Fascinating Behind-The-Scenes Details From Casablanca

When Casablanca was released in 1942 no one expected it to be the huge success it was, much less the enduring classic it has become. It made Hollywood legends out Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, and lines such as “Here's looking at you, kid” are still quoted to this day. But the outcome could have been very different if some of these little-known facts had come into play…

1. The signature song almost didn’t make it into the movie

Composer Max Steiner lent his musical talents to Casablanca, having previously worked on Gone With The Wind and King Kong. But he wasn’t exactly a fan of the song “As Time Goes By” and wanted it cut from the movie. Yet a reshoot wasn’t possible since leading lady Bergman had adopted a completely different look for her next movie — so the song stayed. The track charted for 21 weeks after the film’s release with Steiner conceding it “must have had something to attract so much attention.”

2. The most famous line was improvised

“Here’s looking at you, kid” is among the most-quoted lines in movie history. It’s hard to believe, then, that it wasn’t even scripted! Film buffs will recognize the line from Bogart’s 1934 movie, Midnight. He used it in a Casablanca scene set in Paris: it proved so effective he echoed the same line later in the movie, too. Rumors abound that the actor added it to Bergman’s vocabulary while the Swedish actress improved her English during games of poker among the cast.

3. Censorship weighed heavily on the screenplay

Censors were busy in Hollywood during that era of movie-making: it was deemed shocking enough when Clark Gable uttered the word “damn” in Gone With The Wind. And you could forget about films portraying divorced women. Screenplay co-writer Julius Epstein later recalled how they tried to beat the censors with harsh language. He said, “I remember after a long time we could finally say ‘Hell.’ But it had to be a sparse use of ‘Hell’. So what we would do was write 50 ‘Hell’s and then bargain with them. We’d say, ‘How about 25?’ We’d wind up with two or three.” Small victories.

4. Humphrey Bogart had to wear heels

More astute Casablanca fans might have noticed that not once throughout the movie does the viewer see a full-length shot of Rick and Isla side by side. That’s because directors wanted to create the illusion that Bogart was taller than Bergman, so they employed certain tricks to keep up the appearance. Bogie would wear platform shoes, while Bergman shot scenes barefoot. He would stand on boxes or sit on cushions to make up for the fact he was 5’8” inches, while she towered over him at 5’10”.