It's far from a great film, but it has a special appealingly schlocky romanticism, and you're never really pressed to take its melodramatic twists and turns seriously.

| Jul 28, 2022

Casablanca is as ineffectual as a Collier’s short story, but with one thing and another -- like Bergman, Veidt and Humphrey Bogart -- it is a pleasure of sorts.

| Feb 18, 2022

It is excitingly acted, smartly directed, and tells a story crammed with suspense, characterization and action. The cast of players is enough to fill the theatre alone, for it includes some of the finest players Hollywood has to boast about.

| Feb 10, 2021

Warners have been generous in fitting fine players to roles that become gems, each in its own way, through the incisive handling of Claude Rains, Sidney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Dooley Wilson, S. Z. Sakall and Joy Page.

| Feb 10, 2021

Claude Rains, as a French captain whose sympathies do not jibe with his uniform of allegiance to Nazi rule, gives a grand performance.

| Feb 10, 2021

It may not be the best of its kind ever, but it is good melodrama.

| Feb 10, 2021

Director Michael Curtiz, whose sureness and skill ere rarely to be questioned in any picture he handles, have given Casablanca an exotic atmosphere, a flow of action, surprises and punch to make it constantly interesting.

| Feb 10, 2021

The tale as unfolded is one of love, hate, revenge and gallantry and will please those who watch its visualization because of its fine reserve during most of its telling.

| Feb 10, 2021

The whole thing is exciting, first-class entertainment.

| Feb 10, 2021

Casablanca in the days before the allied occupation had obvious possibilities as the background of a film of intrigue and adventure, and the film... has taken at least a reasonable percentage of its opportunities.

| Feb 10, 2021

While Casablanca Is fast-moving, and the intrigue between the Germans and the French holds attention, with plenty of dramatic high spots, it is the individual performances that give the picture its real distinction.

| Feb 10, 2021

It has exciting story to unfold - and it does at a tempo that allows no slackening of suspense; It has a solid quota of romance, plenty of skilful characterisation, a fair issue of comedy, and, into the bargain, it has the exotic background of Casablanca.

| Feb 10, 2021

Where most other war-time melodramas have pinned their faith upon breakneck action, [Casablanca] derives its superb strength from the clashes and interplay of character [and] Michael Curtiz's highly disciplined handling of the suspense.

| Jan 22, 2020

A long and lively film, bulging with acting talent and breathless with its own dramatic momentum.

| Jan 16, 2018

While the future was uncertain, the resolute characters of this exquisite wartime drama found peace through love and resistance.

| Dec 28, 2016

Certainly a more accomplished cast of players cannot be imagined, and their direction by Michael Curtiz is inspired.

| Oct 3, 2015

Curtiz's film is a classic for a reason -- it's crafted with the precision, detail and beauty of a Fabergé egg; the dialogue is hauntingly memorable and, in Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, it has one of the most magnetic screen pairings in history.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 22, 2015

An entertaining adventure story played against the colorful background of the cosmopolitan city that has become an important stop on the timetable of the European refugee.

| Feb 17, 2015

There are some of the very finest character actors that Warner Brothers could muster and a rich, detailed screenplay studded with an indecent number of sparklingly quotable lines. It is a movie to play again, and again.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 20, 2014

Nobody lights a torch like Ingrid Bergman's Ilsa or carries one like Humphrey Bogart's Rick.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Feb 26, 2014