Fairclough, Paul (June 2, 2011). "Africa's rich cinema heritage". The Guardian. Archived from the original on February 21, 2017 . Retrieved February 20, 2017. Exceeding expectations, Casablanca went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Curtiz was selected as Best Director and the Epsteins and Koch were honored for Best Adapted Screenplay. Its reputation has gradually grown, to the point that its lead characters, [9] memorable lines, [10] and pervasive theme song [11] have all become iconic, and it consistently ranks near the top of lists of the greatest films in history. In 1989, the United States Library of Congress selected the film as one of the first for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Casablanca has scored such a hit..." The Midland Journal. Rising Sun, Md. February 19, 1943 . Retrieved February 4, 2018. Reilly, Jerome (November 14, 2004). "The mystery of the 'Casablanca' dialogue cut by the film censor". Sunday Independent. Dublin. Ebert, Roger (September 15, 1996). "Great Movies: Casablanca". RogerEbert.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2015 . Retrieved August 14, 2015. Bogart, Bergman and Paul Henreid were stars, and no better cast of supporting actors could have been assembled on the Warners lot than Peter Lorre, Sidney Greenstreet, Claude Rains and Dooley Wilson

Although Casablanca was an A-list film with established stars and first-rate writers, no one involved with its production expected it to stand out among the many pictures produced by Hollywood yearly. [7] Casablanca was rushed into release to take advantage of the publicity from the Allied invasion of North Africa a few weeks earlier. [8] It had its world premiere on November 26, 1942, in New York City and was released nationally in the United States on January 23, 1943. The film was a solid if unspectacular success in its initial run. Walsh, Michael (1998). "How Did I Write 'As Time Goes By'?". Hachette Book Group USA. Archived from the original on November 24, 2007 . Retrieved August 13, 2007. Greatest Screenplays". Writers Guild of America, West. Archived from the original on August 13, 2006 . Retrieved August 3, 2007. The music was written by Max Steiner, who wrote scores for King Kong and Gone with the Wind. The song "As Time Goes By" by Herman Hupfeld had been part of the story from the original play; Steiner wanted to write his own composition to replace it, but Bergman had already cut her hair short for her next role (María in For Whom the Bell Tolls) and could not reshoot the scenes that incorporated the song, [a] so Steiner based the entire score on it and "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem, transforming them as leitmotifs to reflect changing moods. [76] Even though Steiner disliked "As Time Goes By", he admitted in a 1943 interview that it "must have had something to attract so much attention". [77] Dooley Wilson, who played Sam, was a drummer but not a pianist, so his piano playing was performed by Jean Plummer. [78] Do you have a new sense of perspective as a result of reading The Storyteller of Casablanca? What did you learn?stars rounded up. Fiona Valpy has succeeded again in writing another brilliant historical fiction novel. The Storyteller of Casablanca was heartbreaking and captivating. It was written in a dual time period and the chapters alternated accordingly. Both of the female protagonists were admirable and quite likable. Fiona Davis was able to incorporate the sights and smells and unique qualities of Morocco so vividly into her book that I almost felt like I was there with the characters. Many of the people she mentioned in The Storyteller of Casablanca were real people that played important roles during that time. I adored the main characters of Josie and Zoe. Their stories and circumstances really tugged at my heart. The conception of The Storyteller was sparked by a request. Someone’s husband once mentioned to Fiona Valpy that he wished he had a granddaughter that could tell about his wife’s experience in Casablanca at the onset of World War II. From that simple request and impeccable research The Storyteller of Casablanca was formulated and written.

Overall, the book was an interesting read. Josie’s maturity was a little hard to believe at times as my daughter is her age, and I think the story might have been more believable from her older sister’s perspective. I really struggled to connect to Zoe as a character. She fell somewhat flat for me. As with most books, the second half read significantly faster than the first. I did enjoy reading about WWII from the continent of Africa, which was a first for me. Eco also singled out sacrifice as a theme, "the myth of sacrifice runs through the whole film". [141] It was this theme that resonated with a wartime audience who were reassured by the idea that painful sacrifice and going off to war could be romantic gestures done for the greater good. [142]

a b Haver, Ronald. " Casablanca: The Unexpected Classic". The Criterion Collection Online Cinematheque. Archived from the original on June 29, 2009 . Retrieved January 8, 2010.