthrow a genuine- if unstable, Leftist, and possibly terminal- democracy. As a result, Genuine friends of Democratic Republicanism also joined up alongside the Socialists and Communists that flocked to support the "Republic." However, as the war dragged on and the Communists gained control of the crumbling government (moreso than they already had) with Stalin's help, the Spanish government began to institute much the same tyranny that those genuine Republicans had come to fight against.
It is no mistake that when this happened (around 38-39), literally thousands of the government volunteers (many of them amongst the more capable the Loyalists had) literally grew fed up and quit in protest, more or less stating that the fight was no longer worth dying for. And many of those who DIDN'T stayed on explicitly out of duty to their men, and a few of them even considered a coup against the increasingly Sovietized Spainish government later on.
For all we know, Rick and Lazlo were part of those disillusioned, and "Our Side" referred to the Genuine Democrats for whom cottoning with either Franco's Fascist (one one hand) and general right-wing authoritarianism (on the other) or the Stalinist regime was unacceptable.
I understand your feelings, Gina, but it's alright.
Moriarity is just throwing out wild ideas and laughing as we react.
Lively conversation is good, right? That's why we're here.
"Read about FDR and his love affair with Stalin. Paul Johnson is a good place to start."
Already have. Was interesting but not that interesting. Simply put, FDR was certainly Naive to an extent about Stalin, and while several of his actions (particularly at the end) indicated he had some knowledge about Uncle Joe's true nature, he was restrained by the need to curry favor with Stalin and to keep the Red Army at least nominally on the Allied side.
"Frankie only got us in the war to save Uncle Joe's *ss when Hitler attacked him and remember fascists and communists are evil twins separated at birth."
Which is not supported by the evidence. More or less from the onset, FDR had been sending supplies and other perks on the sly to the Western Allies, and in 1940-41, when it seemed like there was an actual chance of a German-Soviet alliance in the war, FDR bluntly told Stalin that any aggression against the Western Alllies would be met by an American declaration fo war.
"Oh, and BTW, FDR had little love for England and would have been happy had the Soviets overrun all of Europe and set sail for England. His death but the kaboosh on that and the Marshall Plan stopped the Soviets from annexing western Europe."
That, ladies and gentlemen, would be considered libel, particularly since there is not a whit of evidence to support it and plenty to refute it. FDR more-or-less always had a sort of love-hate relationship with Britain (see his days working as what amounted to the IRA's lawyer in North America), but he had some genuine affinity with them, and he certainly put himself at great risk to support thim. In addition, while he and Churchill certainly had their issues, it is worth remembering that they were fairly good friends, while Stalin was more like the charming acquaintance they didn't trust.
He certainly can be faulted for trusting Stalin too much as it was, but it can hardly be said that he was pro-Soviet.
Agreed. But it is safe to say that FDR was not one of them (Pro-Irish, certainly, but hardly Pro-Soviet or anti-British).
Thank you, and you are entitled to your world view too.
Yes, Orwell was pro-Communist, until he saw what the Stalinists did to other groups within the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War. You can read it all in his book "Homage to Catalonia". He wrote "Animal Farm" in 1945, many years after the Spanish Civil War.
the Germans were Socialists – National Socialists Workers Party. The western media began calling them Fascisti after the war.
"Workers' Party of Marxist Unification"
I sit corrected. (I can't type standing, and I don't lie, so I can't stand corrected.)
What about the Wizard of Oz?
The Wicked Witch was from the West. The Good Witch? From the East.
Tell me that ain't symbolic!
FDR circumvented congress (remember that was a crime when Reagan did it) with lend lease to the Brits. To repeat, we stayed out of the war while the Hitler/Stalin pact remained. When Hitler attacked Stalin, we jumped in to protect the Soviets, not the Brits.
Turtler you learned your lessons well. Stalin was a charming rogue, Churchill and FDR had their issues … these are the facts of the left.
If Johnson can't convince, I certainly won't try.
All you lefties better wake up before we find ourselves led by a charming rogue with whom we may have some issues — a lot of good that'll do us when we lose our freedom.
It took the Czechs and the rest of eastern Europe over seventy years to get their freedom back. Ask them if that sounds like personality issues.
If one could wave a magic wand and instantaneously remove "social issues" from both of America's political platforms and send both "liberalism" and "conservativism" back to being strictly split on economic and governmental-influence issues, A LOT of people would suddenly find themselves in the "wrong" party.
Right now, there're a lot of "liberals" calling themselves Republicans because they're religious, and a lot of "conservatives" calling themselves Democrats because you aren't allowed into the conservative "club" if you're pro-choice or take no issue with homosexuals.
Yvonne and the others yelling "Vive la France!" with tears in their eyes in front of the Nazis gets me every time.
One other interesting note…the movie takes place in Dec. 1941, and the following exchange occurs…
Rick: If it's December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?
Sam: What? My watch stopped.
Rick: I'd bet they're asleep in New York. I'd bet they're asleep all over America.
An obvious reference to Pearl Harbor…and an exchange that could just as easily have been spoken the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Many Americans were not in favor of America entering "Europe's war" and wanted the government to deal with an economic collapse and joblessness here at home (sound familiar). FDR's interventionist policies regarding the safety of America sound more like George W. Bush's to me that Barack Obama's.
Bob, you're right about labels. Modern conservatives are really classic liberals, but so what? A rose by any other name…
However, I must take exception to your categorizations. I am conservative, not religious myself, but don't advocate for or against religion for others, pro-life, but not anti-abortion (I want no laws made criminalizing abortion), have a live-and-let-live attitude toward gays, but am against gay-marriage), for local control of public schools, against the welfare state, most unions, and government control of almost anything …
Lazlo is a free czech. He wants Czechoslovikia free from the Soviets as well as the Nazis. He isn't an underground communist. They didn't have a communist underground. Where do you get that?
More than that, I take Rick at his word that he sticks his neck out for nobody (except he does for Ilsa). He means he's non-political. He would be pro-American, but he got himself into some trouble in America and he's not so sure. That's why he was in France, as an ex-pat.
They aren't Commies.
Yeah, but her squashed sister was from the East!
Obviously, Glinda Good Witch from the North was symbolic of the Nordic Aryan master race.
The lack of ANY witch from the South was a obvious slap at the defeated Confederacy….
If we cut to the chase.
Cinema was and is immensely powerful. Those who cannot see the message under the surface will be used. The message can be positive or negative. We must encourage the positive message that is America. Always point out the negative / destructive consequences of bad ideas. Boost independant thought and perspective. God gave us free choice. We should help each other to get the most out of this gift .
Yes, -to logic. No -to thoughtlessness.
With all due respect, I think Casablanca is a bit of 1940's mainstream-American liberal propaganda, not a well-camouflaged communist screed.
Rick's politics are pretty much those of the respectable left-of-center of his time. His anti-Nazi feelings (which date back to his sojourn in Paris) do him credit, considering he is doing business in a nest of Vichy French. Rick mostly hides his opposition to the Nazis and his idealism. This makes him –a man of action– a more dangerous opponent.
Meanwhile ex-journalist Lazlo has very little to say besides that his "mission" is all-important. This is so unlike lefties of the era, who liked to display their "intellect" by compulsively spewing Marxist terminology all over the landscape every time they opened their mouths. Lazlo is exactly the kind of weak-tea classic liberal Czech that Stalin routinely sent to the Gulag to disappear forever. I'm surprised the Germans are afraid of him. What is the great journalist Lazlo going to reveal? That the Nazis don't play fair?
If Ilsa is a commie, she cuts a very poor figure as one. Walking into the cafe she spots Sam and asks who that "boy" is. Poor form for the fictional Ilsa and for the real-life Warner Brothers for letting that line stay in the script. If Ilsa identifies with the proles you couldn't tell by the way she dresses, her love of night clubs or her fancy clothes and jewelry. Committed communist ladies of the era were far more likely to style their hair in the dark with blunt scissors and to dress the part.
Actually, Casablanca is in Morocco.
As were the French Resistance, not all were Jews, but all were Communists (yes, we a capital 'C').
some might even try and call you a libertarian. Like you, however, I find labels to constraining.
Rick was in France when he met Ilsa.
But, you knew that.
You know Rick, the reason I trust you so much is that you despise me.
"FDR circumvented congress (remember that was a crime when Reagan did it) with lend lease to the Brits."
Which I pointed out. And Which I supported. You DO realize that that fact undermines your whole "FDR hated the UK" line, right?
" To repeat, we stayed out of the war while the Hitler/Stalin pact remained. When Hitler attacked Stalin, we jumped in to protect the Soviets, not the Brits"
Are you forgetting something? Namely a leetle thing about the Japanese sending half of our Pacific fleet straight to the bottom at Pearl? THAT was what caused us to "jump in", and it had absolutely nothing to do with the USSR (save perhaps that the USSR's focus on Hitler gave Tokyo the confidence to strike South). THAT was what got us into the war, because none could realistically have avoided it afterwards. If Pearl had happened in 1940 as opposed to 1941, we would have entered THEN.
"Turtler you learned your lessons well."
Thank you, but you imply that I took formal lessons to learn this. Not so. The vast majority I had to research by my lonesome.
"better wake up before we find ourselves led by a charming rogue with whom we may have some issues — a lot of good that'll do us when we lose our freedom. "
A bit late, isn't it?
"It took the Czechs and the rest of eastern Europe over seventy years to get their freedom back. Ask them if that sounds like personality issues."
In large part, yes. The issues between Churchill and FDR prevented a more energetic and determined resistance to Stalin's encroachment, and it certainly was an inexcusable flaw. However, that does nothing to refute my main point: namely that while FDR habored some illusions about Stalin, that he was hardly a slave to Moscow.
Hardly, and indeed the FFI had more than a few issues trying to surpress the Communist sympathies within their ranks (see the Loyalist V Communist conflicts after the liberation of Paris).
I don't deny that many members of the French underground were Communists whose loyalties and motives were (shall we say) less than noble, but that hardly was the entire underground.
You'd be amazed how many people have said that very thing to me.
Lower-care libertarians are people who are too smart to buy the lefty line, but don't want to be associated with what they perceive as low-brow righties.
Upper-case Libertarian are interesting. They're against all rules and regs, even traffic rules. Makes for interesting reading. I agree in principle, but in practice living would be too chaotic.
Thanks for pointing that out.
I last saw the movie decades ago and don't remember details of the plot.
"This goes against everything you've heard or learned, but socialism, fascism and communism are the same thing."
Not percisely, more like similar species with a distinct mutual origin (like Darwin's finches). Fascism, Communism, and authoritarian (ie. mainstream) Socialism were all cousins drawing off the shared heritage of Leftist authoritarianism, but they were hardly identical (with issues including race, the role of the nation, and other nearly Swiftian things that led these people to slit each others throats in Munich and Spain). Close enough but not exactly identical. And there were a precious few heroic Democratic Socialists (Kerensky and Orwell come to mind, though I would argue that was because the "Democratic" outweighed the "Socialist" in their allegiance when the two clashed).
"media of the day called Franco a fascist even though he wasn't an ally of Hitler or Mussolini"
Yes he was, as the CVR, the Condor Legion, the Blue Division, the negotiations to have Spain join the Axis, and Franco's smuggling to Hitler show. I don't think Franco himself was a Fascist (more like a Right wing Latin American Caudillio with ideological ties to Fascism and a pragmatic alliance witht he authoritarian Nationalist Left of the day (see the Falange, Spain's Fascists)), but he certainly got along with them well enough.
"The people fighting Franco were communists."
In large part yes, particularly by the end of the war (when Spain's little terror had cleaned away virtually all the other components of the Anti-Franco front), but at the beginning, the Communists (while powerful) were hardly the only force, and ther influence was countered in large part by the Democratic forces in Spain that were eroded away from both sides.
"Some day schools will teach history as it happened, not as left wing lunatics wish it happened."
I hope so. But the first step is to discern history as it happened, rather than petty and partian talking points unsupported by the historical record.
The Commies in the underground would never have trusted non-Commies with their secrets. Perhaps some in the underground may have rethought their prior devotion to the Soviets when they saw whose armies were leading the liberation.
Mr. Moriarty, what you have just written is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent article were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone who has visited this page is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
Perhaps my inplied s/off was obvious as I thought.
Define neocon.
When did the right-wing become such a bunch of prissy little whiners? It's a movie, you big girl. Get over it.
My wife can do that and I envy her because I have to leave the room as soon as the intent of the movie to lead me left becomes apparent.
After he makes his final comment to Blaine, Laszlo boards the plane for Lisbon, from which he will take the "clipper" (presumably the Pan Am Boeing 314 Clipper lying boat) to America. So Laszlo can't be on the run from the American authorities. Rick however, is a different case. One of the interesting bits in the movie's backstory is why Blaine didn't go back to America after Paris. Strasser reveals that Rick "cannot return to his native country" for reasons that are a "little vague." Renault asks why Rick can't return to the U.S.: "Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with a senator's wife? I like to think you killed a man–it's the romantic in me." "It was a combination of all three," Rick replies. The real reason is never revealed. Of course, there's the moment in the Paris flashback when Rick and Ilsa are talking about where they were ten years earlier: she was "having a brace put on my teeth"; he was "looking for a job." Ten years before the fall of Paris would have been the spring of 1930, a difficult time to find a job in America; but this doesn't mean that Rick, who "fought in Spain on the Loyalists' side" (presumably in 1936-37) joined the IWW or the ACP. Again, I don't find Michael's contention–that Rick is a communist–convincing.
I can do that with Classic movies, but not the ones from today. I know too much about the actors of today to enjoy the movie if I know they are liberals. I won't pay a dime to see them, but somehow Black and white movies from the thirties and forties I can just enjoy.
Excellent point about Rick hiding his idealism and his true sympathies–this is shown in the scene when Laszlo commands the band to "play La Marseillaise–play it!" The bandleader looks to Rick for permission, who approves with a slightly perceptible nod. Before that, he helps the Bulgarian couple, even though he's already said "I stick my neck out for nobody." The whole point of his character is that, try as he might, he can't shake off entirely his liberal-left goodness (which Renault calls "rank sentimentalism").
Not to put too fine a point on it, but Ilsa and Victor were headed to Lisboa. I retain the distinct impression that after that it was to be NY, NY. Where do you get South America? Maybe I've forgotten something.
Equador and Peru were at war with each other independently of WWII and Brasil was wild and free. Oh, those 1940's nights in Brasil!
Are you high?
Ahhhhhhh jingoism. The fuel for the conservative engine. Which was made in the 1980s in Detroit, btw. Take that for what you will.
Great article Michael. Thank you for pointing out that Casablanca is more than a movie. It is a film with all the glorious underpinnings.
As a huge admirer of "Casablanca" I would say your assessment is correct. I love this movie but you are correct in saying there is a subtle message of communism to some degree. Also if Lazlo and Rick's conversation about Rick "fighting against the Fascists in Spain" wasn't enough of a clue…
I was "made" in Brooklyn in the '70's.
Gambinos.
Maybe I'm missing the sarcasm and irony, but there's no evidence in the film that Victor Laszlo is a Communist. Rick's Cafe Americain is a microcosm of refugee Europe, with every Nazi-occupied country represented by a courageous and likable hero: Sasha the bartender is Russian, Karl (played by S.Z. Sakall) is German, Emile the croupier is free French. In Rick's first appearance in the film, he denies entry into the gambling room to an officer of the Deutscher Bank. Ugarti (presumably an Italian) is justifiably killed not for standing up to the Germans, but for practicing their ruthlessness on the cheap (he accepts Rick's characterization of him as a "cute-rate parasite"). Laszlo is assisted in the first scene by Berger, a Norwegian; later, he escapes from the raided underground meeting by Karl.
Soviet Russia is, perhaps, conspicuously absent from the film, and maybe this means that Laszlo's principled opposition to the annexation of Czechoslovakia arises from his Communist sympathies. But nowhere in the film does he say anything to suggest he's a Soviet plant. It's true that he commends Rick for having fought the fascists in Spain and Ethiopia; but involvement in that war on behalf of the "losing side" did not necessarily make one a Communist (though it could be argued that it betokened either an ignorance of or willful overlooking of the true depredations of Stalinism). Simplistic though they may be, the politics of Casablanca are nothing more than a melodrama (embodied in the great scene of dueling national anthems) of the conflict between Franco-American liberty and the fascist jackboot.
You're probably right about Bogie voting for Obama; but I don't think the transformed (reawakened?) Richard Blaine at the film's conclusion, walking off to join a Free French garrison at Brazzaville, would fall for the feel-good socialism of the Obama administration. As Casablanca ends, Rick realizes that in the real world, individual pain and heartbreak are not sufficient grounds for avoiding the never-ceasing need to fight our enemies, a need that Laszlo views as ultimately a question of life and death: "Might as well question why we breathe. If we stop breathing, we'll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die."
Shoot, I'm in trouble – I can't afford to be any dumber !
Oh, I don't care what they do with that one. I never liked it.
Thanks, but I've been awake since I was at least 12.
And working for policy organization since I was 21.
Don't want to get too wordy about this, Mr. Moriarty, but dragging the characters of "Casablanca" into a dissertation on Communism is like trying to pull an elephant out of a hat.
The ninteen-forties film "Casablanca" was obviously a story about people resisting, and ultimately warring against Nazism. Lazlo was the underground leader of that cause, Ilsa was the pawn whose fate is finally decided on behalf of that cause, Rick is the conscience and sacrificer toward that cause, and even Captain Renault abandons his privileged position of power to join that cause.
Also, one could recall that over half of this movie remained unwritten before anyone knew how it would end – hardly the mark of subtle conspiratorial propaganda. This film was made in a time when the world could see the war coming, and memorably contributed the anti-fascist theme of "freedom first of all."
In my personal backstory Victor Laszlo was in the Czech resistance and he flew off with Elsa to Portugal to get to London where the Free (non communist) Czech government was in exile organising resistance in Czechoslovakia and Free Czech armed forces based in England. When their country was liberated they returned to Prague where just three years later ur fell to a Communist coup organized by Soviets. Rick and Louis were going to make contact with Free French Forces, join the resistance and go on to have some interesting adventures (that could have been the basis for a sequel). "Fighting the Fascists in Spain" did not automatically make you a Communist. Many people, not just Communists, saw Spain as the country to make a stand againt Fascism. Yes, they were betrayed by the Communists and Stalinists on the Republican side and many of them were executed by Communits but many who fought against Fascists were idealists not Reds. And Rick's Cafe was, indeed, a microcosm of Europe at the time. However, nothing will ever convince me that Casablanca was skillfully disguised Red propaganda. It is just a great film.
Or Lazlo is gay, and Bogie championed the commie existence in Hollywood because he believed their propaganda that the only way to redistribute their acceptance was the deconstruction of religion through communism?
I'm as anti-communist as the next fellow, but I must disagree with the assessment you put forth, Moriarty. Once again, I find someone who is unable to differentiate between writers and actors. The characters that an actor plays is not a representation of that actor or their political views. They are characters created by writers, with words and actions dictated by what is on the page, written there by the writers.
If you wanted to point to some type of alleged communist subversion in Casablanca (of which I don't believe there is any), you would rather point to the Epstein Brothers and Howard Koch, not to mention the original writers of the unproduced play "Everybody Comes to Rick's." You could also go through the 20 some studio writers who also had their hands in the script, but didn't do enough to warrant screen credit.
I am hard pressed to find Julius Epstein a communist, since the man later would write a book about American appeasement of the Soviet Union in the days following WWII with his must read book "Operation Keelhaul," pointing out the communist subversion in our own government and the lengths that our government under FDR and Truman went to appease Uncle Joe.
Bogey himself my have had communist sympathies, but was smart enough to distance himself from them so that he could keep working. But that had no bearing on the character he played. He's merely playing what is written on the page, saying the words he is told to say, the way he is told to say them. His personal politics have no bearing on a fictional character.
This is just as ridiculous as the crop of people who think that Senator McCarthy was somehow involved in the House Un-American Activities committee.
No, but it is rather foolish to go to obscene lengths to try.
I have to agree. Also, what does it prove that Laszlo is a Czech? Lots of Czechs who fought the nazis weren´t communists. They had more than enough reasons. Some where locked up by the communists after the war. (Dark Blue World is a fine movie about just this subject and they didn´t make it up)
I'm with you, bub or bubette.
What's the point?
"The Commies in the underground would never have trusted non-Commies with their secrets."
Exactly. But that was my point in the first place: pretty much from the very start of the occupaton, the Western Allies kept a very brisk relationship with the French underground, and indeed they went to the trouble of arming and organizing the FFI, which was hardly a minor use of equipment. Now, you might point out Western Allied support to Tito , but Tito was extremely resistant to Western Allied aid, and he was fanatical about preventing the Western Allies from getting unrestrained access to his fortresses in the Adriatic (unlike the FFI), undermined the legal Yugoslav government in exile, and generally sought to become dictator from the onset. None of which the FFI did.
While the Communist underground in France existed, it was by all accounts a fairly minor force that was confined to the more Metropolitan areas of Metropolitan France (Paris, the Lourve River Valley, the Riviera, etc). And it was vastly weaker than the Free French forces loyal to De Gaulle, which is in large part why the Gaullists were able to secure control of France during the Liberation and reinstitute a Democratic Republic in Paris while the remaining Communists were still sitting in holes or generally acting ineffectively take at least some of the reigns of power.
Granted, the Western Allied liberation might have triggered some defections amongst the more pragmatic or cynical, but the generally ineffective actions and the lack of any real sabotage during the few conflicts the Western Allies had with the Soviets (namely the Elbe River Crisis) generally seems to indicate there weren't that many Communists in the resistance in the first place.
Um, I love this site, but picking on Casablanca and It's A Wonderful Life back to back seems just a tad over the top, no? There are plenty of blatant commies to attack without going after the most beloved classics!
Hello Mr. Mike-
"A Summer Without Boys" – WW2 homefront TV movie. I had forgotten you were in that.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070749/
I remembered the women – Bain, Lenz, Scott and B. Kirby, Jr., but not you.
Where has this little gem gone off to?
"In Casablanca, Paul Henreid’s Laszlo is not yet a Soviet … but he is Czech … and Stalin had all the Slavs in his Communist rifle sights … certainly by Casablanca’s date of release, January 23, 1943."
Sorry, but that makes no sense at all. For people in 1942, Czechoslowakia was the country that had been betrayed to Hitler in 1938. And not the country that Stalin had set his sights on.
It is absurd to think that Laszlo may be a communist because he is a Czech. Most Czechs (and Poles) who fought Germany side by side with the allies were not communists at all. Many were persecuted or even killed by communists after the war.
All due respect, but I don´t see a convincing case that Casablance is leftwing propaganda. I´m under no illusion about Bogart´s politics, though being a deluded liberal in 1948 was different from being a lefty today. At least Bogart admits that having too many organized commies is a bad thing. But it is just not evident in the movie.
Many years ago, I might have thought the same thing, but not since I've learned more about how they work, particularly in democratic capitalist countries and especially (my estimate) pre-1960s.
Reading Radical Son by David Horowitz really was an eye opener. Besides that, learning how Marxists influence the public through literature, architecture, various art forms (including film), education, etc., to further their ideology has made me more aware. Of course, there was/is no shortage of Marxists in Hollywood.
Read this to see how enterprising and pervasive they are.
Furthermore, in an early BH post, Eating Lunch Alone. A Republican in Hollywood, by Ernie Mannix, he said this; Countless times I have been privy to the not so subtle attempt at reeducation for the red states. Once we were previewing a show, and the producer paused the tape and showed us the strategically placed picture of Dick Cheney in the office of the evil heavy on the show. Chuckles about the room… And this: On a recent movie, the foreign born directer of this American film chose to portray his openly hostile anti-American feelings through his choice of songs with lyrics taking us and our way of life to task. I'm sure these things went over the head of the average viewer.
Mr. Moriarty seems to be very knowledgeable about Communism and he obviously knows Hollywood. His perspective is not as parochial as most Americans on the subject.
Yes they were a menace, but where is the insight? Where is the solid evidence of it in the movie itself? Something an actor says in 1948 does not change the meaning of a movie made in 1942 which he didn´t even write or direct.
I'm sure I'll get flamed for saying so, but I completely agree with you. I never understood why he was getting so much praise and support from otherwise rational adults. When I read his interview, before he started posting here, my first reaction was to ask myself if he was serious or putting on a parody. Since then, all of his articles have sounded more than a bit on the hysterical side.
Movies are constructed and it's only natural for those in the industry to deconstruct them
You must be logged in to post a comment.