The film opens with an image of a spinning globe and the
sounds of "La Marseillaise," the French national
anthem. A voiceover explains the significance of the city of Casablanca,
in French-ruled Morocco. During World War II, many people wanted
to escape Europe for America, and Lisbon, Portugal, became the most
popular port of exit. Getting to Lisbon was not easy. A tortuous
refugee path brought people to Casablanca, where they would search
for an exit visa for Portugal. As the narrator finishes the description,
the camera shows Casablanca's bustling market. Over the radio, the French
police announce that two German officers were murdered on a train
and that the murderer is headed for Casablanca. Shortly thereafter,
an important German officer, Major Strasser, arrives at the Casablanca
airport and is greeted by the local French commander, Captain Louis
Renault. Strasser asks about the couriers, and Louis says that the
murderer, like everyone else, will be at Rick's that evening.
The scene shifts to Rick's Café Americain, a
stylish nightclub and casino. Ugarte approaches Rick, the bar's
owner, and asks if he will hold some letters of transit for him.
Rick observes dryly that the murdered German couriers were carrying
letters of transit, but accepts the letters and hides them in the
piano played by his house musician, Sam. Signor Ferrari, owner of
the rival bar, the Blue Parrot, offers to buy Rick's, but Rick says
his bar isn't for sale. Yvonne, Rick's neglected lover, tries to
arrange a date for that evening, but Rick dismisses her attempts
to pin him down and calls a cab to send her home. Louis tells Rick
he's going to make an arrest and warns Rick against protecting the
couriers' killer. "I stick my neck out for nobody," Rick responds.
Louis also mentions Victor Laszlo, a famous Czech nationalist, will
be arriving in Casablanca and warns Rick against trying to assist
Laszlo, whose political activities are a threat to Nazi Germany.
In the conversation that ensues, we learn that Rick was involved
in anti-fascist wars in the 1930s, supporting the
republicans in the Spanish Civil War and the Ethiopians against Italy.
Strasser's arrival cuts the conversation short. With the German
officer present, Louis decides the time has come to arrest the murderer
of the German couriers. Cornered, Ugarte appeals to Rick for help,
but Rick does nothing.
After things calm down, Laszlo enters the bar with Ilsa.
They have come in search of exit visas. Strasser approaches Laszlo
with hostility, and Louis politely requests that Laszlo report to
his office the next day. Meanwhile, Ilsa and Sam, who recognize
each other, begin to talk. At first Sam refuses Ilsa's request that
he play "As Time Goes By," but eventually he relents. The music
brings Rick to the piano. "I thought I told you never to play—"
he begins, breaking off when he sees Ilsa. Laszlo and Louis join
the group and Rick sits down for a drink, violating his rule of
never drinking with customers. When the couple leaves, Rick picks
up the check, breaking another personal rule.
Later that evening, Rick drinks alone after the bar closes.
Sam plays "As Time Goes By" again, and Rick thinks about the past.
In a flashback, we see a happier, less haggard Rick in Paris with
Ilsa by his side. They drive through the city, ride a boat down
the Seine, pop open a bottle of champagne, and dance at a club.
Although they are clearly in love, they avoid all questions about
each other’s pasts. When they hear word that the German army is
approaching Paris, Rick knows he will have to leave the city. Rick
proposes to Ilsa, who tries her best to hide her anguish, saying
she doesn't plan that far in advance. Rick isn't worried, however.
He thinks they'll leave together the next day for Marseille. At
the train station the next day, Rick waits in the pouring rain,
but Ilsa is nowhere to be found. Sam arrives and shows Rick a note.
The note is from Ilsa and says that she can never see him again.
At this point, the flashback ends, and the scene shifts
back to Casablanca. Ilsa enters the bar. She wants to explain what
happened in Paris, but Rick is drunk and angry, and Ilsa leaves.
The next day, Ilsa and Laszlo go to Louis's office, where
Strasser tells Laszlo he will never escape Casablanca alive. The
couple then goes to the Blue Parrot to visit Signor Ferrari and
arrive just as Rick is leaving. As Laszlo talks with Ferrari, Ilsa
tells Rick that Laszlo is her husband and has been for years, even
when she and Rick were together in Paris. Ferrari says he can obtain
a visa for Ilsa but not for Laszlo. The couple decides not to split
up. Ferrari suggests they speak to Rick, whom he suspects is holding
Ugarte's stolen letters of transit.
That evening at Rick's, a young Bulgarian woman, Mrs.
Brandel, approaches Rick to ask if Louis is "trustworthy." Louis,
as Rick knows, has a habit of offering female refugees exit visas
in exchange for sex. Rick says Louis's word is good, but, not wanting
to let Mrs. Brandel's new marriage be harmed, he arranges for her
husband to win big at the roulette table so they can buy a visa
on their own. Later, Laszlo asks to speak to Rick. He offers to
buy the letters of transit, but Rick says he'll never sell them.
When Laszlo asks why, Rick replies, "Ask your wife."
German soldiers have gathered around Sam's piano and are
singing the German national anthem. Laszlo tells the band to play
"La Marseillaise," the French national anthem, and leads the patrons
of the bar in a stirring rendition of the song, which drowns out
the Germans. Strasser is furious and demands that Louis shut down
Rick's. Louis closes Rick's on the pretext that gambling takes place
there, even as he accepts his evening's winnings.
Back at their hotel, Laszlo asks Ilsa if there is anything
she wants to tell him about Paris, and she replies “No.” Husband
and wife reaffirm their love for each other. As Victor leaves for
a meeting of the underground resistance, Ilsa leaves too and surprises
Rick by showing up in his apartment. She pleads with him for the
letters of transit, urging him to put aside his personal feelings
for something more important. When Rick still refuses, she pulls
a gun on him. Rick dares her to shoot, but Ilsa cannot. Instead,
she breaks down in tears and claims she still loves Rick. They embrace.
Later, Ilsa explains what happened in Paris. After she
married Laszlo, he had to return to Prague, where he was arrested
and put in a concentration camp. Months later, she heard he was
killed in an escape attempt. She met Rick shortly thereafter. Ilsa
learned Laszlo was still alive just when she and Rick were about
to leave Paris together. Laszlo needed her, and she decided to stay
with him. She didn't tell Rick because she knew he wouldn't leave
Paris if he found out, and then the Gestapo would arrest him. Her
story finished, Ilsa says she'll never be able to leave Rick a second
time, but she begs that he help Laszlo escape. As for whether she
will go with Laszlo or stay with Rick, she says she doesn't know
what's right anymore and tells Rick, "You have to think for both
of us."
Later that evening, Laszlo claims to know that Rick loves
Ilsa and asks for the letters of transit for her sake. Just then
the German soldiers burst into Rick's and arrest Laszlo. The next
day, Rick pleads with Louis to release Laszlo, saying that Laszlo
can be arrested on a more serious charge, possession of the stolen
letters of transit. Rick also tells Louis that he plans to use the
letters to escape with Ilsa. That afternoon, Rick sells his club
to Ferrari. That evening, back at Rick's, as he hands the letters
to Laszlo, Louis emerges from the shadows to make the arrest. Just
as suddenly, Rick pulls out a gun and points it at Louis. He orders
Louis to call the airport to make sure that evening's flight to
Lisbon will take off as planned. Louis pretends to call the airport,
but actually calls Strasser.
At the airport, Rick makes Louis fill in the letters of
transit for Mr. and Mrs. Victor Laszlo. Ilsa objects, but Rick says
he did the thinking for both of them and decided that for Laszlo
to continue doing his work, he needs Ilsa by his side. Rick tells
Laszlo that Ilsa visited him last night and pretended to still love
him to get the letters. He knew she was lying, Rick says, because
it was over a long time ago. As Rick is talking, Ilsa sobs in the
background.
After goodbyes, the Laszlos board the plane. Just then
Strasser arrives. He calls the radio tower to prevent the plane's
taking off, but Rick shoots him, and the plane leaves. The French
police arrive, and Louis, who has seen everything, orders, "Round
up the usual suspects." As the cops drive off, Louis congratulates
Rick on becoming a patriot and then becomes a patriot himself, symbolized by
his throwing out a bottle of Vichy water (water produced in the unoccupied
region of France that persecuted Jews and tried to win Nazi favor).
Rick and Louis walk along the runway together. Louis says he can
arrange for Rick to escape to Brazzaville, another French colony
in Africa, and then announces he will go, too. The movie ends with
Rick saying the famous final line, "Louis, I think this is the beginning
of a beautiful friendship." "La Marseillaise" plays in the background.
