We’ll Always Have ‘Casablanca’
The greatest movie scene of all time?
The French national anthem, La Marseillaise, is back at the forefront of news cycles and our screens, driven by the political upheaval in France, as well as the upcoming Paris Olympics. The iconic anthem, written during the French Revolution in 1792, remains hugely recognizable and has featured in many musical works since.
One of its most famous uses in cinema was over eighty years ago, in an iconic scene in the 1942 movie Casablanca. The movie itself has won several accolades, spawned several iconic quotes and references that are often reused, and is widely considered one of the greatest movies of all time. The aforementioned scene is, in my opinion, the greatest movie scene of all time.
This is not a category without competition — several other scenes offer viable alternatives, including the opening and final scenes of La La Land, the finale of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Gandalf’s return in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the shower scene in Psycho, and the big reveals in The Usual Suspects and The Sixth Sense. Any selection from such a vast list (and this is only the tip of the iceberg; nearly everyone will have their own additions to the list) is inevitably coloured by personal preferences and biases. However, one scene does make it to the top of many such lists and discussions.
The La Marseillaise scene in Casablanca embodies all the ideal characteristics of an iconic scene — a powerful scene, filled with raw emotion; a central turning point in the plot of the movie, and pivotal to the character development of all the main (and a few supporting) characters; and symbolic of the movie in a nutshell. It is as powerful within the film, as it is when watched standalone — and holds up as well on a theater screen as in TikTok reels.
As you watch the scene (linked above), the first thing that pops out is the raw emotion of all the characters, including the supporting characters and extras. It’s rare to see so much genuine emotion displayed by uncredited performers — but that is unsurprising given the history of the production. Director Michael Curtiz decided to fill the scene with actual refugees, who had genuinely fled the Nazi war machine, and were now singing their anthem with all the pride, defiance, and bravery within them. Among the most visible actors is teary-eyed Madeleine Lebeau (portraying the role of Yvonne, who ends the song with a fierce “Vive la France!”), herself a refugee who had fled across the Atlantic via Lisbon, and was later called “the face of the French Resistance” by the then French culture minister.
It’s also important to recall that the movie itself was produced and released in 1942, when the Germans still controlled most of Europe and much of Northern Africa, and the US was just entering the war in Europe. The movie is an unabashed propaganda piece, aiming to drum up support against American isolationism — and this scene is crucial to that objective. Bogart’s character Rick Blaine — the American bar owner, drunkard, and isolationist who doesn’t stick his neck out for nobody — loses all his neutrality with a simple nod, giving his approval to the band to play the French national anthem, which eventually leads to a triumph for the Resistance as they drown out the Germans.
This singular gesture of a nod, just a second in the movie, has giant ramifications, and the entire movie turns as a consequence. The German officers decide to shut down Rick’s cafe for allowing this act of rebellion, and also amp up the pressure on charismatic resistance leader Victor Laszlo (played by Paul Henreid), who they now fear for his ability to rouse the masses. This sets into motion a sequence of choices that all the lead characters make, culminating in the unforgettable finale at Casablanca airport.
This nod also highlights a subtle hierarchy — although Laszlo is a beloved leader of the masses, he still needs Rick’s support in Casablanca. This scene was filmed with some secrecy. Bogart’s nod was filmed in isolation, and director Michael Curtiz never told him what the scene was meant to be for. In parallel, Henreid was opposed to the nod, but eventually Curtiz overruled him stating that it is essential to proving that Rick was on his side, and highlighting the total loyalty he has from his staff at the bar.
The other main character in the scene is Ingrid Bergman’s Ilsa Lund, who goes through an entire gamut of emotions in this short scene. Her character is torn between the past (Rick) and the present (Laszlo); in this scene, as she sees Laszlo walk purposefully past her, Ilsa is a study in fear, worried for what might happen once the Germans react. As the song progresses, her heart sinks, realizing the danger they are in, possibly even being arrested on the spot. However, as Laszlo continues singing defiantly, her sorrow turns to admiration, as she remembers what drew her to Laszlo in the first place. In the space of a few seconds, she has seemingly run through several different thoughts and made some key choices.
Every character in the scene is crucial to its perfection — Captain Renault’s subtle sideward glance to see if the German song managed to bring back the earlier idealist Rick Blaine; Yvonne’s tearful remorse at her choices; Major Strasser and the German officers’ shock at the defiance, and inability to deal with it. Roger Ebert had commented on Casablanca’s script being “wonderfully unified and consistent” — this scene exemplifies the sentiment, connecting seamlessly with actions and statements made by characters before and after the scene; a pivotal turning point.
Finally, the scene exemplifies the movie in a nutshell. Casablanca, at its core, is three things. First, it is a movie about the balance between personal choices and the greater good, and how our choices impact everyone around us. Laszlo’s open defiance of the Germans, Rick’s support of Laszlo, and the defiance of all the other bar patrons — all of them are in effect making choices that put the greater good ahead of their personal preferences. Second, it is a tale of a love triangle, between Laszlo, Rick, and Ilsa — exemplified here, by the argument that starts the scene, and Ilsa’s silent choice that effectively ends it. Finally, it is a propaganda piece, urging America out of its isolation, and supporting the French Resistance against the Nazi occupation — clearly evidenced by the triumph of La Marseillaise.
The scene is a triumph of storytelling, acting, and remains hugely powerful even eighty years later — and it’s highly likely that we will remember this, as time goes by.
Note: This article is inspired by a conversation with a friend, discussing our opinions on the best movie scenes we have seen. Here’s looking at you, S!
