by Rachel Stockton

Created on: August 11, 2008   Last Updated: August 23, 2008

Timing, they say, is everything. Often, the success of a movie has quite a bit to do with said timing. For example, some movie critics concede that despite the fact that "Gone with the Wind" was a work of genius on the part of David O. Selznick, one of the main reasons it had such an impact on the American public was due to its release date: 1939.

Americans had just experienced a decade of economic depression and hopelessness. Yet here was Scarlet O'Hara a gritty, Civil War survivor, swearing with clenched fist "I shall never go hungry again!" Here was a heroin that struggling Americans could admire, relate to, and somehow try to psychologically emulate.

Then there are others, like Casablanca, which don't make much of a splash upon initial release, but like fine wine, they age with grace, and become more "full bodied" with time.
Such was the case with "Casablanca," originally released in 1942. Set during the War, the script is rife with references to patriotism, loyalty, and yes, self sacrifice. As was the case with "Gone with the Wind", "Casablanca" was filled with characters who depicted much of the angst felt by audiences across the nation.

Humphrey Bogart plays Rick, a world weary nightclub owner in Casablanca. Although he claims political neutrality, Rick is given a set of illegal letters of transit, which would allow refugees to escape to the United States. Peter Lorre, who gave Rick the letters, tells him that an important gentleman will be arriving to pick them up, one who is willing to pay what they are worth.

The refugee who asks for the letters is a man called Laszlo, the husband of Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman), Rick's former lover in Paris, who left him abruptly when the Nazis came. During one scene, she tries to explain to Rick that she left because it was the right thing to do. She'd thought her husband had been killed in a concentration camp, but when she discovered she was mistaken, she went back to him. Rick was too drunk to absorb what she was actually saying.

As the movie progresses, Ilsa "demands" the letters from Rick (who has refused to assist Laszlo), threatening him with a gun. But, of course, she cannot shoot because, as she confesses, she still loves him.

In the end, after quite a few well-placed twists and turns, Rick gives Laszlo the letters, while double crossing local authorities. He then urges Ilsa to get on the plane with her husband, otherwise, she'll regret it. "Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life," he assures her.

The issue of loyalty and commitment is a main theme throughout: loyalty to one's country, to virtue, and to doing the "right thing."

Casablanca becomes more popular through the ages, it seems. One insurance company specializing in Medicare insurance made the film available in big screens across the country two years ago, for the first time since the movie was released.

One purpose of art in our lives is to inspire, to clarify thoughts and feelings which at times feel mutually exclusive. We are, after all, mere humans, and as such, we experience angst during these conflicting moments. Although the conflict we feel over good versus evil troubles us at times, we are more disconcerted when faced with options that are not such polar opposites. This emotional turmoil is nowhere better illustrated than in Rick's inner struggle with love versus virtue.

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