Casablanca at 80: a golden age classic that remains impossible to resist

The involving and affecting romantic thriller is a sterling example of collaboration and how the studio system can often excel

Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca
Who doesn’t love Casablanca? Or, put another way, where can you find any weaknesses in this production? Photograph: Warner Bros/Sportsphoto/Allstar

Many of the greatest films of all time have some triumph-over-adversity story to buffer their mythology: a chaotic production, weak box office, critics that didn’t get it at the time, a loss to some forgettable film during awards season. Their greatness has to be elusive and mysterious, in other words, something that couldn’t be comprehended until later, when they finally got the full appreciation they always deserved. The path to canonization tends to have its own, often formulaic narrative.

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