Editing Casablanca (film) (section)

== Reception ==
=== Initial response ===
''Casablanca'' received "consistently good reviews".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stanley |first=John |date=April 5, 1992 |title='Casablanca' Celebrates Its 50th |work=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote, "The Warners&nbsp;... have a picture which makes the spine tingle and the heart take a leap." He applauded the combination of "sentiment, humor and pathos with taut melodrama and bristling intrigue." Crowther noted its "devious convolutions of the plot" and praised the screenplay quality as "of the best" and the cast's performances as "all of the first order".<ref name="Crowther">{{Cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |date=November 27, 1942 |title='Casablanca', with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, at Hollywood |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9C06E1DF1039E33BBC4F51DFB7678389659EDE |access-date=October 26, 2017 |work=The New York Times |page=27}}</ref>

The trade paper ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' commended the film's "combination of fine performances, engrossing story and neat direction" and the "variety of moods, action, suspense, comedy and drama that makes ''Casablanca'' an A-1 entry at the [[Box office|b.o.]]"<ref name="Variety">{{Cite news |date=December 1, 1942 |title=Variety 100 Reviews: Casablanca |url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117487980/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024210616/http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117487980/ |archive-date=October 24, 2011 |access-date=January 1, 2009 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> The review observed that the "[f]ilm is splendid anti-Axis propaganda, particularly inasmuch as the propaganda is strictly a by-product of the principal action and contributes to it instead of getting in the way".<ref name="Variety" /> ''Variety'' also applauded the performances of Bergman and Henreid and noted, "Bogart, as might be expected, is more at ease as the bitter and cynical operator of a joint than as a lover, but handles both assignments with superb finesse."<ref name="Variety" />

Some reviews were less enthusiastic. ''[[The New Yorker]]'' rated ''Casablanca'' only "pretty tolerable" and said it was "not quite up to ''[[Across the Pacific]]'', Bogart's last spyfest".<ref>{{Harvnb|Harmetz|1992|pp=12–13}}</ref>

At the 1,500-seat Hollywood Theater, the film grossed $255,000 over ten weeks (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|255000|1942|r=-5}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}).<ref name="Francisco 192">{{Harvnb|Francisco|1980|p=192}}</ref> In its initial American release, ''Casablanca'' was a substantial, but not spectacular, box-office success, earning $3.7 million (equivalent to ${{Format price|{{Inflation|US-GDP|3700000|1942|r=-6}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US-GDP}}).<ref name="Francisco 192" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Harmetz|1992|p=12}}</ref> A 50th-anniversary release grossed {{US$|1.5 million|long=no}} in 1992.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thomas |first=Bob |date=3 August 1992 |title=Treasure trove: Recycling movie classics financial success for film studio |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/427330404/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=21 April 2022 |work=[[The Paducah Sun]] |page=58 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> According to Warner Bros. records, the film earned $3,398,000 domestically and $3,461,000 in foreign markets.<ref name="warners" />

=== Popularity ===
In the decades since its release, the film has grown in reputation. Murray Burnett called it "true yesterday, true today, true tomorrow".<ref>Interviewed in [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0280526/ ''Casablanca 50th Anniversary Special: You Must Remember This''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051221002133/http://imdb.com/title/tt0280526/ |date=December 21, 2005 }} (Turner: 1992)</ref> By 1955, the film had brought in $6.8 million, making it the third-most-successful of Warners' wartime movies, behind ''[[Shine On, Harvest Moon (1944 film)|Shine On, Harvest Moon]]'' and ''[[This Is the Army]]''.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harmetz|1992|p=283}}</ref> On April 21, 1957, the [[Brattle Theater]] of Cambridge, Massachusetts, showed the film as part of a season of old movies. It proved so popular that a tradition began in which ''Casablanca'' would be screened during the week of final exams at [[Harvard University]]. [[Todd Gitlin]], a professor of sociology who had attended one of these screenings, has said that the experience was "the acting out of my own personal rite of passage".<ref>{{Harvnb|Harmetz|1992|p=343}}</ref> The tradition helped the film remain popular while other films that had been famous in the 1940s have faded from popular memory. By 1977, ''Casablanca'' had become the most frequently broadcast film on American television.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harmetz|1992|p=346}}</ref>

Ingrid Bergman's portrayal of Ilsa Lund in ''Casablanca'' became one of her best-known roles.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Chandler |first=Charlotte |url=https://archive.org/details/ingridingridberg00chan/page/19 |title=Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, A Personal Biography |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7432-9421-8 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/ingridingridberg00chan/page/19 19, 21, 294]}}</ref> In later years she said, "I feel about ''Casablanca'' that it has a life of its own. There is something mystical about it. It seems to have filled a need, a need that was there before the film, a need that the film filled."<ref>{{harvnb|Chandler|2007|page=[https://archive.org/details/ingridingridberg00chan/page/88/mode/2up 88]}}</ref>

On the film's 50th anniversary, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called ''Casablanca''{{-'}}s great strength "the purity of its Golden Age Hollywoodness [and] the enduring craftsmanship of its resonantly hokey dialogue". Bob Strauss wrote in the newspaper that the film achieved a "near-perfect entertainment balance" of comedy, romance, and suspense.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Bob |date=April 10, 1992 |title=Still the best: ''Casablanca'' loses no luster over time |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref>

Roger Ebert wrote of ''Casablanca'' in 1992, "There are greater movies. More profound movies. Movies of greater artistic vision or artistic originality or political significance. ... But [it is] one of the movies we treasure the most ... This is a movie that has transcended the ordinary categories."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |date=April 5, 1992 |title=As time goes by, it's the still the same old glorious 'Casablanca' |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/roger-ebert/as-time-goes-by-its-the-still-the-same-old-glorious-casablanca |access-date=April 10, 2022 |website=Roger Ebert.com}}</ref> In his opinion, the film is popular because "the people in it are all so good" and it is "a wonderful gem".<ref name="Ebertcommentary" /> Ebert said that he had never heard of a negative review of the film, even though individual elements can be criticized, citing unrealistic [[special effect]]s and the stiff character of Laszlo as portrayed by Paul Henreid.<ref name="Ebertcommentaryquote" />

Critic and film historian [[Leonard Maltin]] considers ''Casablanca'' "the best Hollywood movie of all time".<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 9, 2012 |title='Casablanca' to be shown on the big screen in Oklahoma City |url=https://oklahoman.com/article/3655669/casablanca-to-be-shown-on-the-big-screen-in-oklahoma-city |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922053835/http://newsok.com/casablanca-to-be-shown-on-the-big-screen-in-oklahoma-city/article/3655669 |archive-date=September 22, 2015 |access-date=January 10, 2015 |work=NewsOK}}</ref>

According to [[Rudy Behlmer]], the character of Rick is "not a hero&nbsp;... not a bad guy" because he does what is necessary to appease the authorities and "sticks his neck out for nobody". Behlmer feels that the other characters are "not cut and dried" and come into their goodness over the course of the film. Renault begins as a collaborator with the Nazis who extorts sexual favors from refugees and has Ugarte killed. Even Ilsa, the least active of the main characters, is "caught in the emotional struggle" over which man she really loves. By the end, however, "everybody is sacrificing".<ref name="Ebertcommentaryquote" /> Behlmer also emphasized the variety in the picture. "It's a blend of drama, melodrama, comedy [and] intrigue."<ref name="Ebertcommentaryquote" />

Scott Tobias, writing for ''The Guardian'' on the film's 80th anniversary, calls it "the jewel of Hollywood's Golden Age", and the best example of the system of film-making working: due not to an artistic genius but a combination of talented writing, set design, music, casting, supporting characters, and production.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tobias |first=Scott |date=2022-11-26 |title=Casablanca at 80: a golden age classic that remains impossible to resist |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/nov/26/casablanca-80-humphrey-bogart-ingrid-bergman |access-date=2023-12-20 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

A few reviewers have expressed reservations. To [[Pauline Kael]], "It's far from a great film, but it has a special appealingly schlocky romanticism&nbsp;..."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kael |first=Pauline |title=Casablanca |url=http://www.geocities.com/paulinekaelreviews/c2.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20091026041810/http://www.geocities.com/paulinekaelreviews/c2.html |archive-date=October 26, 2009 |access-date=January 5, 2009 |publisher=geocities.com}}</ref> [[Umberto Eco]] wrote that "by any strict critical standards&nbsp;... ''Casablanca'' is a very mediocre film". He viewed the changes that the characters manifest as inconsistent rather than complex. "It is a comic strip, a hotchpotch, low on psychological credibility, and with little continuity in its dramatic effects." However, he added that because of the presence of multiple archetypes that allow "the power of Narrative in its natural state without Art intervening to discipline it", it is a film reaching "Homeric depths" as a "phenomenon worthy of awe".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eco |first=Umberto |author-link=Umberto Eco |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DRd1DZ-5MX0C&pg=PA35 |chapter=''Casablanca'', or the Clichés are Having a Ball |title=On Signs |publisher=JHU Press |year=1985 |isbn=978-0-8018-3007-5 |editor-last=Blonsky |editor-first=Marshal |pages=35–38 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502203716/https://books.google.com/books?id=DRd1DZ-5MX0C&pg=PA35 |archive-date=May 2, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|99|9.5|136|access-date=14 May 2024}} The website's consensus reads, "An undisputed masterpiece and perhaps Hollywood's quintessential statement on love and romance, Casablanca has only improved with age, boasting career-defining performances from Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman."<ref>{{Cite Rotten Tomatoes |id=1003707-casablanca |title=Casablanca |type=m |access-date={{RT data|access-date}}}}{{RT data|edit}}</ref>
On [[Metacritic]], the film has a perfect score of 100 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>{{cite Metacritic|id=casablanca |title=Casablanca |type=m |access-date=May 7, 2020}}</ref> It is one of the few films in the site's history to achieve a perfect aggregate score.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Best Movies of All Time |url=https://www.metacritic.com/browse/movies/score/metascore/all/filtered?sort=desc |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190809210855/https://www.metacritic.com/browse/movies/score/metascore/all/filtered?sort=desc |archive-date=August 9, 2019 |access-date=May 2, 2022 |website=[[Metacritic]] |publisher=[[Red Ventures]]}}</ref>

In the November/December 1982 issue of ''[[Film Comment]]'', Chuck Ross wrote that he retyped the ''Casablanca'' screenplay, reverting the title to ''Everybody Comes to Rick's'' and changing the name of Sam the piano player to Dooley (after [[Dooley Wilson]], who played the character), and submitted it to 217 agencies. The majority of agencies returned the script unread (often because of policies regarding unsolicited screenplays) or did not respond. However, of those which did respond, only 33 specifically recognized it as ''Casablanca''. Eight others observed that it was similar to ''Casablanca'', and 41 agencies rejected the screenplay outright, offering comments such as "Too much dialogue, not enough exposition, the story line was weak, and in general didn't hold my interest." Three agencies offered to represent the screenplay, and one suggested turning it into a novel.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Most Outrageous Experiment Ever Conducted in the Movie Industry. Do Those Working in the Movies Know the Difference Between John Ford and Henry Ford? Should They? |url=https://www.tvweek.com/open-mic/2012/11/the-most-outrageous-experiment-even-conducted-in-the-movie-industry-do-those-working-in-the-movies-k/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150328213706/https://www.tvweek.com/open-mic/2012/11/the-most-outrageous-experiment-even-conducted-in-the-movie-industry-do-those-working-in-the-movies-k/ |archive-date=2015-03-28 |access-date=December 30, 2018 |website=TVWeek}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ross |first=Chuck |title=The Great Script Tease |url=https://www.filmcomment.com/issue/november-december-1982/ |access-date=December 30, 2018 |website=Film Comment}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=December 5, 1982 |title=TOPICS; WEATHER EYES; Play It Again |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/12/05/opinion/topics-weather-eyes-play-it-again.html |access-date=December 30, 2018 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

Ebert wrote: <blockquote> Seeing the film over and over again, year after year, I find it never grows overfamiliar. It plays like a familiar musical album: the more I know it, the more I like it. The black-and-white cinematography has not aged as color would. The dialogue is so spare and cynical it has not grown old-fashioned. Much of the emotional effect of ''Casablanca'' is achieved by indirection. As we leave the theater, we are absolutely convinced that the only thing keeping the world from going crazy is the concerns of three little people who do, after all, amount to more than a hill of beans."<ref name=EbertGreatMovie/>
</blockquote>

=== Influence on later works ===
<!--Please note that this is meant as a list of only THE most notable, not a complete list of pop culture references to the film -->

Many subsequent films have drawn on elements of ''Casablanca''. ''[[Passage to Marseille]]'' (1944) reunited actors Bogart, Rains, Greenstreet, and Lorre and director Curtiz in 1944,<ref>{{Harvnb|Harmetz|1992|pp=302–303}} and {{Harvnb|Rosenzweig|1982|p=101}}</ref> and there are similarities between ''Casablanca'' and a later Bogart film, ''[[To Have and Have Not (film)|To Have and Have Not]]'' (also 1944).<ref>{{Harvnb|Harmetz|1992|p=306}} and {{Harvnb|Rosenzweig|1982|pp=98–101}}</ref> Parodies have included the [[Marx Brothers]]' ''[[A Night in Casablanca]]'' (1946), [[Neil Simon]]'s ''[[The Cheap Detective]]'' (1978), and ''[[Out Cold (2001 film)|Out Cold]]'' (2001). Indirectly, it provided the title for the 1995 neo-noir film ''[[The Usual Suspects]]''.<ref name="larsen">{{Cite news |last=Larsen |first=Ernest |year=2005 |title=''The Usual Suspects'' |publisher=[[British Film Institute]]}}</ref> [[Woody Allen]]'s ''[[Play It Again, Sam (1972 film)|Play It Again, Sam]]'' (1972) appropriated Rick Blaine as the fantasy mentor for Allen's character.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harmetz|1992|p=347}}</ref>

The film was a plot device in the science-fiction television movie ''[[Overdrawn at the Memory Bank]]'' (1983), based on [[John Varley (author)|John Varley]]'s story. The story's protagonist recreates settings from the film inside a [[virtual reality]] simulation, including a version of Rick who becomes an advisor and ally (both characters are played by lead actor [[Raul Julia]]).

It was referred to in [[Terry Gilliam]]'s [[dystopia]]n ''[[Brazil (1985 film)|Brazil]]'' (1985). Warner Bros. produced its own parody: ''[[Carrotblanca]]'', a 1995 [[Bugs Bunny]] [[cartoon]].<ref name="BluYouMust6">{{Cite AV media |title=Casablanca – You Must Remember This&nbsp;... A Tribute to Casablanca |date=February 2, 2010 |type=Blu-ray Disc |publisher=[[Warner Home Video]] |time=31:56}}</ref> The film critic Roger Ebert pointed out the plot of the film ''[[Barb Wire (1996 film)|Barb Wire]]'' (1996) was identical to that of ''Casablanca''.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=May 3, 1996 |title=Barb Wire |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19960503/REVIEWS/605030301 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150616044027/http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/barb-wire-1996 |archive-date=June 16, 2015 |access-date=February 9, 2011 |publisher=RogerEbert.com}}</ref> In ''[[Casablanca (novella)|Casablanca]]'', a novella by Argentine writer [[Edgar Brau]], the protagonist somehow wanders into Rick's Café Américain and listens to a strange tale related by Sam.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dirda |first=Michael |author-link=Michael Dirda |date=January 7, 2007 |title=For the first time in English, the Argentine labyrinths of Edgar Brau. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/05/AR2007010500168.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110134922/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/05/AR2007010500168.html |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> The 2016 musical film ''[[La La Land (film)|La La Land]]'' contains allusions to ''Casablanca'' in the imagery, dialogue, and plot.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Orr |first=Christopher |date=December 9, 2016 |title=The Novelty and Nostalgia of La La Land |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/12/la-la-land-review-damien-chazelle-ryan-gosling-emma-stone/510092/ |access-date=May 13, 2017 |work=[[The Atlantic]]}}</ref> [[Robert Zemeckis]], director of ''[[Allied (film)|Allied]]'' (2016), which is also set in 1942 Casablanca, studied the film to capture the city's elegance.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Coggan |first=Devan |title=Allied: How Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard film recreated glamour of 1942 Casablanca |url=https://ew.com/article/2016/11/21/allied-robert-zemeckis-concept-art-casablanca/ |access-date=July 3, 2017 |magazine=Entertainment Weekly}}</ref> The 2017 Moroccan [[drama film]] ''[[Razzia (2017 film)|Razzia]]'', directed by [[Nabil Ayouch]], is mostly set in the city of Casablanca, and its characters frequently discuss the 1942 film.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vourlias |first=Christopher |date=14 September 2017 |title=Toronto: Director Nabil Ayouch's 'Razzia' Is a Response to Intolerance |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/festivals/toronto-director-ayouch-response-to-intolerance-with-razzia-1202559864/ |access-date=16 September 2017 |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref>

=== Awards and honors ===
Because of its November 1942 release, the [[New York Film Critics]] decided to include the film in its 1942 award season for best picture. ''Casablanca'' lost to ''[[In Which We Serve]]''.<ref name="Francisco 192" /> However, the [[Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]] stated that since the film went into national release at the beginning of 1943, it would be included in that year's nominations.<ref>{{Harvnb|Francisco|1980|p=195}}</ref> ''Casablanca'' was nominated for eight Academy Awards, and won three.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee
! Result
|-
| rowspan="8"| [[16th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Picture|Outstanding Motion Picture]]
| [[Warner Bros.]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| [[Michael Curtiz]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| [[Humphrey Bogart]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor|Best Supporting Actor]]
| [[Claude Rains]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| [[Julius J. Epstein]], [[Philip G. Epstein]] and [[Howard Koch (screenwriter)|Howard Koch]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography – Black-and-White]]
| [[Arthur Edeson]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]
| [[Owen Marks]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture]]
| [[Max Steiner]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[National Board of Review Awards 1943|National Board of Review Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Board of Review: Top Ten Films|Top Ten Films]]
| {{draw|6th place}}
|-
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Michael Curtiz <small>(also for ''[[This Is the Army]]'')</small>
| {{won}}
|-
| [[National Film Preservation Board]]
| colspan="2"| [[National Film Registry]]
| {{won|Inducted}}
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[1942 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Michael Curtiz
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor|Best Actor]]
| Humphrey Bogart
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[35th Saturn Awards|Saturn Awards]]
| [[Saturn Award for Best DVD Classic Film Release|Best DVD Classic Film Release]]
| ''Casablanca: Ultimate Collector's Edition''
| {{nom}}
|}

As Bogart stepped out of his car at the awards ceremony, "the crowd surged forward, almost engulfing him and his wife, [[Mayo Methot]]. It took 12 police officers to rescue the two, and a red-faced, startled, yet smiling Bogart heard a chorus of cries of 'good luck' and 'here's looking at you, kid' as he was rushed into the theater".<ref name="Ronald Haver">{{Cite web |last=Haver |first=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Haver |title=''Casablanca'': The Unexpected Classic |url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/791 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090629120246/http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/791 |archive-date=June 29, 2009 |access-date=January 8, 2010 |publisher=The Criterion Collection Online Cinematheque}}</ref>

When the award for Best Picture was announced, producer [[Hal B. Wallis]] got up to accept, but studio head [[Jack L. Warner]] rushed up to the stage "with a broad, flashing smile and a look of great self-satisfaction", Wallis later recalled.
<blockquote>
I couldn't believe it was happening. ''Casablanca'' had been my creation; Jack had absolutely nothing to do with it. As the audience gasped, I tried to get out of the row of seats and into the aisle, but the entire Warner family sat blocking me. I had no alternative but to sit down again, humiliated and furious&nbsp;... Almost forty years later, I still haven't recovered from the shock.<ref name="Ronald Haver" />
</blockquote>
This incident led Wallis to leave Warner Bros. in April.<ref>{{Harvnb|Harmetz|1992|pp=321–324}}</ref>

In 1989, the film was one of the first 25 films selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] as being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Molotsky |first=Irvin |date=September 20, 1989 |title=25 Films Chosen for the National Registry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/20/movies/25-films-chosen-for-the-national-registry.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303222420/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/20/movies/25-films-chosen-for-the-national-registry.html |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |access-date=April 1, 2017 |work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/ |access-date=2020-05-28 |website=Library of Congress}}</ref> In 2005, it was named one of the 100 greatest films of the last 80 years by ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine (the selected films were not ranked).<ref name="time.com">{{Cite magazine |last=Corliss |first=Richard |date=June 2, 2005 |title=That Old Feeling: Secrets of the All-Time 100 |url=https://time.com/time/columnist/corliss/article/0,9565,1068026,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811185345/http://www.time.com/time/columnist/corliss/article/0,9565,1068026,00.html |archive-date=August 11, 2010 |access-date=July 7, 2018 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]}}</ref> ''[[Bright Lights Film Journal]]'' stated in 2007, "It is one of those rare films from Hollywood's Golden Age which has managed to transcend its era to entertain generations of moviegoers&nbsp;... ''Casablanca'' provides twenty-first-century Americans with an oasis of hope in a desert of arbitrary cruelty and senseless violence."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tunc |first=Tanfer Emin |date=February 1, 2007 |title=''Casablanca'': The Romance of Propaganda |url=https://brightlightsfilm.com/casablanca-romance-propaganda/#identifier_12_14962 |access-date=December 18, 2020}}</ref>

The film also ranked at number 28 on ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]''{{'}}s list of the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time, which said, "Love, honour, thrills, wisecracks and a hit tune are among the attractions, which also include a perfect supporting cast of villains, sneaks, thieves, refugees and bar staff. But it's Bogart and Bergman's show, entering immortality as screen lovers reunited only to part. The irrefutible [''sic''] proof that great movies are accidents."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Braund |first=Simon |display-authors=etal |title=Empire's 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time |url=https://www.empireonline.com/500/51.asp |access-date=November 16, 2013 |website=Empire}}</ref>

Screenwriting teacher [[Robert McKee]] maintains that the script is "the greatest screenplay of all time".<ref name="Harmetz 1992 88–89,92,95" /> In 2006, the [[Writers Guild of America, West]] agreed, voting it the best ever in its list of the 101 greatest screenplays.<ref>{{Cite web |title=101 Greatest Screenplays |url=https://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813151310/http://www.wga.org/subpage_newsevents.aspx?id=1807 |archive-date=August 13, 2006 |access-date=August 3, 2007 |publisher=Writers Guild of America, West}}</ref>

The film has been selected by the [[American Film Institute]] for many of their lists of important American films:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Category
! Rank
|-
|1998
|[[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies]]
|2
|-
|2001
|[[AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills]]
|37
|-
|2002
|[[AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions]]
|1
|-
|2003
|[[AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains]]
|4: Rick Blaine (hero)
|-
|2004
|[[AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs]]
|2: "[[As Time Goes By (song)|As Time Goes By]]"
|-
|2005
|[[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes]]
|5: "Here's looking at you, kid."<br />20: "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."<br />28: "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By'."<br />32: "Round up the usual suspects."<br />43: "We'll always have Paris."<br />67: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine."<br />These six lines are the most of any film (''[[Gone with the Wind (film)|Gone with the Wind]]'' and ''[[The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'' tied for second with three apiece). Also nominated for the list was, "Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world."<ref>{{Cite web |title=AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes – List of the 400 nominated movie quotes |url=https://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/quotes400.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628043426/http://www.afi.com/Docs/100Years/quotes400.pdf |archive-date=June 28, 2011 |access-date=September 17, 2014 |publisher=American Film Institute}}</ref>
|-
|2006
|[[AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers]]
|32
|-
|2007
|[[AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)]]
|3
|}