Original artwork, not a still
Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
— Casablanca · 1942
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The film ends not on the lovers' goodbye but on a new alliance: a cynic and a crook promising each other a friendship, and the war effort with it. That the line was an afterthought, dubbed after shooting, makes it one of cinema's neatest happy accidents, and it has become the standard line for any odd-couple partnership.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for CasablancaShow the scene
The last line of Casablanca is a late addition. On 7 August 1942 producer Hal Wallis telegraphed the editor with two possible final lines for Rick, one of them a joke about mixing patriotism with larceny. Two weeks later he settled on the other, and Humphrey Bogart was called back to dub it a month after shooting ended. In the film, Rick has put Ilsa on the plane to Lisbon with Laszlo and shot Major Strasser. Captain Renault orders the usual suspects rounded up and suggests they join the Free French, and the two men walk off into the fog.
Sources (1)
- Wikipedia: Casablanca (film)Production (Script) and Plot (ending)Reference checked
Context reviewed
