ScripTips 7: Casablanca and the All Important Triangle

So now you’ve watched Casablanca, yes? I hope so because it’s the greatest film ever written. I rewatched it myself before sitting down to write, and my umpteenth viewing has only reaffirmed that opinion.

Casablanca debuted in 1942. It was directed by Michael Curtiz and starred Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Paul Henreid. Based on Everybody Comes to Rick's, an unproduced stage play by Murray Burnett and Joan Alison, the screenplay was written by Julius and Philip Epstein. When they left the project, Howard Koch was brought on. Then the Epstein’s returned. Finally, Casey Robinson assisted uncredited in three weeks of rewrites. And somehow in the back and forth of words and ideas, these four writers hit upon the secret for cinematic success.

If you watch a lot of other films before Casablanca, its not uncommon to feel the pacing is off, that Hollywood is approaching filmmaking as though they are making a stage play with cameras, or adapting a novel without doing the actual work of adaptation. By contrast, Casablanca sings with a tightness of plot and a pacing that holds up even after 82 years.

So let’s dive in and discuss Casablanca now. For this discussion, we’re going to identify the three main characters that comprise our All Important Triangle, our Protagonist, Antagonist, and Relationship Character.