Casablanca: The Single Most Famous Line in Movie History?
Casablanca: The Single Most Famous Line in Movie History?
Aug 16
Almost everyone in the world knows the answer to this trivia question: which famous line did Humphrey Bogart repeat four times in what is arguably the most famous line in film history during the movie Casablanca?
If you said ‘Here’s looking at you, kid’ in Bogart’s famous voice while pretending you were wearing a fedora, then join the club.
Improvised By Bogart, Repeated By Millions
While filming the Parisian scenes, Bogart improvised the famous line. It sounded so right to director Michael Curtiz, that he had Bogart’s character repeat the words three more times throughout the film. With each iteration, the depth of Sam’s attraction for Ilsa becomes more apparent.
In the decades since the film was released, ‘Here’s looking at you, kid’ has entered the world’s culture and been used in many different movie projects to reference the past or mock the present.
One of the great American comedies, Play It Again, Sam, features a Bogart character who appears throughout the film to counsel the perrenial loser character played by Allen. In the final scene of the film, Bogart repeats the line as Allen confirms his inability to be the manly creature that Bogart tells him to be.
Behind the Scenes: Casablanca as History
Filmed in 1942 when America was still on the fence about joining the battles of World War 2, many of the Nazis and refugees who appear throughout the film are played by German Jews who were fortunate enough to have escaped from Hitler’s Germany.
The principal Nazi in the film, Maj. Strasser, who was sent to Casablanca to thwart the escape of the resistance leaders, was played by Conrad Veidt. Veidt insisted on playing his character with no redeeming social values due to his intense hatred of the German regime and his former status as a member of the resistance movement during Hitler’s early years.
During the movie, reference is made to a long-distance chess game that Rick was playing. The game was, in fact, an actual game that Bogart was playing with a friend located in New York. Unfortunately, no one knows who eventually won the game.
Rich in culture, the movie Casablanca helped to sway feelings about entering the war in the United States. It’s many quotable lines have enriched the language and leave me with little more to say than, ‘Here’s looking at you, kid.’ See here for more Casablanca fun facts.
