We'll Always Have Casablanca ─ The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood's Most Beloved Movie

Casablanca is “not one movie,” Umberto Eco once quipped, “it is ‘movies.’ ” Released in 1942, it won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, and it featured unforgettable performances by Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and a deep supporting cast. Film historian Noah Isenberg’s We’ll Always Have Casablanca offers a rich account of the film’s origins, the myths and realities behind its production, and the reasons it remains so revered today. Through extensive research and interviews with filmmakers, relatives of the original cast and crew, and fans, Isenberg explores the transformation of the unproduced stage play into the classic screenplay; the casting decisions and the indispensable role that refugees from Hitler’s Europe played in making the film; the impact of the Production Code censors and the war; and the ways the film continues to dazzle audiences and saturate popular culture seventy-five years after its release.