[Emily McClemont]

Michael Curtiz’s Casablanca (1942), divulges the relationships amid the film’s characters, Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), his former lover, Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman), and her husband, Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), whom seeks to escape persecution by political enemies in a World War II-era Europe. Rick, an alleged “hard sentimentalist,” as initially exemplified through his believed prior “running” of “guns to Ethiopia” and “fighting for Spain on the Loyalist’s side,” claims that money is the sole motivation for his “underdog-favoring” actions, further stating, “I stick my neck out for nobody.” As the film progresses, however, Rick’s personification of the “hero” purposed in Joseph Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949) becomes evident and strengthened through the evolving of his suspected sentimentalist nature.

Rick’s saloon, Rick’s Café Américan, offers the ordinary world in which the central characters predominately interact. As Ilsa and Laszlo enter the popular Casablanca tavern in need of letters of transit, in which Rick may be able to provide, Rick’s “Call to Adventure” (49) inevitably begins. As Ilsa requests Sam, the Café’s pianist, play “As Time Goes By,” a memento of the couple’s past relationship, Sam arguably becomes the “herald” (53) of the journey. The initial step of Rick’s journey as hero introduces the sentimental nature that will become characteristic of the remainder of his adventure, as providing Ilsa and Laszlo with an escape from Casablanca will prevent any sensible continuance of his love for Ilsa, yet fulfill her husband’s desire to leave for America.

Presumably made uneasy by reemerging thoughts of Ilsa’s previous unexplained departure, Rick furthers his journey with the “Refusal of the Call,” (59), characterized by his intoxicated refusal to offer Ilsa the letters of transit. Rick’s sentimental nature begins its gradual evolvement, however, when he encourages Sam’s playing of “As Time Goes By,” furthering Sam’s duties as the “announcer of the adventure,” though not necessarily as the described “dark, loathly, or terrifying” herald (53).

As Rick’s adventure progresses, he is continually exposed to Captain Renault’s (Claude Rains) determination to prevent Laszlo’s leaving Casablanca, allowing Renault to act as an “aid” (69), as his “cynicism and egotism” (Heath 1) expedite the return of Rick’s sentimentalist nature, heightening his realization of Laszlo’s likely capture and subsequent wounding of Ilsa. Rick’s journey as an evolving sentimentalist advances, as he aides the Bulgarian “husband and wife” (Heath 1) in need of money to leave Casablanca, providing an example of Rick’s “crossing the threshold” (Campbell 77), as he begins to assist those facing the effects of World War II, in stark contrast to his initial statement, “I stick my neck out for nobody.”

As Rick declines providing Ilsa and Laszlo the letters of transit, he is submerged in the “belly of the whale” (90), as his decision becomes clouded by the sentimentalist grudge he holds against Ilsa due to her unforeseen departure, allowing for his potential withdrawal from the hero figure. Rick’s internal, ongoing debate regarding his aid to Ilsa and Laszlo allows for further progression of his journey, as he finds himself confronted by Ilsa, the “temptress” (120) forcing him to “reckon with his pain… and listen to her story” (Heath 1), introducing the potential for a renewing of their past love and immersing Rick in sentimentality. Rick’s predicaments enhance, as he is met with “the road of trials” (Campbell 97), as his café is forced to close, allowing him, however, a chance to further his sentimentalist nature, assuring his employees will remain on salary.

Rick’s ultimate assistance in Ilsa and Laszlo’s departing presents the final testament to his evolving sentimentalist nature, as he sacrifices his love for Ilsa for the safety of Laszlo, encouraging Ilsa leave as well. Although partially subjective, alignment to the stages of Campbell’s purposed hero is found throughout the gradual increase in the sentimental nature of the decisions driving Rick Blaine’s journey in Casablanca.

–Emily McClemont

 

[Michael Powers]

Hi Emily,

I think you did a really good job of tracing Rick’s sentimentalist growth throughout the movie, from his time as a detached club owner to a romantic hero. I’m interested in what you think about Victor being his foil. I think Victor Laszlo being a close to, if not almost the exact same person, as Rick before Ilsa walked out on him and causing his detachment to emotion, caused Rick to go back to being a sentimentalist. Their (Rick and Victor’s) parallels would be interesting to trace in regards to sentimentality.

[Emily McClemont]

Hi Mike,

I think you bring up an interesting point regarding the parallels and relationship between Rick Blaine and Victor Laszlo. I think that your statement, “Victor Laszlo being a close to, if not almost the exact same person, as Rick before Ilsa walked out on him” is accurate when comparing the men’s similar affection for Ilsa, and find the comparison between Blaine and Laszlo may reach beyond their shared adoration of Ilsa. Laszlo strikes me as risk-taking; having been rumored dead, escaped concentration camps, and determined to reach America, and I find that Blaine’s risk-taking nature emerges as the movie progresses, as he is willing to aid the Bulgarian couple and more obviously, cause harm to the officials whom stand in the way of Laszlo’s departure, highlighting a second potential comparison between the two. I think your suggestion of Laszlo as a foil to Blaine offers a link to Blaine’s sentimentalist nature, as Laszlo’s dangerous actions and similar care for Ilsa, may enhance Blaine’s eventual heroic action regarding Ilsa and Laszlo’s departure.

[Kevin Burke]

Emily and Mike,
I totally agree with what you two are saying. It seemed to me that RIck started by wanting to view Victor as his adversary, but as he grew – as you say – as a sentimentalist, Rick began to understand Ilsa’s point of view, Victor’s good nature, and his potential for political change as well. Overall, Victor is just like Rick, loving Ilsa just about as much, and is frankly the better option to leave her happy in the long run. Rick’s ultimate expression of love for Ilsa is his decision to leave her with the man who he views as a better man. (See my cimparison to Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities for more on that). I really enjoyed reading your post Emily. You seem to do an excellent job navigating the intersect between Rick’s sentimental growth, and his qualification as  a Campbellian hero.

[Emily McClemont]

Hi Kevin,

In reading your previous post regarding the similarities between Curtiz’s Casablanca and Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, I was struck by the numerous structural elements you were able to find similarities within. Your connection between Casablanca and A Tale of Two Cities in terms of its similarly organized “love triangles” left me to wonder, as well “how many different cultures and time periods have this same type of story.” I find it interesting how certain mechanical natures of films and literature are so often comparable and cannot help but return to the original connection between Casablanca and The Hero with a Thousand Faces, yet another example allowing a film’s structural elements to align to literature.

[Author]

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